RTL_433 to MQTT gateway

Lightweight docker container built on Ubuntu 18:04 that uses python3, rtl_433, rtls_sdr, and paho_mqtt Using the well known rtl_433 software and an inexpensive RTL-SDR receiver it will listen to a variety of devices transmitting at the 433.92 Mhz frequency and publish the data to an MQTT broker.

MQTT Topics

The gateway will receive information from the SDR receiver and publish them in JSON format to the topic sensors/rtl_433. (by default)

Subtopics are created from this JSON line allowing easy subscribtion to specific sensors.

Testing can be done with the following command:

mosquitto_sub -h mqtt.example.com -p 1883 -v -t "sensors/#"

This will generate output like this:

sensors/rtl_433 {"time" : "2018-07-05 09:48:17", "model" : "AlectoV1 Wind Sensor", "id" : 36, "channel" : 1, "battery" : "OK", "wind_speed" : 0.000, "wind_gust" : 0.200, "wind_direction" : 315, "mic" : "CHECKSUM"}

sensors/rtl_433/AlectoV1 Wind Sensor/time 2018-07-05 09:48:17
sensors/rtl_433/AlectoV1 Wind Sensor/id 36
sensors/rtl_433/AlectoV1 Wind Sensor/channel 1
sensors/rtl_433/AlectoV1 Wind Sensor/battery OK
sensors/rtl_433/AlectoV1 Wind Sensor/wind_speed 0.0
sensors/rtl_433/AlectoV1 Wind Sensor/wind_gust 0.2
sensors/rtl_433/AlectoV1 Wind Sensor/wind_direction 315
sensors/rtl_433/AlectoV1 Wind Sensor/mic CHECKSUM
sensors/rtl_433 {"time" : "2018-07-05 09:48:22", "model" : "AlectoV1 Rain Sensor", "id" : 140, "channel" : 0, "battery" : "OK", "rain_total" : 621.750, "mic" : "CHECKSUM"}

Note that spaces can be used in topic names!

Pulling docker container from dockerhub

docker pull pcoiner/rtl433-to-mqtt:latest

Starting with docker run

docker run -d --rm \
  --privileged \
  -v /dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb \
  --env MQTT_HOST="mqtt.example.com" \   # Required
  --env MQTT_TOPIC="sensors/rtl_433" \   # Default="sensors/rtl_433"
  --env MQTT_PORT=1883 \                 # Default=1883
  --env MQTT_USER="" \                   # Not Required
  --env MQTT_PASS="" \                   # Not Required
  --env MQTT_QOS=0 \                     # Default=0
  --env DEBUG=False \                    # Change to True to log all MQTT messages
  --name rtl433-to-mqtt \
  pcoiner/rtl433-to-mqtt:latest

docker-compose.yaml

  rtl433-to-mqtt:
    container_name: rtl433-to-mqtt
    privileged: true
    image: pcoiner/rtl433-to-mqtt:latest
    environment:
      MQTT_HOST: 'mqtt.example.com'
#      MQTT_TOPIC: 'sensors/rtl_433'
#      MQTT_PORT: '1883'
#      MQTT_USER: ''
#      MQTT_PASS: ''
#      MQTT_QOS: '0'
#      DEBUG: 'False'
    devices:
      - /dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb
    restart: always

Building docker from source

git clone https://github.com/orrious/RTL433-to-mqtt.git
cd RTL433-to-mqtt
docker build -t rtl433-to-mqtt:latest .

This will build the image needed to start a container. When the build process is completed start the container: