Automated Gate Options

[Burk Roberts]

DeeDee,

With some more help from James and other members of the list I eventually pressed forward with the xBee project and finally managed to bumble my way through the process of getting it operational. It has been pretty reliable, although for reasons unknown every couple months XTension seems to lose communication with them. When that happens some combination of restarting the Mac and/or plugging / unplugging the cable to the controller xBee sets things right again.

At the moment the only thing I have working is just a simple “opening” or “closing” notification from the gate, which I receive via a Prowl notification on my iPhone and Apple Watch, and which can also trigger XTension to perform other actions (such as turning on lights back at the cabin). For a brief time I was also able to use WebRemote to send a signal back from my phone to open the gate (such as to let the pest control guy in), but that stopped working at some point. I’ll get back around to working on that someday but since everyone who needs to get in either has a wireless remote or a keypad code that is a low priority item.

Honestly what I’d ultimately love to do is to follow Steve’s lead and switch to one of the WebRelay wireless devices.

https://www.controlbyweb.com/webrelay-wireless/ <https://www.controlbyweb.com/webrelay-wireless/>

It seems like a much more robust solution, and if I had internet connectivity at the gate I could also hook up a camera out there. Unfortunately the gate is about 500 yards from the cabin - through either dense trees or very rocky soil - so that will be a “non-trivial” undertaking.

In any event I agree that the Mighty Mule solution seems to be a big bag of hurt and would probably want to find any solution OTHER than that. (I should probably confess that I’m also pretty mad at Mighty Mule right now because I just had to replace the wireless vehicle sensor for the third time. Admittedly, that’s over a 10-year period, but that still seems kind of excessive considering that we’re still on our original gate controller. Plus it’s $200 a pop and if they won’t make the sensor more reliable I don’t understand why they don’t at least sell the parts [transmitter and wand] separately so you can just replace the non-functional part without having to dig the whole thing up every time. Very frustrating.)

Hope this helps.

-B


> On Feb 4, 2022, at 1:30 PM, Dee Dee Sommers <deesquared at mac.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Burk,
> 
> Do you have an update on this?  We are installing a Mighty Mule Smart opener right now. I went to download the app for my iphone only to be horrified to find the app has a 1.6 out of 5 star rating. 
> I wonder if some bluetooth technology can help? (I only say this because in our old house I had a Garage Mate bluetooth thing on our garage door opener which worked like a charm consistently.
> 
> From reading some of the reviews for the Mighty Mule app, it seems the connectivity is an issue.
> 
> Thanks for any suggestions.
> Dee Dee
> 
> 
>> On May 12, 2020, at 8:05 PM, Burk Roberts <cyburk at gmail.com <mailto:cyburk at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> 
>> Last year James and I worked on a project for my ranch gate that involved a pair of xBee pro radios and a relay to interface with my solar-powered Mighty Mule opener <https://www.homedepot.com/p/Mighty-Mule-Heavy-Duty-Single-Swing-Automatic-Gate-Opener-MM560/207098885>. Unfortunately he got tied up with some other things and it was beyond my technical skills to do alone so we were never able to finish it, but it sure seemed like it would have been an elegant solution.
>> 
>> Going back to the Mighty Mule website tonight I see they now have a “smart opener” available. Depending on your setup that might be an alternative but I assume it would not integrate with XTension (or at least not as easily as the xBees.)
>> 
>> I hope you’ll keep us posted on what you end up doing. I’d still like to do something with mine.
>> 
>> -Burk
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On May 12, 2020, at 5:39 PM, Steve Blethen <ssblethen59 at gmail.com <mailto:ssblethen59 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi Folks,
>>> 
>>> We’re making progress in out “off the grid” project.  Now I’ve got a 16’ single swing gate (from tractor supply) and I want to put an opener on it.  Naturally, I want it to be automated via XTension.  I need some suggestions on what openers will be “automatable”.  I’ve got geofencing nailed down and am turning on and off lights when we arrive and leave.  
>>> 
>>> I’m looking for hardware suggestions for the gate opener and the interface to XTension.
>>> 
>>> Tia
>>> 
>>> -steve
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