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Thread: Vcrx and keypad

  1. #1

    Vcrx and keypad

    I it possible to use a wireless keypad with the vcrx? I'm thinking the type people typically link directly to their garage door except here I'd want to link it to the vcrx instead... Possible?

    if so, can anyone recommend a keypad that would work?

  2. #2
    Crickets... wow...

  3. #3
    Authorized Lutron Contributor
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    Quote Originally Posted by aries View Post
    I it possible to use a wireless keypad with the vcrx? I'm thinking the type people typically link directly to their garage door except here I'd want to link it to the vcrx instead... Possible?

    if so, can anyone recommend a keypad that would work?
    aries,

    To use a wireless keypad with the VCRX will require the use of a RadioRA 2 Main Repeater. The keypad and VCRX must be programmed to the main repeater. Using the RadioRA 2 software you are able to program the keypad to control the contact closure outputs of the VCRX.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin P. View Post
    aries,

    To use a wireless keypad with the VCRX will require the use of a RadioRA 2 Main Repeater. The keypad and VCRX must be programmed to the main repeater. Using the RadioRA 2 software you are able to program the keypad to control the contact closure outputs of the VCRX.
    Thanks kevin. Do you know how to do this? Client has a main and aux repeater, around 30 devices in the system, and three car "home link" transmitters programmed to the vcrx. Vcrx controls two garage doors.

    So system is established and working. We just cannot determine how to link a keypad and/or if there is a particular keypad that is recommended.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by aries View Post
    Thanks kevin. Do you know how to do this? Client has a main and aux repeater, around 30 devices in the system, and three car "home link" transmitters programmed to the vcrx. Vcrx controls two garage doors.

    So system is established and working. We just cannot determine how to link a keypad and/or if there is a particular keypad that is recommended.
    Kevin probably assumes you mean "use Lutron Radio Ra2 Keypad to control the garage doors connected to the VCRX".

    Is that what you are looking for?

    "I'm thinking the type people typically link directly to their garage door except here I'd want to link it to the vcrx instead"

    That makes me wonder if you are looking for a doorbell-type button to send a signal to the VCRX to control the garage doors. I guess you could use a Lutron visor transmitter or even a Pico.

    Whatever the interface you choose, I believe it has to be a Lutron RF product. I don't believe there is another vendor's device you could teach to the Lutron system.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by digit1 View Post
    Kevin probably assumes you mean "use Lutron Radio Ra2 Keypad to control the garage doors connected to the VCRX".

    Is that what you are looking for?

    "I'm thinking the type people typically link directly to their garage door except here I'd want to link it to the vcrx instead"

    That makes me wonder if you are looking for a doorbell-type button to send a signal to the VCRX to control the garage doors. I guess you could use a Lutron visor transmitter or even a Pico.

    Whatever the interface you choose, I believe it has to be a Lutron RF product. I don't believe there is another vendor's device you could teach to the Lutron system.
    Hi.. I guess I should have been more thorough than I thought I was. Yes you are correct, they want to use a coded keypad that a typical homeowner would be used to. Here is a link to such a product at Lowes for those who maybe have never seen such a thing(?).

    http://www.lowes.com/pd_349706-38782...ductId=3339144

    Since these are RF and usually 'learn' the signals from a clients garage door opener or remote it sounds very similar to how the VCRX works. It may even be possible someone makes one of these keypads that uses "Homelink" to communicate (though I haven't found one). We just haven't been able to find a setup that works.

    So my question to the community was to see if anyone else has encountered and solved such a situation. The alternative is to use a wired version of the same sort of keypad that closes a relay which we can wire to an vcrx input. It would, however, be nice to not have to drill holes to run wires and instead use a $40 lowes off-the-shelf product for this.

  7. #7
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    I wouldn't be certain that that thing will work. I've bought some other 3rd party remotes, but they're rarely 'homelink' remotes. Bear with me, I'm no expert exactly on what the homelink spec entails or doesn't entail, I'll just relate my experience.

    I have 3 Marantec garage door openers. They work with homelink-compatible transmitters. Those transmitters can be learned by my car. However, I had one car without homelink and I wanted to get a remote with multiple buttons on it (The Marantec ones only had one button). So I bought a chamberlain learning transmitter. Now Chamberlain openers are learnable by homelink, and this Chamberlain transmitter could learn whatever Chamberlain opener you had... but it turned out it could not learn from my Marantec. (The transmitter I bought does not specifically say homelink).

    So that brings me to your linked product. It does not say 'homelink' on it. I suspect it will work just fine with a Chamberlain opener, but not likely able to learn Lutron's VCTX remote (homelink transmitters CAN learn the VCTX remote). My garage doors are now solely opened by my VCRX. The VCRX can be controlled by the VCTX and I used my car homelinks to learn the VCTX codes.

    So if you have non-Chamberlain openers, my bet would be that thing doesn't work.

    (One thing I have no idea on is if a VCRX can actually use remotes that are not the Lutron VCTX. It didn't seem to work with my Marantec ones, but I may have been doing it wrong).

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Swancoat View Post
    (One thing I have no idea on is if a VCRX can actually use remotes that are not the Lutron VCTX. It didn't seem to work with my Marantec ones, but I may have been doing it wrong).
    I tried to use a generic (Chamberlain or Lift Master) transmitter with the VCRX and ultimately was unable to get it to work. I think the issue is that with conventional transmitters (either visor clip ones or most external keypads you'd mount near the garage door) the garage door receiver needs to learn the code from the transmitter, whereas with HomeLink, the Homelink transmitter learns the code from an existing transmitter. Thus, its easy to use the VCTX to teach a HomeLink transmitter in a car, but the VCRX can't learn the codes sent from a third party transmitter.

    To the OP's original question, I'd agree, if he can find a standalone HomeLink transmitter, that should work, or perhaps an external keypad that talks wirelessly to a contact closure device in the garage?

  9. #9
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    I think I have the same problem as the OP. Since I replaced my VCRX, I totally removed the old Marantec Receivers (they just plug in to the opener). Using my original Marantec external keypad and re-installing one of the receivers would be an option, but the Marantec external keypad was broken (kind of junky anyway).

    So for me, it's either find a 'Homelink' transmitter with a keypad (from what I can tell there is no such thing), wire in keypad, or put up a lock box with a Pico in it. I'm leaning towards the Pico since we don't use the keypad that much anyway (usually just use phones), and it's the easiest and cheapest.

  10. #10
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    If you just want to open the garage door, most modern garage door openers have built in receivers that can learn the signal from a wireless keypad. You can also get a wireless receiver retrofit kit like this one: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Chamberla...955D/100431670 for around $40....

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