DeafDoorbell User Manual

Welcome to DeafDoorbell. Enjoy instant peace of mind with bright, colorful visual alerts whenever someone rings your doorbell. Follow this friendly guide to set up your system, pick your favorite light patterns, and customize your home.

01 3-Minute Quick Start 02 What the Lights Mean 03 Settings & Light Colors 04 Easy Pairing Guide 05 Using Multiple Doorbells 06 Resetting to Factory Settings 07 Common Questions & Fixes 08 Tech Appendix (For Makers)
01

Quick Start: Ready in 3 Minutes

Plug & Play

Your system comes with two types of devices: the Doorbell Sensor (Leader) that listens near your existing chime, and one or more Light Displays (Followers) that light up around your house.

ⓘ
Have Two Doorbell Sensors in Your Kit? (e.g., Front & Back Door):
Both sensors initially share the default Wi-Fi name DoorbellDetectorSystem. To easily configure each door without Wi-Fi confusion, set them up one at a time:
  1. Plug in Sensor 1 (Front Door) first. Connect to DoorbellDetectorSystem on your smartphone or computer.
  2. Open http://192.168.4.1, scroll to Wi-Fi Hotspot, rename it to Doorbell_FrontDoor, and save.
  3. Now plug in Sensor 2 (Back Door). Connect to DoorbellDetectorSystem, rename it to Doorbell_BackDoor, and set its zone to Area 2 (Back Door).
Now both door sensors have distinct, permanent Wi-Fi networks!
02

What the Lights Mean

Visual Signals

Both the Doorbell Sensor and Light Displays use simple light signals to let you know what is happening:

Device Light Pattern What It Means What to Do
Light Display Bright Animated Pattern Doorbell Chime Detected! Someone is ringing your doorbell. Check the door.
Light Display Orange Concentric Rings Looking for Doorbell Sensor (In Pairing Mode). Click "Open Pairing Mode" on the control page to link it.
Light Display Single Green Flash Successfully Linked! Device is paired and saved. No action needed. Ready to use.
Doorbell Sensor Small Blue Light: Dim/Breathing Listening Normally. Ready for door chimes. Normal idle status.
Doorbell Sensor Small Blue Light: Solid Bright Sound Detected! Sending alert to your lights. Chime confirmed.
Doorbell Sensor Small Blue Light: 10 Rapid Blinks Wi-Fi Reset Confirmed. Restored default name/password. Reconnect to DoorbellDetectorSystem.
03

Customizing Your Lights & Settings

Easy Controls

When connected to the sensor's Wi-Fi network, open http://192.168.4.1 to personalize your lights just like your favorite smart home products:

Adjusting Sensitivity

Use the Sound Sensitivity slider to match your chime volume. If you have a soft chime, slide it to make it more sensitive. If you want to make sure loud talking or TV noise is ignored, slide it higher.

Light Patterns & Colors

Pick from 6 smooth animations (such as gentle Breathe, expanding Ripple, or high-visibility Strobe). Turn on Party Mode for a dynamic rainbow spectrum, or pick your favorite custom solid color.

Change Wi-Fi Name & Password

Easily customize the network name and password under the Wi-Fi Hotspot card. Enter your new details, click Save, and reconnect your phone or computer once the device restarts.

Interactive Light Preview
PATTERN: BREATHE
Choose an Animation Style
Brightness 100%
Speed 1.0x
Light Color & Party Mode
ACTIVE PREVIEW: Slow Breathe • 100% • 1.0x • Party Rainbow
ⓘ The lights turn on with full instant brightness the moment your chime sounds, ensuring you never miss a visitor.
04

Easy Pairing Guide

Quick Setup

Pairing locks your Light Displays to your own Doorbell Sensor using a private house key. This ensures that even if your next-door neighbor also uses DeafDoorbell, their doorbell will never trigger your lights.

Physical Button Guide (Bottom of Unit) USB POWER CABLE LEFT: RESET (Quick 1s Restart) RIGHT: PAIRING BUTTON (HOLD 3 SECONDS)
ⓘ Accidental press? If you accidentally press the left Reset button, don't worry! It simply restarts the unit safely in 1 second without erasing any pairing or settings.
✔
Permanent Memory: Once paired, the devices remember each other forever, even if unplugged or during power outages.
05

Using Multiple Doorbells (Pair Once & Color-Code)

Multi-Door Setup
Can a light display connect to more than one doorbell sensor?
YES! In fact, you only need to pair your lights once!
You never have to pair your lights a second time for a second doorbell. Here is the secret to how it works:
ⓘ
How Alerts Actually Work Over the Air:
When you pair a Light Display, you are simply saving your home's 4-character House Key (for example, A48F) into its permanent memory.

When someone presses your doorbell, the sensor doesn't need to look up individual light addresses. It simply blasts a wireless alert into the air stamped with your House Key. Every single light in your home that shares that House Key will hear it and flash instantly at the exact same millisecond!

Because of this, as long as both Doorbell Sensors are set to the same House Key, all your lights automatically react to both doors without any extra pairing!

Color-Code Your Doors (Know Instantly Which Door is Ringing)

Instead of complicated zone menus, you can give each door its own distinct personality and color in its control page:

Front Door: Cyan

In your Front Door sensor settings, choose Cyan with the gentle Breathe animation. When a guest arrives at the front door, your whole house glows with soothing Cyan waves.

Back Door: Amber

In your Back Door sensor settings, choose Amber with the energetic Bouncing Bar animation. When a delivery arrives at the patio, your whole house glows warm Amber.

Front Door Sensor

House Key: A48F
Color: Cyan Breathe

WIRELESS MESH ↔ ↔ ↔ ALL LIGHTS REACT TO BOTH

Back Door Sensor

House Key: A48F
Color: Amber Bounce

Easy 3-Step Setup for Two Doors:

  1. Set Up the Front Door: Plug in your Front Door sensor first. In its control page, set its color to Cyan and rename its hotspot to Doorbell_FrontDoor. Copy its 4-character House Key (such as A48F).
  2. Set Up the Back Door: Plug in your Back Door sensor. Open its control page, paste in the exact same 4-character House Key, pick a different color (such as Amber), and rename its hotspot to Doorbell_BackDoor.
  3. Pair Your Lights Once: Pair your Light Displays to either sensor using the standard 3-second button hold. You are done! Both door sensors will now trigger all the lights in your home with their own unique colors.
06

Resetting to Factory Settings

Physical Button

If you ever forget a custom Wi-Fi password or want to start fresh, you can perform a quick reset using the physical button on the unit.

Interactive 3-Second Button Practice Practice Mode

Press and hold down the virtual button below for 3 seconds to see how the physical reset timing feels:

HOLD
HOLD TIME: 0.0s / 3.0s
Light Idle (Off)

Resetting Wi-Fi on the Doorbell Sensor

Find the small black button on the RIGHT side of the USB port (the BOOT button) on the Doorbell Sensor and hold it down for 3 seconds:

  • The small blue light flashes rapidly 10 times.
  • Wi-Fi name resets to: DoorbellDetectorSystem
  • Wi-Fi password resets to: shrek1234!
  • Safe Reset: Your sound sensitivity calibrations and paired lights are kept safe and are not erased.

Unpairing a Light Display

Find the small black button on the RIGHT side of the USB port (the Pairing button) on the Light Display and hold it down for 3 seconds:

  • The light unlinks from your previous sensor.
  • The lights begin gently pulsing in orange concentric rings.
  • Ready to be paired to a new doorbell sensor.
07

Common Questions & Troubleshooting

Help Center
My lights do not flash when someone rings the doorbell.
Check the Doorbell Sensor placement. Make sure it is close to your chime box. If your chime is quiet, open the control page (http://192.168.4.1) and adjust the Sound Sensitivity slider slightly so it picks up softer sounds.
The lights flash on loud talking, dogs barking, or TV noise.
Open the control page and slightly raise the Sound Sensitivity slider. Doorbell chimes have a sharp, resonant strike, whereas voices and television audio are lower in volume. Moving the slider just a little higher easily filters out everyday room chatter.
I forgot my custom Wi-Fi password.
Hold the small black button nearest the USB power cable on the Doorbell Sensor for 3 seconds. The blue light will blink 10 times, restoring the Wi-Fi name to DoorbellDetectorSystem and password to shrek1234!.
A Light Display is glowing with orange rings and won't flash.
The orange rings mean the light is in Pairing Mode waiting for a sensor. Connect to your Doorbell Sensor's control page (http://192.168.4.1), scroll to the Follower Pairing section, and click "Open Pairing Mode (60s)". The light will flash green and be ready.
Does this need home internet or a cloud subscription?
No! DeafDoorbell is 100% private and subscription-free. It uses direct, instantaneous local wireless signals between units that work seamlessly without an internet connection.
08

Technical Appendix

For Makers & Engineers
⚠ Developer Note: This section is just for curious tech enthusiasts, hobbyists, and developers. You do not need any of this technical information for everyday setup or operation!

Hardware Architecture & GPIO Pinouts

Both nodes are built on the ESP32-C3 SuperMini (RISC-V single-core 160MHz) running Arduino ESP-IDF with zero modem sleep (WIFI_PS_NONE) on Wi-Fi Channel 1:

Device Pin / Interface Connected Component Technical Description
Doorbell Sensor GPIO 3 (ADC1_CH3) MAX4466 Analog Mic Output Continuous 64-sample chunking at ~20kHz sample rate.
Doorbell Sensor GPIO 4 Soft Ground for Mic Driven solid LOW to provide ultra-clean ground reference.
Doorbell Sensor GPIO 8 Onboard Status Blue LED Inverted PWM channel tracking real-time sound levels.
Doorbell Sensor GPIO 9 Onboard BOOT Button Active LOW with internal pullup; 3s hold restores Wi-Fi defaults.
Light Display GPIO 5 WS2812B 8x8 LED Matrix High-speed non-blocking FastLED bitbang data stream.
Light Display GPIO 9 Onboard BOOT Button Active LOW; 3s hold unbinds NVS network key to re-enter pairing.

Acoustic Detection Algorithm (MAD & Debounce)

Rather than basic peak-to-peak amplitude which easily triggers on ambient noise, the firmware calculates the Median Absolute Deviation (MAD) over single-pass 64-sample chunks (~3.2ms window) combined with a software IIR DC-blocking filter:

outSample = inSample - lastInput + (0.95f * lastOutput);
madLevel = (sumOfAbsoluteDifferences / 64) * ANALOG_MAD_SCALE;

A multi-chunk leaky integrator debounces the audio across consecutive windows (default 2 chunks = ~6.4ms) to distinguish instant chime resonance from brief contact clicks.

Task Watchdog Timer (WDT) & Self-Healing

To guarantee 24/7 uptime without freezing, the Doorbell Sensor initializes the ESP32 hardware Task Watchdog Timer with a 5-second panic timeout (esp_task_wdt_init(5, true)). The timer is fed each cycle. If an unexpected radio driver lockup ever stalls execution, the chip automatically resets within 5 seconds and records the reset reason.

Flight Recorder & Diagnostics CSV

Every acoustic event is logged in a rolling in-memory flight recorder. Developers can inspect live telemetry at /log.html or export detailed millisecond oscilloscope traces via /diagnostics.csv.

C++ Protocol Header (DoorbellProtocol.h)

Download the C++ header file containing the 19-byte DoorbellPacket definition, message type enums, and ESP-NOW network key rules.

Download DoorbellProtocol.h ↓