Relay ControllerVersion 2.1.3 - June 2025 |
Relay Controller is an app that allows you to control USB relay boards that are connected to USB ports on your Windows PC, laptop or tablet. This will then allow you to switch the power to connected equipment ON and OFF over a timed schedule. Used to control lights, fans, switches, motors and most other powered equipment. Used for solutions in many situations, including model railways, stage lighting, powered door locks, motorised telescopes and hydroponics farms. |
The Relay Controller app can alter the ON/OFF state of each of the relay channel switches when the following combinations of conditions (triggers) are met:
You can also:
- immediately OR...
- in sequences: when one command has ended, the next command will begin
- at specific times of day
- on specific days of the week, single days or all days
- on specific dates of the year.
You can also:
- add a sequence of commands for each switch that will occur during each trigger event in order to provide combinations of switch on, off, delay and repeat command sequences.
- assign a keyboard key to each switch to allow you to turn the switches on and off at any time by pressing the keys on the keyboard.
- run the app from a batch file or by process launching from other apps
Video demonstrations of the Relay Controller Version 1
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Demo of Version 1.0.0
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Demo of extra features in Version 1.0.25
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Video demonstration of the Relay Controller Version 2
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Version 2 contains all the features of Version 1 plus additional features.
This video shows how to:
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Please note: The Relay Controller app continues to be developed and contains additional features that are not shown in the videos. The Release notes (below) provide a list of all the new features and fixes.
You can find detailed information on how to use all the app features in the User Guide PDF which is available from the Help button in the app itself.
Compatible USB HID Relay Boards
The Relay Controller app only supports USB HID compliant relay boards that can be programmed by third party apps. When plugged in, these boards are automatically recognized by Windows as a USB device and they do not require any drivers to be installed.
IMPORTANT: When purchasing a board to use with the Relay Controller app, please make sure that the supplier states that their boards can be controlled by the usb_relay_device DLL / development library.
One way to find compatible boards is to search ebay for the following: 'usb_relay_device.dll' and it will show you a list of boards that are compatible with the Relay Controller app...
IMPORTANT: When purchasing a board to use with the Relay Controller app, please make sure that the supplier states that their boards can be controlled by the usb_relay_device DLL / development library.
One way to find compatible boards is to search ebay for the following: 'usb_relay_device.dll' and it will show you a list of boards that are compatible with the Relay Controller app...
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Click these links to show a list of suppliers of compatible boards:
USA: https://www.ebay.com/sch/usb_relay_device.dll UK: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/usb_relay_device.dll |
IMPORTANT: The 4 channel and 8 channel relay boards require powering with a separate 12V DC power supply with an input current of more than 300mA.
The 1 channel and 2 channel relay boards take their power from the USB cable.
The 1 channel and 2 channel relay boards take their power from the USB cable.
Compatible Denkovi Relay Boards
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The Relay Controller app also supports the following models of Denkovi relay boards:
Denkovi 4 channel board https://denkovi.com/usb-relay-board-four-channels-for-home-automation This board takes its power from the USB cable. Denkovi 8 channel board https://denkovi.com/usb-eight-channel-relay-board-for-automation This board requires a 12 volt DC power supply. |
Obtaining the Relay Controller App
Please note that the app will work in Evaluation Mode until you buy a Product Code. In Evaluation Mode the app is fully functional to allow you to test it, but a message box will appear at random times. This will pause the app until you click on the message box to remove it.
IMPORTANT: The Relay Controller App has been tested to run on Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems only. It might run on earlier versions of Windows, but technical support (or fixes) for versions older than Windows 10 will not be provided.
The Relay Controller App does not run on Linux or Apple Mac operating systems.
IMPORTANT: The Relay Controller App has been tested to run on Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems only. It might run on earlier versions of Windows, but technical support (or fixes) for versions older than Windows 10 will not be provided.
The Relay Controller App does not run on Linux or Apple Mac operating systems.
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Enquiries and Technical Support
Relay Controller App - Release Notes
2.1.3 - 23/6/25
1.0.25 - 3/3/25
2.1.3 - 23/6/25
- Each Date trigger can now have more than one defined Date
- Add the Restore switches setting
- Board names, Switch names and Settings are now saved immediately after modification
- Fix: Denkovi boards not applying the 'Turn off switches' settings
- Use latest Denkovi driver interface DLL
- Add new settings:
- Hide X (Close) buttons
- Reset board and switch names
- Add priority overrides for Date and Day triggers
- Add support for specific Denkovi boards
- Allow a range of key definers to be used in Key trigger text boxes and Switch keys text boxes
- Fix: Number keys not acting as Key triggers
- Boards and switches can only be renamed in the first instance of the app
- All app instances now use the same names for boards and switches
- Send relay commands asynchronously
- Fix: When using multiple, sequential Next triggers, the schedule can stop unexpectedly at random points during the sequence
- Fix: 'Index out of range' error
- New board interogation method
- Fix: Panel indicators not updating on switch numbers greater than 8
- Allow all switches to be turned off in Combine mode
- Prevent the mouse wheel from altering values in all trigger combo boxes. This allows the mouse wheel to only scroll the schedule list
- Update 'Buy' button to version 2
- Remove board polling feature
- Fix: 'Index out of range' error
- First release of Version 2
- Multiple attached relay boards can now be combined and treated like one board having a switch count that is the total of all the switches on all the boards.
- All switches in all connected boards can be controlled in a schedule running within a single app instance
- Relay boards with the same ID can now be selected and used in schedules running in a single app instance or in multiple app instances
- Re-introduce the board detection polling feature
- Re-design the relay control engine to allow for more consistent communication and multi tasking
1.0.25 - 3/3/25
- Add the 'Schedule repeat count' indicator
- Add the setting: Start next instance
- Add the Setting: Show debug panel
- Remove the Close button on the Switch panels
- Allow switches to be named
- Add interactive switch button images onto the switch panels to allow turning switches on and off using mouse clicks
- Add new Switch panel settings:
- Visible when app is minimised
- On top
- Improve switch time synchronisation and reduce timing drift
- Fix: Running a schedule from a Command line parameter had problems when a relay board was not attached
- Fix: Switch keys now correctly initialised
- Add the option to include the '+' character with Key trigger command Wait values. This allows the remaining ON time for a switch to be increased by pressing the keyboard key that is associated with the trigger.
- Add the Repeat option to schedules. Allows a completed schedule to be restarted from the beginning
- Improve the accuracy of the main timer
- Add the Continue option to schedules
- Add the Key Trigger type. This allows individual triggers to be activated by pressing a specific key on the keyboard.
- Updated to ship with Microsoft .Net Framework v4.6.2
- Fix: App was crashing when sending commands to the 8th switch on an 8 channel relay board
- Improve the trigger UI rendering speed
- Trigger Up/Down buttons are now repeat buttons
- Add spaces automatically to the schedule command text
- Increase the size of the schedule UI
- Add the setting: Run schedule - Allows a specific schedule to automatically run when the app first starts
- Add the setting: Restart app between triggers
- Remove optimisations from the Release build
- Fix: Prevent triggers starting multiple times at the designated start time
- Fix: Prevent running multiple app instances
- Add the Next trigger type. This allows a sequence of triggers to occur one after the other without waiting for a specific time or date to occur
- Fix: Prevent random crashes when using the Keyboard hook setting
- Prevent crash in certain schedules
- Fix: Allow Single Trigger schedule files to run from the command line
- Add the Switch panels feature. This shows the state of each switch in a separate window, including on/off times.
- Poll for a relay board connection in a background thread
- Add On/Off and Toggle option to the Switch keys feature
- Add the Switch state display
- Add the Watchdog feature
- Add the Keyboard hook feature
- Fix: Prevent the app crashing if a board is not connected and the app is trying to issue a switch command
- Add support for more USB HID relay boards
- Added the feature for running a Single Trigger Schedule File as a Command Line parameter. This will cause the Relay Controller to load and run the schedule, then close immediately after the schedule has completed. This is useful when you want to control the relay switches from the Windows command line or from other applications.
- Added the Switch Toggle Keys feature
- First release of Version 1
