I'm an electronics hobbyist (soldering, breadboards, reading schematics – no problem), but I have near‑zero coding experience. Loops and variables – yes. Writing a full program from zero – never.
I'm thinking about buying a T-Embed with CC1101 to play with 433/868 MHz devices – capture and replay signals from remotes, temperature sensors, maybe garage openers.
First – yes, I know about Bruce firmware. I've seen it everywhere. EvilCrowRF, Bruce, all those pre‑built options. But here's the thing: I want to make my OWN firmware. From scratch. Not just flash someone else's menu and press buttons.
And here's what bothers me: I've been searching YouTube, Reddit, GitHub, forums – and I literally cannot find a single person who made their own custom firmware for a T-Embed CC1101 from the ground up. Not one. Everyone either:
Flashes Bruce and stops there
Uses a Flipper Zero
Or just buys a ready‑made receiver module for Arduino
So my questions are:
Is there a technical reason why almost nobody writes their own firmware for this board? Is the CC1101 too painful to work with directly? Too many registers? Bad documentation? Or is it just that Bruce is "good enough" so people don't bother?
Can I actually flash my own custom code on the T-Embed? Or is the MCU locked, requiring special tools, JTAG, or some proprietary bootloader nightmare? On an Arduino Nano I just press upload – is it that simple here?
How hard is a realistic "minimal" firmware? Not a full Bruce clone. Just:
Scan a frequency (433.92 MHz)
Capture a raw IR signal (like from a remote)
Save a few seconds to flash memory
Replay it back on button press
Is that 200 lines of code? 2000? Is it weeks or months for someone who can't code?
- Can AI (ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor) write this for me? Since I can't code myself, I'd have to rely 100% on AI to generate the firmware. But I'm scared that:
AI will hallucinate register values
It will mix up SPI modes or timing
I won't even know where to look when it doesn't work
Has anyone here actually succeeded in making a CC1101 firmware with AI only? Not fixing – just pure AI‑generated and it worked first try?
- And if I fail – can I just email the manufacturer (Lilygo/Lililgo/whoever) and get actual help? Or will they ignore me? Is there an active Discord/Telegram where people discuss custom CC1101 code, not just "where to download Bruce"?
Bottom line: I want to be that rare person who writes their own firmware, not just a Bruce user. But I'm scared that maybe 99% of people don't do it because it's actually insanely hard, not because they're lazy.
If you've ever written your own CC1101 code (not just copy‑pasted from a library), please tell me the truth. Is this a realistic goal for an electronics person who can't code but can use AI?
Thanks a lot. Any honest answer helps