How-to: Setup and use a GC IR unit with Homeseer

[chewie]

So several people have asked the procedure for doing this so I thought I would write up what I did, and how it worked for me. This was NOT an intuitive process, but after a few hours and lots of searching I got it working. I will include in this how I trained my Global Cache iTach device, how I set that device up in Homeseer, how I got Homeseer to send out the commands, and how to put those commands to use in HSTouch.

OK, so the first thing you have to do here is to learn the IR codes you want to use into your Global Cache device. This process is described very well in the short tutorial site that Global Cache has put up here: http://www.globalcache.com/support/ilearntutorial/ so once you have read that you should be good to go on learning commands into your device.

So, once you have learned your commands you are ready to import and to use them in Homeseer. The easiest way to get your commands into Homeseer (OK, there is no easy way, but this way works) is to use the New File button in iLearn to drop all the stored commands out to a text file. Here is a sample of 4 codes cut right out of my text file:
[ON] sendir,1:1,1,38109,1,1,343,171,22,63,22,63,22,63,22,21,22,21 ,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,63,22,63,22,63,22,63 ,22,21,22,63,22,21,22,63,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,21,22,21,22,21 ,22,63,22,21,22,63,22,63,22,21,22,63,22,63

[OFF] sendir,1:3,1,38109,1,1,343,171,22,63,22,63,22,63,22,21,22,21 ,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,63,22,63,22,63,22,63 ,22,21,22,21,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,63,22,63 ,22,63,22,63,22,21,22,63,22,63,22,21,22,2111

[VOL UP] sendir,1:3,1,38109,1,1,343,171,22,63,22,63,22,63,22,21,22,21 ,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,63,22,63,22,63,22,63 ,22,21,22,21,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,21,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,63 ,22,63,22,63,22,21,22,63,22,63,22,63,22,21

[VOL DOWN] sendir,1:3,1,38109,1,1,343,171,22,63,22,63,22,63,22,21,22,21 ,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,63,22,63,22,63,22,63 ,22,21,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,63,22,21,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,63 ,22,63,22,21,22,21,22,63,22,63,22,63,22

So keep this text file handy, we will need it shortly.

Now we need to start configuring things in Homeseer. First off, in Homeseer if you do not already have the GC100 PlugIn installed, install it through the Updater. Once it is installed you will need to enable it. Do this by going to Setup, then Interfaces and you should see the Global Cache GC100 under PlugIns. Enable both Infrared and Other sections and click Save. Once this was done I had to restart Homeseer. When it came back up I clicked on Plugins page (If you do not see one of those enable it by going to (Setup, Web Site and changing the drop down box by PlugIns to Yes). Here you will see three menu items for the Global Cache devices and we have things to do in each one.



First click on the Global Cache Configuration link and fill in the information for your unit. The location and name are whatever you want them to be, then just put in the IP address of your unit and click Add.



Next go to the Infrared Zones tab. This is where you define names for the different output zones on your unit. There is a legend at the bottom of the screen to help you figure out what device module and connectors you should use. For mine, the iTach, I used device module 1 and connector 1 for the first IR out, connector 2 for the second IR out and connector 3 for the IR blaster or third IR out. I then named each zone number to correspond to the device that I wanted that output to control. Then you just select the IP address of the unit you are configuring the ports for and click Add. So as you can see in the pic below I use output connector 1 to control my TV, output connector 2 to control my receiver and the IR blaster to control everything else.



The next thing we will do is add all the Infrared Signal device mappings. To do this go to Tools and click Infrared Signals. The first thing to do is go to the bottom of the screen and configure the Output Zones. This configuration will match the configuration that you did for the Zones on the GC plugin, so you will type in the name of the device you want to control and the corresponding zone number from the drop down list to match the GC plugin and click Add.

Compare the picture below with the GC Zone pic above for an example.

[chewie]

Next you will add the individual device buttons you plan to enter IR signal information for. This is done on the same page, but at the top. To do this you simply type in the Device/Zone name that the button goes in (This is one of the zones you just created at the bottom of the page, which is why we did that first), type in a name for the button and select a number in the list under signal location. The number you choose does not really matter at this point, so if you have a remote with 25 buttons and you have only learned a few of them you can leave the next several numbers so you can have all of the codes for that remote grouped together if you want and come back and add the rest in later. Now click Add.



That is all for the IR Signals page, now go back to the GC100 PlugIn page for Infrared Signals by clicking PlugIns and then clicking Global Cache GC100 Infrared Signals. Remember that text file we created at the very beginning? This is where you will put information to use. On this page you will see a drop down list with numbers and some of them will have words by them. This is the number/word list that corresponds to the device buttons we just created over on the IR Signals page. Simply select a button from the list, and then copy and paste the IR code from the text file into the Signal box in the middle and click Add. The portion of the text file you need to copy paste is everything starting from "sendir" to the end of the string of numbers, and once you click add then Homeseer will automatically format the string properly based on the configurations done in the other sections of the plugin. The reason this is so nice is that if you change your model, or move components around the house later you can just make a few edits in this plugin and not have to go through this whole process again.



That should be it. Once you have completed all these steps setup your GC unit and go back to the IR Signals page (Tools, Infrared Signals), find a command you want to test and click send. This should then send the command out via IP to the GlobalCache unit which should then send it in IR format to the end device. I have had this in place for a week or 2 and have not had a single command that has not fired properly when issued either via the IR Signals page or HSTouch.

I will read back through this again tomorrow to double check myself and make sure that it still looks right.

Hopefully this is helpful to you guys, please let me know if anything is not clear and I will edit it to clarify.

[chewie]

I will go through and document the process I used for putting these devices into HSTouch for you tomorrow as well.

[rlabruyere@gmail.com]

I cannot complete one of your steps

I am having a problem in the configuring the Zones Step. The documentation at the bottom tells me to enter 2,1 for my first zone of my GC-100-6 but Homeseer keeps responding that 'that is not an emitter port'. The first configuration step of assigning the Unit IP works fine. The status screen calls the devices 'Sensor Inputs' (I disable inputs on the GC100-6 before I put in on the network)
Would appreciate any help.

Thanks

[chewie]

You seem to be setting that up correctly, personally I have the iTach units so I have no first hand experience with the GC100, but from what I have done with mine and what you appear to have done it should be working. I would say open a help desk ticket and see if they can help you out.

[rhodesep]

Do you have your IR/Sensors on the GC100-6 set to IR OUT??

[rlabruyere@gmail.com]

How do I do that?Per my Post I cannot setup a Zone on the GC100 thru Homeseer

[rlabruyere@gmail.com]

GC-100 Setup

I guess it may be time to give up interfacing this device with Homeseer fortunately they enable you to load the trail version of the software so you don't get stuck with the Plugin. I downloaded the factory diagnostics and communication programs from Globacache Webpage and the device worked perfectly the first time I tried it (Unlike the Plugin). The device talks on my network and I can send it commands but not with Homseer HS2 which will not let me configure the zones for IR output (the documentation is zero help).
I have been with this stuff since 1965 and it seems every year we loss a step with our customer support in this country.Our solution of cost in fee based support (usually subed out to a foreign country). GlobalCache responded to this issue twice in 48 hours for zero dollars.
I am no longer in a position to consider buying 100 or paying for support but I wonder would it had mattered if I was.