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**mrhappy** · July 1, 2013, 02:55 PM

I don't have anything that comes close to the definition of a theatre but have HSTouch controlling the IR for my TV, cable, PVR and DVD player. I use a different piece of hardware (the USB UIRT) and I have programmed most of the relevant IR codes which I can then repeat from HS and HSTouch.

Does it work well? Well it works but I found it needs patience, testing and then some more testing. If I try and program an event to say turn on the TV and set the news channel then it needs about five separate IR sends. I've found different hardware responds in different ways, my TV needs about fifteen seconds (but oddly is OK with the remote sending the command) after power on before it seems willing to accept channel commands from the UIRT so that needs factoring in, you might find similar with different pieces of hardware when you try and set scenes up.

One piece of personal advice is not to hard code anything inside your HSTouch project, if you need to edit the slightest thing it becomes tedious opening projects and redeploying them. My suggestion is to either do it all by event or do it by script. For example this is part of a script (just as an example) that when I send it a channel number from HSTouch will turn on my TV if off, tell me what it is setting and then try and set the channel on the cable box. The advantage of it being inside a script means if the channel numbers ever change I can simply edit the script rather than have to change multiple different projects in HSTouch.

Code:

Sub TVTurnOn(ByVal ChNo As String)

    Call Populate("") 'adds all of the channel numbers to an array

    Dim ChannelFind As String = ChList(ChNo) 'finds the channel no for the channel name

If ChannelFind Is Nothing Then

hs.writelog(LT, "Error Channel Not Found")

Else

        hs.speak("I am setting the TV for " & ChNo)
hs.writelog(LT, "Setting TV to " & ChNo)

        Dim UC As String = "A14" 'this turns on the TV/Cable

If hs.isoff(UC) Then

            hs.execX10(UC, "On") 'turn it on if it is off

            hs.waitsecs(5) 'wait for the TV to boot up

            hs.sendIR("TV,On") 'fire up the TV
            hs.waitsecs(15) 'wait
            hs.sendIR("Cable,On") 'turn the DTV on

End If

hs.waitsecs(5)

        Dim ByteCh As Byte() = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(ChannelFind) 'split the requested channel number up into single digits

For each Element As Integer In ByteCh

            hs.sendIR("Cable," & Chr(Element)) 'then send each channel number in sequence with a one second delay after
hs.waitsecs(1)

Next

        hs.sendIR("Cable,OK") 'then hit the enter button

End If

ChList = Nothing

End Sub

Sub Populate(ByVal Parms As Object)

    ChList.Add("BBC One", "1")
    ChList.Add("BBC Two England", "2")
    ChList.Add("ITV (Central)", "3")
    ChList.Add("Channel 4", "4")
    ChList.Add("Channel 5", "5")
    ChList.Add("ITV2", "6")
    ChList.Add("BBC Three", "7")
    ChList.Add("BBC Four", "9")
    ChList.Add("ITV1 Central +1", "33")
    ChList.Add("ITV2 (+1)", "27")
    ChList.Add("ITV3", "10")
    ChList.Add("ITV4", "24")
    ChList.Add("More4", "14")
    ChList.Add("5USA", "31")
    ChList.Add("5*", "30")

ChList.Add("Pick TV", "11")
ChList.Add("Dave", "12")
ChList.Add("Dave ja vu", "25")
ChList.Add("Quest", "38")
ChList.Add("E4", "28")
ChList.Add("E4 (+1)", "29")
ChList.Add("Film4", "15")
ChList.Add("CBBC", "70")
ChList.Add("CBeebies", "71")
ChList.Add("CITV", "72")
ChList.Add("BBC News Channel", "80")
ChList.Add("Viva", "21")
ChList.Add("Challenge", "45")


ChList.Add("Really", "17")
ChList.Add("4Music", "18")
ChList.Add("Yesterday", "19")
ChList.Add("Channel 4 (+1)", "13")
ChList.Add("Channel 5 (+1)", "44")
ChList.Add("4seven", "47")


End Sub

**LeoS** · July 1, 2013, 03:01 PM

Hi Shannon,

I'm in the process of (perpetually) setting up my HomeSeer for my home too... and for the media room, so far I've only wired up the aircon and lighting system. That room also has temperature and humidity sensor (Oregon Sci) and a couple of motion detectors.

My plan is to use HomeSeer to 'prep' the room, so things are ready to rock when we go there to watch movies... namely:

- sets the aircon to cool the room (IR via ultragcir + gc-100-12)
- sets dim lighting (plcbus)
- turns on the projector so it heats up and brings the brightness to optimal level (IR)
- boots up the media player (xbmc) and receiver (IR)

And to reverse the process once we're done.

Right now I have no plans to bring the actual playback component controls to the tablet, because I prefer tactile feel of the hardware buttons and also because I hate having a bright tablet in a dark room.

**shannon3** · July 1, 2013, 03:09 PM

Originally posted by mrhappy View Post

Does it work well? Well it works but I found it needs patience, testing and then some more testing. If I try and program an event to say turn on the TV and set the news channel then it needs about five separate IR sends. I've found different hardware responds in different ways, my TV needs about fifteen seconds (but oddly is OK with the remote sending the command) after power on before it seems willing to accept channel commands from the UIRT so that needs factoring in, you might find similar with different pieces of hardware when you try and set scenes up.

I'm familiar dealing with various inter-command delays with different devices as well as understanding some actions cannot be completed until others finish (such as waiting 8 seconds TV-On before the input can be set). One of the benefits of using Global Cache as the center point of the IR is that it already has a huge database of IR devices so I won't have to do a lot of manual IR code learning and programming. (hopefully)

My concern is more about the functionality of using HSTouch on a daily basis as my "remote" rather than the challenges of setup of the various commands, activities, scenes, etc. As long as it works as well as an "Activity" or "Scene" based remote then I'm happy. Actually, more than happy with it!

Do you find yourself thinking things are missing, annoying, difficult to navigate etc when using it regularly to control your system?

Originally posted by mrhappy View Post

One piece of personal advice is not to hard code anything inside your HSTouch project, if you need to edit the slightest thing it becomes tedious opening projects and redeploying them. My suggestion is to either do it all by event or do it by script. For example this is part of a script (just as an example) that when I send it a channel number from HSTouch will turn on my TV if off, tell me what it is setting and then try and set the channel on the cable box. The advantage of it being inside a script means if the channel numbers ever change I can simply edit the script rather than have to change multiple different projects in HSTouch.

Makes sense. Sounds like good advice.

Thanks for you quick and helpful reply!

**shannon3** · July 1, 2013, 03:20 PM

Originally posted by LeoS View Post

Right now I have no plans to bring the actual playback component controls to the tablet, because I prefer tactile feel of the hardware buttons and also because I hate having a bright tablet in a dark room.

My remote today has a small LCD screen on it though not very bright and it doesn't bother me. My plan is to have an HSTouch screen for AV that is a black background and white, red, or grey lettering so it isn't bright in a dark room.

As for playback functions (play, pause, RW, FF, etc) hardware buttons are better. However, I don't normally hold my remote. There is an Android app that will turn the display on/off when the proximity sensor detects your hand. I'll probably use that so the screen won't always be on but turns on easily to access the playback functions.

Thanks!

**LeoS** · July 1, 2013, 03:47 PM

Originally posted by shannon3 View Post

My remote today has a small LCD screen on it though not very bright and it doesn't bother me. My plan is to have an HSTouch screen for AV that is a black background and white, red, or grey lettering so it isn't bright in a dark room.

Great idea! I think I may look into that as well.

As for playback functions (play, pause, RW, FF, etc) hardware buttons are better. However, I don't normally hold my remote. There is an Android app that will turn the display on/off when the proximity sensor detects your hand. I'll probably use that so the screen won't always be on but turns on easily to access the playback functions.

Sounds cool, I've never heard of that.
I've had bad experience with remote apps (including RedEye beamer and several other apps). I haven't been happy with flat + bright + small screen estate. 7" tablets may be interesting to play with.

Btw, do you already have the GlobalCache units?

Note that their earlier products (GC-100) has a more limited IR capability than the iTach line. I've found it the hard way when I was programming my split aircons. Daikin and Mitsubishi brand aircons use extra-long IR string, which could be learnt by my wifi iTach (WF2IR) but could not be transmitted by the 3x GC-100-12 that I've already wired around the house.

If you're sure that the GC-100 can handle your gears, they're really good deals with prices as low as $60 each for 6 IR, 3 relays and 2 serials ports (max 57,600 baud though). But make sure they're version 3+ so they can be used with UltraGCIR plugin.

If you're going with iTach units, then you can choose between the last gen units (WF2IR and IP2IR) or the new iTach Flex (Wifi and wired version). The flex is cheaper, but make sure you calculate the accessories cost too, because they're sold separately (cables, blasters, power adapter, etc).

More info about GlobalCache IR devices on this thread:

http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=158204

**mrhappy** · July 1, 2013, 04:04 PM

Originally posted by shannon3 View Post

Do you find yourself thinking things are missing, annoying, difficult to navigate etc when using it regularly to control your system?

Missing - no I went through and figured out what I used on a frequent basis and added those codes, nothing to stop me learning the remainder and just not using them but I didn't bother. Annoying is one of those difficult ones, not annoying to me but then again if it was annoying to me I would not use it - it is rare someone else uses my system though so I can't really put it to public vote.

Regarding difficult to navigate then on my side mounted touch screens I have one page split into devices and the screen layout is perfectly usable. On my iPhone client I instead use an IR device, I don't see them talked about much but when you add a device in HS there is the option to add an IR device. In this device then you can add learned IR keys, the advantage of this is then it appears in the HSTouch device selector which is part of the stock HSTouch templates and you can simply select the device and send the command. One thing I have seen for some people to get used to is the delay, there is naturally going to be a delay between the HSTouch client, HSTouch server, HS, IR hardware and then sending (perhaps a second) which if you have someone impatient using the system could instead press it a second time thinking the first one did not go through.

**shannon3** · July 1, 2013, 04:13 PM

Originally posted by LeoS View Post

Btw, do you already have the GlobalCache units?

Not yet.

Can HS communicate with the GC-100s over Ethernet or only via serial?

Can HS communicate with the iTach's over Ethernet?

I hate serial.

**LeoS** · July 1, 2013, 04:19 PM

Originally posted by shannon3 View Post

Not yet.

Can HS communicate with the GC-100s over Ethernet or only via serial?

Can HS communicate with the iTach's over Ethernet?

I hate serial.

HS communicates to GC-100s over ethernet. It provides you with 2 serial ports, 3 relays and 6 infrared ports. So theoretically you can use the GC-100 as IP-to-Serial solution. But you can't use it with z-troller, because z-troller runs at 115,200 baud. (I wanted to relocate one of my z-trollers with the GC-100s initially).

Yes, iTach (and iTach Flex) comes in both wired and wireless flavors.

For long-runs, yeah I wouldn't want to deal with serials either... but for interfacing with control units, I've grown to appreciate their simplicity and ubiquity (there are plenty of industrial IP-Serial and USB-serial solutions for cheap on Ebay

. Look up Digi Edgeports if you need USB-to-serials.

**shannon3** · July 1, 2013, 04:37 PM

Originally posted by LeoS View Post

For long-runs, yeah I wouldn't want to deal with serials either... but for interfacing with control units, I've grown to appreciate their simplicity and ubiquity (there are plenty of industrial IP-Serial and USB-serial solutions for cheap on Ebay

. Look up Digi Edgeports if you need USB-to-serials.

My HS server only has one modem/serial port. I already have a 16 port Gig switch in my equipment closet plus good Wi-Fi coverage in the house. Two of the IR controllers will be in that same closet and the other will be upstairs. I'd only use serial if I was forced to since it means buying USB-Serial converters and/or IP-serial converters with com-port redirectors all to use a slow, legacy communications protocol. Instead, I can simply connect a Cat5e cable locally or add another device to my Wi-Fi network.

I learned to hate that stuff from my days as a networking engineer when modems and other legacy circuits were delivered over connections where parity bits, baud rates, line encoding, timing, etc caused major headaches and was tough to troubleshoot. Urg!

Thanks for your replies.

**dcdelong** · July 1, 2013, 06:10 PM

shannon3,

Does HSTouch work well enough for control of an AV system to be the app for that? I know it WILL work but does it work WELL? I'd really like to hear opinions from those with multiple components and scenes that are using HSTouch today before I spend the money on the IR gear and extra mini-tabs.

I completely control my AV systems using several HSTouch applications. I use a HP300 Touchscreen running Windows 8 mounted on the wall and a couple of Android mini-tabs to control. Multiple remotes if you will.

My Theater Room in on the first floor with all the equipment in a rack in the basement. I use a zwave device to control the on/off of the TV (Panasonic), the head unit is a Pioneer that I control with UltaJones' plugin, I have UVerse that I control with UltraJones' plugin and a Global Cache WF2IR. I also use CFGuy's HSTV to get current and future "What's on" information. Add a couple of scripts and I have ditched my Harmony 1100.

Where it does fall apart a bit is that one of the devices connected is an Apple TV that while I can set the input and get it up on the screen, I have to jump to a different remote to control it. I currently use an old Apple Ipod to do that. It also has a small HSTouch application on it with (currently) a sub-set of the main controls.

The great thing is that my technically challenged wife absolutely loves it.

I also echo the notion of not programming much control into the actual HSTouch applications. It is much better for maintenance/feature add if you use scripts and/or events.

Enjoy and welcome to the board

Chris

**LeoS** · July 2, 2013, 12:17 AM

Originally posted by shannon3 View Post

My HS server only has one modem/serial port. I already have a 16 port Gig switch in my equipment closet plus good Wi-Fi coverage in the house. Two of the IR controllers will be in that same closet and the other will be upstairs. I'd only use serial if I was forced to since it means buying USB-Serial converters and/or IP-serial converters with com-port redirectors all to use a slow, legacy communications protocol. Instead, I can simply connect a Cat5e cable locally or add another device to my Wi-Fi network.

I learned to hate that stuff from my days as a networking engineer when modems and other legacy circuits were delivered over connections where parity bits, baud rates, line encoding, timing, etc caused major headaches and was tough to troubleshoot. Urg!

Thanks for your replies.

Someone CMIIW, but I think IP-to-serial is more reliable than IP-to-USB (which are usually used as a bridge to serial devices anyway). IP-to-USB has potential timing issues and you have to choose them more carefully, as there are many low-end models catering to the masses.

(Much) Better off to find used industrial ones on Ebay, than buying a brand new low-end ones.

At any rate, I've had more reliable and predictable result dealine with serial devices than USB in HomeSeer context so far

And this reminds me that I should create a separate VLAN for my IP-to-serial devices...

**ksum** · September 5, 2013, 08:39 AM

Any comparison on the speed of commands through HSTouch vs the Harmony remote? For instance, scrolling the listings on a cable box. Is there a noticable delay using HSTouch?

Karl

**Mack1979** · September 27, 2013, 06:58 AM

I'd love to hear how people did the programming. When I tried the SQ Blaster you had to manually add every command one at a time in HS. I just didn't have weeks to enter every command from 4 different remotes (for the first of 3 room's of TVs, xboxes, amps) so I gave up and sent it back until they can do something like the harmony remotes which take a few minutes to setup and it adds all the commands at once.

**Steve Q** · September 27, 2013, 09:05 AM

HSTouch for Home Theater

I love HSTouch. But I don't think I would use as a primary controller for my TV. It takes too long to connect with HomeSeer. My experience has been that it takes anywhere from 1 to 5 seconds to connect. This is not fast enough when channel surfing. And I doubt it will ever be as fast as the remote that comes with the TV!

But I do use it to turn on my home theater and set up the sound system, etc. HSTouch is great for this type of control. I use my iTouch/iPhone as the controller. I always have it in my pocket.

If you want a single controller and HSTouch to do everything in your home theater, you're likely to be disappointed. But when an unexpected friend drops by and you can press one button to start up the home theater, turn on the Apple TV and start a slide show of the kids soccer season, and play your favorite background music while you are pouring some ice tea, HSTouch is the perfect solution.

Steve Q

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

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