Connecting to Cam 6.6 to LAN/wireless

[Guest]

Very basic question (sorry). I'm a homeowner with a Russound Cam 6.6 - current audio sources are Tuner, CD and iPod. I would like to connect the Russound system to my network to manage the system, push music play lists, etc. What hardware and software do I need to do this?

I'm not a techno genius but I don't mind digging in a bit. Thanks for any advice or direction.

[S-F]

Welcome to HomeSeer and our forum!

Now, on to the meat of the situation.

In order to connect your CAM to HS you need a serial connection of some kind. Here personally I'm using a USB to serial A dapter. If you go this route I recommend an adapter with a FTDI chip. Don't ask me why. I'm just rehashing folk wisdom. Mine has worked flawlessly for something like 6 years now. If the hardware you run HS on has a serial port you could alternatively just use a serial cable. I think mine has this but I got into Russound control when I was using a different system that didn't have such features and I've just continued using what I have, because if it ain't broke don't fix it. I also believe that there are serial over Ethernet gadgets available. I think that GlobalCache makes one. I know little about this personally. I think they require special drivers on your system. I don't know. The crux is that you need a serial connection of some kind. Apart from the physical component of the system you also would need BLRussound, clearly, and that's it.

And I must say, if you do go getting to tinker with HS and Russound you probably also want to look into BLSpeech. With it you can do some really great things regarding announcements. A huge portion of my system involves BLSpeech and BLRussound.

Please don't hesitate to post any more questions you may have!

[Jobee]

Very basic question (sorry). I'm a homeowner with a Russound Cam 6.6 - current audio sources are Tuner, CD and iPod. I would like to connect the Russound system to my network to manage the system, push music play lists, etc. What hardware and software do I need to do this?

I'm not a techno genius but I don't mind digging in a bit. Thanks for any advice or direction.

In addition to the ton of knowledge from S-F, first thing I learned when I connected my CAM6.6 (2 of them) is where everything is. My CAMs are in a audio space where as my HS is in a server room on different floors of my home.

Solution - Get a serial to LAN adapter. On the HS side, I run a piece of software from IC Plus Corp then on the LAN adapter goes a serial cable to the CAM.

Once I got the LAN adapter setup (static IP) and the software setup to find the LAN adapter, the BLRussound plug in and BLSpeech work like a charm.

Happy to share my plug in setups if needed.

I use the system to wake the kids with music in their rooms, remind them to take out the trash and so on. I have an ST2 with XM so I can even tune it when needed from HS.

Michael

[rabjab12]

Hello, I am new to HM and have a Cav6.6. Please share any thought and suggestions to get up and running on HS. I would prefer to hook up the Cav via Lan if possible. Anyhelp would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, RIck