GlobalCache GC-100 and mControl

[creimer]

Does anyone have any experiences using this product with mControl? I would like to be able to control my all of my home theatre devices from one central location.

1. How hard is the setup within mControl to setup the GC100?
2. Does the unit come with standard IR codes for devices or do you have to set this up manually?
3. Is it possible to "learn" from another remote and store this in the GC-100 or mControl?
4. Is there another recommended IR solution.

Thanks for any help and guidance!

Chuck

[Alex]

Chuck,


1. How hard is the setup within mControl to setup the GC100?

mControl user manual page 131 - 136

2. Does the unit come with standard IR codes for devices or do you have to set this up manually?

The GC-100 unit recognizes IR codes from most standard remotes

3. Is it possible to "learn" from another remote and store this in the GC-100 or mControl?

mControl user manual page 133 - 143

4. Is there another recommended IR solution?

With mControl, currently not. mControl only support the GC-100


Happy Home Automating!

[creimer]

Thanks Alex for the info. Have you used this product before? If so, would you recommmend this as a good IR solution? TIA

[Support]

Chuck,


It really depends on what your home automation requirements are.
GC-100 units allow only 1 TCP/IP connection so - 1 mControl per GC-100 unit.

Edit

Currently, mControl can only support 1 GC-100 unit at a time. Support for multiple GC-100 unit is in the works.

The main funcitonality the GC-100 unit is that you can learn any IR command on most remote controls and use the learned command later in mControl as a macro.
Essentially, the macro action will blast the command to an IR port (6-18 depending on the GC-100 unit) and thus control the device connected to that port.
Some of our customers are using this type of functionality to control their audio devices and other are using it internally within mControl to trigger macros.


Hope this helps,

Embedded Automation Support

[Ted Singh]

Global Cache has also announced a new product (RG-1), which is a long range IR receiver. With this component, you can use mControl to trigger off of previously learned IR commands, to run a macro.

"We have been looking forward to the release of the GC-RG1,” said Ted Singh, Embedded Automation Business Development Manager, creators of mControl automation software. “With this product our software is able to recognize incoming IR commands and automatically launch mControl macros, allowing us to accomplish a multitude of functions, such as controlling Z-Wave and INSTEON devices, sending email, sending IR commands, or launching other programs. Previously, to initiate any type of sophisticated automation via IR control, an expensive touchscreen and custom software were required. Used together, Global Caché and mControl are a complete system. This solution requires no custom software, making it cost-effective and easy to use. In our opinion, it can become the de facto solution for the home theater.”

Here's the press release from Global Cache: http://www.globalcache.com/news/pr-receivers.html

Ted

[creimer]

After evaluating this product, it has by far IMHO the best user interface compared to the other HA software available. My only issue is getting access to this. I have an xbox360 and the MCE plugin works great but I dont want to open Media Center each time. It would be nice to have a touchscreen remote or some type of PDA that I could use that would access the website wirelessly. Does anyone have any suggestions on how one could accomplish this? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[creimer]

BTW, I will using this to control lighting and Home Theater devices via probably the gc100. TIA

[Ted Singh]

You know that you can run mControl in a browser, right? All you have to do is type in: http://<ip address or localhost>:29990/default.aspx.

Ted

[creimer]

Yes, and a very nice feature but I would like to have a device to control the systems besides a full blown desktop/laptop sitting in my entertainment room.

[Support]

Chuck,


Shortly we will release a custom Grey Skin with mControl that will enable GUI designers to make custom GUIs for various platforms.

The custom skin will be released with documentation and will be included in mControl v1.60-STABLE


Best Regards,
Embedded Automation Support