I've got most of my program converted over to SIMPL, but I'm having a couple of problems with the Current Sense Logic: 1) If I drive the ON-B and/or OFF-B signals from a button on the touch panel, it works fine. However, if I drive them off of an output from a Stepper symbol, the ON-B doesn't turn the device on (OFF-B still works fine). I've tried adjusting the len parameter for the signal from the Stepper symbol to various values (such as .01, .1, .5, and 1s) without any changes. For now, I've implemented a macro with simpler logic that seems to work. The ON-FB(FROM_CNCS) signal is being driven by 1 of the digital inputs on an ST-IO. I've taken a look at the logic used for the Current Sense Logic and don't see anything that would behave differently with the output of a Stepper symbol versus a button press on the touch panel. 2) When I compile the program with the Current Sense Logic symbols, it complains about signal "D" in the Current Sense symbols having no destination. Again, I looked at the logic in the Current Sense Logic symbol, and indeed there is a signal labeled "D" that goes nowhere but isn't included in the parameter list. It's the out signal from a Pulse Stretcher. Any ideas? Thanks guys, Geoffrey Reynolds

Hello, I'm just starting to build some panels for my new ST1550C. As a novice at all of this I wonder just how sophisticated one can get with the panel designs? There doesn't seem to be a enough memory in the controller to allow for very fancy designs. What I'm thinking of is individual color logos in the cable box page for each of my favorite tv channels, same thing for the radio stations. Then there are the DVDs in the Pioneer juke box. Grand plans but can the 768K in the ST1550C take all this? Or am I really stuck with simple icons for navigation and page transistions? I guess only experimentation will tell but I'd like to here from the experts on this. Thanks, Dave...

A while back, Tony Golden and I had talked about figuring out how to automatically convert IR commands in Philips Pronto format to Crestron's IR driver format. I had taken a stab at decoding Crestron's driver format, but didn't get very far. Further, Crestron wasn't interested in releasing their driver format (not a big surprise). Tony asked me again the other day if I'd given it more thought. I hadn't, but I was still interested in doing this and figured I'd take another stab at it. What follows is what I've figured out so far. The drivers are binary files, so the description has the file broken down into sections and each section is broken down into the pieces that make it up. Unless otherwise noted, all numbers are in hexadecimal format. Entries enclosed in square braces are for variable values (such as [length byte] would be an actual byte count). I've figured out most of the format, but have one section that has holes. I can create a program that will allow a user to add new functions to existing drivers fairly easily with what I have so far - simply by programmatically copying an existing function from the file and modifying the header and or repeat data bytes. If anyone can help out with the holes, it would be appreciated, as it would give us the ability to generate driver files from scratch. I'm sure some of the entries have other values that I'm not yet aware of. For example, in every driver I've looked at so far, the driver type is "IR". I suspect there may be other types. I'm also not 100% sure of the calculation of the function delay value, though it works for every delay value I've plugged in so far. The biggest hole is in the function database section, for the [word1] through [wordn] values. I've seen as many as 8 word pairs in a driver If you open up a driver file in a hex editor, you should be able to follow along. If anyone has any ideas to fill in the missing pieces, please pass the information along. Geoffrey Reynolds ============================================================================ ==== Crestron DEAL Driver Format: ============================================================================ ==== Driver Header Information: [length byte]F0[driver type] [length byte]F1[comments] [length byte]F2[creation date] Format is mmddyy [length byte]F3[manufacturer] [length byte]F4[device model] [length byte]F5[remote model] [length byte]F6[default repeats byte][function delay / 10 byte] [length byte]F7[category] Function Map (1 per function): [length byte][function number byte][function name] End of function map indicator: 02 FF Function Database (1 per function): [length byte] [function number byte] [frequency byte] [header data count byte] [repeat data count byte] [upper 4 bits = repeat count, lower 4 bits = number of 2 byte words that follow] [word1]...[wordn] [header data bytes] [repeat data bytes] EOF Marker 00 Comments: - [length byte] entries include the length byte itself in the length. - [word count] defines how many word (2 byte pairs) follow. The content of those words is unknown. - Multi-code functions put subsequent codes within each function definition and are included in the [length byte] for the function definition. All other parameters ([function number byte] through [repeat data bytes] are included for each multi-code. - Frequency value = 1000000 / (Carrier Frequency * .25) except for special values, such as 19 = CONTROL S and 2B = NO CARRIER. - If the function repeat count is 0, the default is used. Some Sample Function Entries: Sony DVD Power Toggle (regular IR format) Length Byte: 23 (35 decimal) Function #: 01 Frequency: 64 (Corresponds to 40000) Header Data Count: 00 Repeat Data Count: 15 Minimum Repeats: 5 Word Pairs: 4 Unknown Word Pairs: 00 18 00 30 00 60 02 13 Repeat Data: 20 10 00 10 00 10 00 00 00 10 00 10 10 10 00 00 10 00 00 10 03 Sony DVD Power Toggle (Control S format) Length Byte: 25 Function #: 01 Frequency: 19 (Corresponds to CONTROL S) Header Data Count: 00 Repeat Data Count: 15 Minimum Repeats: 0 (Default) Word Pairs: 5 Unknown Word Pairs: 00 60 00 60 00 C0 01 80 0E

As far as IR emitters, I'd recommend the Xantech 283M (single emitter) or 286M (dual emitters). As far as I know, Xantech makes the Crestron emitters anyway and these two models have served me well. Joe Krouse

282M (single) and 284M (dual) are non-blinking 238M (single) and 286M (dual) are blinking (I find the blinking ones to be helpful for troubleshooting purposes - i.e. if blinking, the command is being sent, but IR driver is wrong)

In case any of you are interested :), I now have an editor that will read in Crestron driver files, including multi-code drivers. All that's left is to add code to write it back out (will be pretty trivial to do), add a little more functionality (the ability to rename, add, and delete functions) and fix a few minor display bugs. This isn't quite to the point of automatically converting Phillips Pronto files, but if you can figure out the device/function code sequence from the Pronto command (utilities to do this are available at http://www.RemoteCentral.com), it should be pretty easy to add the commands to a Crestron driver. There are a few other outstanding items: 1) My calculation for the carrier frequency is wrong. It works for some values, but not for others. Not a big deal, in my opinion (for our purposes). 2) The word pairs inside the function data are still unknown. (George Shtefan has contacted me to get clarification on the questions and given the program he wrote, I suspect he knows the answers if I can ask them correctly - his English is far better than my Russian :) ). My guess is that they represent things like lead ins, lead outs, representations of 1 and 0, etc. These are just guesses though. Based on the feedback from you guys so far, I'm somewhat optimistic that we'll figure out the remaining pieces. Even if we don't we have enough information to accomplish the goal we set out to meet. Anyone out there interested in a copy when this is ready? :) If there's enough interest, it might be possible to persuade me to go further with this, but I think we'll have what we need without too much effort. Geoffrey Reynolds

Thanks to help from George Shtefan, the rest of the driver format has been figured out. As most of you know already, I'm working on a program that will allow the Crestron drivers to be edited beyond what DEAL allows. It will be possible to add commands that are not on a remote control. I'm also planning to allow Philips Pronto codes to be pasted into the program and then converted to Crestron codes. Support may or may not include Philips RC-5 codes, as they are handled differently than other codes on the Pronto - I'll have to look into what is involved. Several of you have offered to pay money for this program (assuming it fits your needs), and one of you even asked me to expand it further to include translation of other driver formats (Lexicon, Xantech, and Niles were mentioned). Given income tax issues, I'm not sure accepting money is worth my while. I'd be open to other alternatives however, such as steep discounts on Crestron equipment - sell it to me for what it actually costs you (dealer cost + a reasonable amount for paper work and handling). Basically, I'll make the program available to you guys if you make it worth my while. Let me know what you're willing to do and we should be able to work something out. I'll make screen captures of the program available before you commit to anything. As to expanding to other formats, I'd need to be more heavily compensated to do that (as it wouldn't be useful to me), but would consider it. Geoffrey Reynolds ============================================================================ ==== Crestron DEAL Driver Format: ============================================================================ ==== Driver Header Information: [length byte]F0[driver type] [length byte]F1[comments] [length byte]F2[creation date] Format is mmddyy [length byte]F3[manufacturer] [length byte]F4[device model] [length byte]F5[remote model] [length byte]F6[default repeats byte][function delay / 10 byte] [length byte]F7[category] Function Map (1 per function): [length byte][function number byte][function name] End of function map indicator: 02 FF Function Database (1 per function): [length byte] [function number byte] [frequency byte] [header data count byte] [repeat data count byte] [upper 4 bits = repeat count, lower 4 bits = number of 2 byte pulse/pause time options that follow] [time1]...[timen] = [header data bytes] [repeat data bytes] EOF Marker 00 Comments: - [length byte] entries include the length byte itself in the length. - [word count] defines how many word (2 byte pairs) follow. The content of those words is unknown. - Multi-code functions put subsequent codes within each function definition and are included in the [length byte] for the function definition. All other parameters ([function number byte] through [repeat data bytes] are included for each multi-code. - Carrier Frequency = 4000000 / Frequency Byte except for special values, such as 0x19 = CONTROL S and 0x2B = NO CARRIER. There may be others that I'm not aware of. - If the function repeat count is 0, the default is used. - The values in the [time1] through [timen] options work in conjunction with the header and repeat data bytes. If for example, there are 4 time options: 0010 0039 003A 0389 and the repeat data bytes consist of: 01 21 01 01 02 The following timing sequence would occur: 0010 0039 003a 0039 0010 0039 0010 0039 0010 003a Some Sample Function Entries: Sony DVD Power Toggle (regular IR format) Length Byte: 23 (35 decimal) Function #: 01 Frequency: 64 (Corresponds to 40000) Header Data Count: 00 Repeat Data Count: 15 Minimum Repeats: 5 Word Pair Count: 4 Timing Data: 0018 0030 0060 0213 Repeat Data: 20 10 00 10 00 10 00 00 00 10 00 10 10 10 00 00 10 00 00 10 03 Sony DVD Power Toggle (Control S format) Length Byte: 25 Function #: 01 Frequency: 19 (Corresponds to CONTROL S) Header Data Count: 00 Repeat Data Count: 15 Minimum Repeats: 0 (default) Word Pair Count: 5 Timing Data: 0060 0060 00C0 0180 0EA8 Repeat Data: 31 21 11 21 11 21 11 11 11 21 11 21 21 21 11 11 21 11 11 21 14 Sony DVD Power On (Control S format) Length Byte:

Hello, ALL! This is my first post, great message board!! Anyone figured out the 'Secret' to rs-232 control of the QuadScan video processor?? It took me forever to figure it out for AMX. Now I'm starting over w/ crestron!! ?? String format?? Any help is appreciated. Chris K..........................;-)

Awhile back someone was asking about the serial protocol for this unit. Denon seems to think it's top secret. Anyone found it? TIA Jeff St.Cyr

Don't want to stick my head in too soon, but Panja *does* currently have a zoom file (their partner program files) for the Denon AVR5800 on their web site. I talked with someone in their P3 department (where I used to be a software engineer), and they informed me it *did* work through the serial port. I've attached what the .txt file included with the zoom file. Although I'm not too familiar with Crestron, and I can't get the actual serial values from the Zoom file (it's encrypted, partners requested it that way...), I thought I'd chime in so at least you know it can be controlled via the RS-232 port. Now, maybe if someone were *both* a Panja and a Crestron dealer, they could hook it up to a 5800 and see what it sends... Not that *I* would ever sugest that... :) Ryan Erickson ryan_erickson@... P.S. I read your group out of curiosity. I've always wondered what Crestron systems were good at, etc. It's very interesting reading... Good Luck! Denon AVR5800.txt follows ------------------------------ Manufacturer: Denon Device Name: Denon AVR5800 Icons: Denon.bmp ToolBar Location: P3 Audio/Video Connection to Landmark is via a SAM (PHASTLink to RS232) interface module. This device is available from Panja. A null serial cable is necessary (pins 2,3,5). Please use a 100mS pause between commands. If direct volume commands and feedback do not work correctly you might need a firmware upgrade on the Denon receiver. Volume levels are not linear. Any volume level below 20 is muted, any volume level above 86 is max. Surround channel levels are not linear. The device may report back a different volume level than what Landmark sets it to. (C) Panja 1999 Denon AVR5800.txt end ------------------------------

MrGolden, I'm not sure that Landmark is *more* closed than Crestron, just the P3 modules are. Yes, having encrypted modules is part of the down-side to how Panja has done Landmark, but it's a trade-off. They have not done this with their commercial (AMX) line. As far as being 'open', I suspect it's more in line with Crestron's style. There are a few up-sides to how Landmark is done. They include: 1) Due to the fact that they *can* encrypt partner stuff, it's quite a bit easier for P3 to sign up difficult partners who don't want to release their protocols openly. 2) It's extremely easy for dealers to control the P3 equipment. Basically, they don't have to find / learn / program the protocol. It's all handled by the module. 3) With the 'zoom' modules, it only takes 2 days to a week for a new P3 partner product to be completely working and tested in the system, and once it is, the dealers don't have to troubleshoot it. They download the module off the web, plug in the gear, and have full access to partner device capabilities. Also, in Landmark, you *can* still control something that's not P3 partner gear, through the serial port. It's just a bigger pain for the dealer. I communicate with my Linux box, and to my web pages that way. Sorry for the novel. :) I was working at Panja in P3 when the zoom concept was developed. It works pretty well. I'm not trying to gain converts to Phast, just to clarify the good *and* the bad. In *my* perfect world, the communication specs (IR, RS-232, 485, ethernet, cable description) to all products would be on the manufacturer's web site for anyone to download. For more Landmark P3 info: http://www.panja.com/p3/index-p3.asp http://phast.com/phast/zoom-files.htm Ryan Erickson ryan_erickson@... http://erickson.myip.org Disclaimer: I now work for Intel (didn't want to move Panja/Dallas), and of course I don't speak for anyone but myself.

I have a few ST-CP's in racks, with the touch panel (ST-1500) on top of the rack. I have been having some reliability problems and am considering using a BNC male to female cable and placing the antenna on the outside of the rack. Has anyone else tried this? Don *********************************************************************** Don Reeve Lewis & Clark College Field Technician Instructional Media Services Email: reeve@... IT Division Voice: (503) 768-7027 http://www.lclark.edu "To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society". Theodore Roosevelt ***********************************************************************

Two items today: First, is there a PDF form of the SIMPL+ Language Reference Guide that is mentioned in the SIMPL+ Programming Guide? I cannot find it on Crestron's website but it IS referenced. Second, I finally got my system installed. It's only a starter system -- AV controller, PAD8 and an AMPX. I have six audio keypads and two CT1000. Currently I'm just trying to get the CNMP12FW keypads to initiate audio. I have set everything up in Home Wizard and the keypad indicates that it is working: Press On/Off (LED comes on) Press CD (source 1) (LED blinks) Press Vol Up (CD LED blinks) no audio is produced I hooked up my PC speakers via RCA to the PAD8 output in question and I do get audio when I enter Test Manager and trigger the same button sequence above. Also, when I trigger the above button sequence, I can hear a click from the AMPX. My first thought is that the max volume is set to 0 or something. Messing around, I changed a signal that resembled "max_vol_up" and "max_vol_dn" from 0 to 1 with no luck. I must admit, I have not totally read through my SIMPL+ programmers guide and have only been messing with the Crestron code for two evenings and am quite green. I've, thus far, only been able to revel in sending a simple bitmap to my CT1000 and toggling between two pages via two buttons. I'm ready to jam in my audio zones...can anyone help? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Incidentally, I will undoubtedly be leaning on you guys quite a bit to start, my integrators are completely willing to help me but they are as green as me...I'm their first install. :) Thanks for any insight, Tim Hoefer tim@...

Some time back there was a request for a Sony combined Satellite/TiVo unit IR driver. Is it still needed? I have one, and can upload it anyone wants it. Shawn

Hi there Do somebody have the engraving sheet for CT1000? Regards, Claus

I'm going to repost this, I don't know what happened to the last one. I Posted the driver to the files section yesterday. The T60 driver is based on Sony's Satellite IR driver & shares no common codes with their other TiVo units Shawn

Since this hobby isn't the cheapest, I'm looking for some inexpensive alternatives for audio to plug into my pad8 (I can't justify buying an ST-TUNE). Are there any suggestions for a many-disc cd changer and a receiver that interface well with Crestron? I have 8 IR wire transmitters ready to use if need be but if I can get a cd changer that has can convey the disc info to my CT1000s via RS232c or whatever, that would be preferable. BTW, are you guys having any luck with denon and the 5800 codes yet? Is that pretty much par for the course concerning vendors and their advertised "crestron-enabled" claims? BTW, got my audio pumpin' through the house now. Thanks for the help everyone! Thanks for the help, Tim tim@...

Hi all. Wondered if anyone can help me? I am currently programming a system and wondered if the following was possible (I am sure it is - I just can't work out how at this minute): In certain rooms, we are using 10 button keypads to reduce cost as opposed to the CT1000's everywhere else. Is it possible to have one button CYCLE through the 8 sources of the Crestron PAD? We don't need to control the sources or anything fancy - just turn the volume up and down and select sources (therefore using only three buttons leaving th erest free for lights etc.). Is this possible? The only thing I can think of at the moment is to use an Analog Step - would this work connecting the output from the Step to the PAD source selcect - what values should I use (1,2,3 etc.??). I hope someone can help me - my biggest problem is we have not received our PAD yet - so I can't fiddle around and try things out. I look forward to your answers and suggestions. Regards Marcus

Hi - I'm pretty new to programming in SIMPL but have been able to successfully set up most of my system with an ST-CP unit and some cresnet modules. I've got one problem, though, that I havent been able to crack. I'd be curious to know if anyone here has any comments -- I have a serial device, a Parasound AVC-2500u, which reports a status message in the form of a string like this: "1 19 -30 1". Each of those items represents part of the status for a control (in this case, volume). The "1" indicates Zone 1. The "19" indicates "volume status", the "-30" indicates the actual volume setting (-30db), and the last parameter "1" is a don't care. What I want to do is read in this volume status (-30db) and either add or subtract the value 10 to it (dependant on what the user resses on his touch panel). This gives me a button that quickly lets me change the volume from whatever it is by +/-10db accurately and quickly. It would also let me send the current volume setting to be displayed on a 2way touch panel. What I cant figure out how to do is parse that input serial string into values that I can numerically compute (ie, add or subtract 10 from) and then re-assemble it into a command (which has the same format) to issue to the device. To me, this looks like a perfect place for SIMPL+, however I dont believe SIMPL+ will run on a ST-CP which is what I have. Thoughts? Thanks! -Jim (lostboy@...)

Any suggestions to cost-effective video distribution in lieu of having a video dist module from Creston? -Tim tim@...