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[DoubtingThomas]

When I wake up in the morning, I press one button on my remote which turns on my (3) B&K Reference 50 2-zone processors and 6 sets of power amps, and starts MediaCenter on my PC which automatically starts playing the PlayingNow playlist.  I have my main 5.1 system in the living room, and 5 others sets of speakers/subs around the house.  All speakers play the same thing, I live alone...  a wife would really complicate my setup...

The single remote button press actually triggers a macro in my HomeVision home automation controller, which sends out all the individual IR commands to turn on and configure my audio system and signals my PC to stop MC if running, and then restart it.

I have learning IR/RF Universal Remote Controls all over the house and the X10 waterproof remote attached to the wall in my shower.  Of course, there are speakers in my master bathroom.

I use MC for audio only, I'm just not into video at all and rarely watch TV or movies.  I use MC for about 10-12 hours a day while I'm home (I retired in April @54 !).

Using the PlayingNow plugin, my system reads the MC status and current/next playing track and generates 9 custom video screens for display on any TV around my house and on many dedicated monitors.  My screens are text based, not pretty like Theater View, but they do include info on MC status, temperatures around my house, the stock market, email, call logs and HVAC activity.

If my phone rings, or the doorbell rings, or a vehicle enters my driveway, or I leave the house, MC is automatically paused... (pause and shutdown when my smartphone wifi connection is closed)

So other than managing my library and keeping my PlayingNow playlist full... 99% of my control of MC is through MC18.exe commands from remote controls and my home automation system.

It was the ability to control MC using MC18.exe (I think I started with MC8 or 9 and mjextman.exe) that sold me on MediaCenter and a fully PC based jukebox, and giving up using physical CD's in a huge changer.  Album Reply Gain was another huge incentive, but that came later...

I wanted you to know how i use MC, and MC18.exe... and how important that ability is to my system.

[fitbrit]

Thanks for the info. My home automation is a mere child in comparison, but also a fraction of the cost, I'm sure. Very cool to use your phone losing wifi as a trigger!

[StFeder]

Wow. Impressive setup. Will you perhaps share some photos?!

[DoubtingThomas]

Pix of a home automation system are difficult... I work to make it invisible... other than control though my remote controls and the video screens on TV's and monitors around the house.

Here is my "control room"...  all of the monitors, security cameras and sensors are connected to the mess of stuff on a wall inside my office closet (spare bedroom) mostly through wiring below the house in the crawlspace.  My PC is also in this room (monitor, keyboard and mouse out in the actual home office)

I have another "audio room" where all my audio equipment is housed, out of sight... all controlled by IR/RF remote controls and my HomeVision home automation boards.  (upper left in the picture).  I run a digital coax line from my PC sound card to my audio system preamps.

[StFeder]

 

You have that telephone there to make MC notice if the phone rings?!

[DoubtingThomas]

You have that telephone there to make MC notice if the phone rings?!

My HomeVision has a phone/callerId add on... which also detects phone ringing and on/off hooks.  The phone is there, with a LED that blinks when I have voicemail... and I put a light sensor over it to detect the blinking light, so my system knows if I have any voice mail, and the caller id info is displayed on my video screens all over the house.

The whole thing is controlled by the HomeVision boards and it's custom programming language, along with lots of my self-written C++ and Java and UNIX shell scripts (using cygwin) and windows/dos batch files.

MC has no provisions to react to exterior events... but the HomeVision board detects the ringing phone and then sends MC18.exe commands to pause any music that may be playing, along with pausing my DVD player and muting my TV (same thing if the doorbell rings).

Back when I was working... I'd also get an email if my doorbell was rung... and then I could see who was there on my smartphone by viewing my exterior cameras in real time.

[Quixote]

This whole thing is pretty cool!

Thanks for posting it.

[InflatableMouse]

Impressive. Thanks for sharing.