First thing to make clear is that this does NOT work with sheduled recordings. It will change the channel with live tv, but I have not determined how to get events and the channel information for scheduled recordings. I know that this severly limits the functionality of this plugin, but I am working on solving this issue.
This plugin will send a command out a serial port based on a track change event from MC. I have only tested it with a DirectTv, but I tried to make it flexible enough to use with other boxes.
The zip file is attached. Extract the zip file and then run setup, it should install in your MC plugin directory. You may need to go into the plugin manager and 'show' the plug in.
Here is how it works:
"New" button - creates a new item to control
"Delete" button - deletes the current item
"Save" button - saves the configuration
Event - use this to select which event you want to use to trigger the message. Currently 'Channel_Change' is the only option, but I plan to add more
Device - this must match the name in the Playback Device field. I am hoping to be able to expand this to allow the plugin to send different messages to different boxes based on which tuner is being used.
Comm Type - 'Serial' is the only option, but I am hoping to add more types in the future.
Port, Baud Rate, Data Bits, Parity, and Stop bits are based on your set top box.
Command - here is where the power is. Type in the command as you want it sent. Use the following codes to modify your command
- [Axx] will insert an ascii character in the command, where xx is the ascii code.
- [C] inserts the channel into the command. This is pulled from the MC database field TV Channel Number, so make sure this is populated
- [CH] will insert the hex equivilant of the channel number
- [Cxxxx] or [CHxxxx] will fill the command with '0's, so if your command requires 0014 for channel 14, then use [Cxxxx]
You can select the 'Send Command as Binary' check box to send the command as a binary command instead of the Ascii characters.
DirectTv set top boxes use this command FAA6[CHxxxx]FFFF and are sent in binary.
The future -
I hope to add additional events and communication methods. I also want to add some method of verification that the command was recieved with a retry counter. I have also thought about verifying that the box is on and attempting to turn it on, if possible.
Any questions, let me know.
Alex
Author
Topic: Serial Interface plug in (Read 1650 times)