Adding RF remote to CQC

[avtexan]

I want to add RF remote control to my CQC setup to trigger lights, shades etc.

I already have RF remotes from URC and a MSC-400 with the MRF-350 base station.
I also am using a Global Cashe GC-100.

Which is more stable or a more reliable connection....serial off of the MSC-400 or use the IR into the GC-100?  Either easier to setup?

Which driver would I use?

[Dean Roddey]

Does the MSC-400 send out text strings you configure or something like that? If so, you'd use the serial trigger driver, which will let you train CQC to respond to those strings. That would also allow for parameterization of the commands, which makes it a lot more flexible.

[Bugman]

I want to add RF remote control to my CQC setup to trigger lights, shades etc.

I already have RF remotes from URC and a MSC-400 with the MRF-350 base station.
I also am using a Global Cashe GC-100.

Which is more stable or a more reliable connection....serial off of the MSC-400 or use the IR into the GC-100?  Either easier to setup?

Which driver would I use?

I went through this recently with an "old school" MSC-400 I acquired off of Ebay for peanuts. I say old school since this unit requires URC CCP software (I have a copy), and no later software than Vista (I have that on a virtual PC, and an old laptop with XP). I took some configuring time, but I have to say, for the first time ever my system control via RF is ROCK SOLID. In the past I used URC RF remotes (MX-850's) with a USBuirt, and sometimes it worked and other times, not. The flakiness was, I believe, due to the long RF strings required to communicate with CQC, but now I use the MSC-400 and attached RFX-250 to just receive a short trigger command from the remote. The MSC-400 receives the trigger and sends a serial text command to the CQC serial port trigger driver. I configure the text commands in the MSC in the form of drivername.fieldname. In this way, once trained with a single command, for example, Oppo.Play, all subsequent Oppo.xxxxx commands are done (with a few exceptions depending on how the driver is set up). The driver parses both fields and can be used in action commands for that driver.

In the end, CQC does all the heavy lifting and the URC side does as little as possible. That has contributed to the level of success I'm experiencing. On the plus side also, is that this era of URC equipment goes for a song on ebay and is very reliable. While I have acquired MX-880's recently, I have found a way to use my old, beloved MX-850's with this system as well. For my home theater usage, there is no substitute, I feel, for a hand held remote versus a phone screen or tablet for routine usage. You just "know" where the commands are and don't have to hunt around.  

PM me if you wish to discuss via phone. It took awhile to figure out the CCP software and how to configure the MSC and RF remotes, but now I have it down. Happy to help if you head down this path (I can send a configuration file, and additional support).