I'm getting started on programming for our largest ever B&K system, and just want to make sure I'm not making it more difficult than needed.

The system:

18 zones of Audio Dist (3 x CT600.3)
3 zones of Video Dist (1 x HD6) (with options to add 3 more rooms)
Several Groups of zones (ie I've given each zone a separate ID, but also put them together in groups for certain types of event....ie Summer Party, Winter Party)

2 x K4 - Kitchen, Master Bed
2 x RK3 - Office, Gym
2 x T2C - Media Room, Master Bed
1 x M2 - Kitchen (for use with TV)
1 x U1 - Pool area.

All TVs connected to the HD6 have a hand held remote (T2C or M2)

I currently have 3 RP6 units in the rack:

1: XM tuner, CD player, DVD player, Escient, Security DVR

2: CT unit #1, CT unit #2, CT unit #3 (all using RS232)

3: Cable Box #1, Cable Box#2, Cable Box#3.... and the HD6

There is also a RP6 in the media room (all are connected)

So far, i've been working on RP6 #2 (the CT units).

I've been creating a macro for every source on every zone of each CT.

CT1 - A - Input 1
CT1 - A - Input 2
CT1 - A - Input 3
...etc
CT1 - B - Input 1
CT1 - B - Input 2
CT1 - B - Input 3
...etc
...etc

CT2 - A - Input 1
CT2 - A - Input 2
CT2 - A - Input 3

etc, etc

Each macro turns on the zone : (0,X,2,zzz=1;) ("zzz" = zone code)
Then, the macro selects the source : (0,S,I,zzz=A0;) for example.

As you can see I use the EXECUTIVE (X) commands to turn on the zone, and the IR (S,I) for input.

IS THERE A BETTER WAY TO DO THIS?

Also, since there are 18 zones, and 12 inputs (9 + 3 tuners) that means 18 x 12 = 216 macros Plus the OFF macros and the GROUP macros.

IS THERE A BETTER WAY TO DO THIS?

The client will probably never want individual control of every room. The system is designed as per his desire, to have very few wall controls... and basically he's a "press a button to turn on music EVERYWHERE" type of guy. Still, I want to lay the foundation now to do "anything" in "anyroom" so I just have to add pages to the touchpanels if he changes his mind in the future.

One thought I've had is to put 1 CT unit on each RP6.
Then I could make 6x12= 72 macros on one RP6, and clone those onto each of the other RP6s. Since each CT unit will "standalone" I can use the same zone codes for each unit. The other advantage is I will distribute the memory load amongst 3 RP6s, instead of all on 1.

What do you guys think?

Maybe I'm going about this all wrong.. so, I'm totally open to feedback. I've done 5 or 6 B&K + RTI setups now, and I've used the same method for each, but they were only 6 zone systems. We are still pretty new to B&K, and I am sure there are some tricks I'm missing or unaware of in the protocol. So, if you have found any useful functions or methods I'd love to hear about them.

Thanks and sorry about the long post.