As a disenfranchised Nevo master, I've been searching for an affordable option for my "economical" customers. I recently found a company out of Colorado called Bitwise Controls. They offer a network processor that has 2 I/O ports, 2 relays, RS 232 and 4 IR outs with a blaster. They offer a free app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The programming is common sense, quick and reliable. I just finished my first install controlling a theater and master bedroom with one processor tucked away in the smart box. I was the first installer in Vegas to purchase the processor. I was really happy with the results. Is there anyone else using Bitwise yet? What are your thoughts so far?

Hi Kuldood,

I have been running the BC4X1 processor with my iPad and iPod touch for a while now. I was a little worried I would have some trouble getting everything up and running because my programming skills are non existent.

Until then, I was using an AMX NI-700 with an MVP-8400, so my problems were two-fold. I needed someone with AMX programming skills to make changes to my system every time I switched out or added new gear and the 8400 is very large, very heavy and the battery life would rarely go beyond a couple of hours on a full charge.

I was able to get the system up and running with simple programming in a few hours. It was just IR codes at first, then I started writing macros and getting into some of the cooler features (232, relays etc..). I installed everything last August and I haven't had any issues so far. No processor resets, hiccups or anything. The built in IR learner is one of the nicer features, I flew through putting in the codes for my Nyko PS3 remote, InFocus, XBOX pretty quickly, everything else was in the database.

It's definitely worth checking out.

Just did a resi project yesterday with a BC4 and I did a commercial, conference room project with two a few months back. I dig 'em a ton. Mark my words, these guys are gonna be players.

I saw an ad for their pre-packaged GUI templates/layouts. Anyone use them? You buy it once, use it for many jobs.

I'm familiar with those..... If you have any questions, PM or email me.

Haha! I hear you are familiar.


In all seriousness, great work. They look great. Still a major obstacle to trying them though is that they dont have ANY templates available for free so even if I want to try it, the initial investment is fairly steep compared to the product cost.

I would like to see it available at a discount at training or with your first processor purchase.

This is not to discount your great work or to say its not worth the cost. Just tough to jump into selling a free controller and a relatively inexpensive processor knowing that my first sell and programming may barely pay for the graphics kit.

I completely understand and agree with you 100%.

I do have a BC4 iPhone / iPod Touch template designated for "OEM" use.... we had the same discussion a while back and thought it would be a good idea to come up with something that could be used for programming a couple devices right out of the gate.

The graphics are very straight forward and it contains pages for setting up a simple video system, but it is enough for someone to get a cable / satellite receiver, DVD / Blu Ray player up and running. There are splash pages for the various video game consoles and navigation to switch between all three (Wii, XBOX, PS3) if needed.

There was talk of integrating the sample template directly into Project Editor or supplying it as a free download from their site. I will talk to them tomorrow afternoon and let you know the status if you are interested.

I would be very interested in some demo templates like this. Keep us posted.

I agree. I have been toying with bitwise for some time now, but my graphical ability is not the best. I have created some nice templates, but they are not as professional as I would like. Your templates are great, but the price is steep. If they were more reasonable I think people would jump on. I'm not saying that they are not worth the current cost, I just think you would sell more if they were more reasonable. I know that is what held me back and I'm sure others as well. I install control4 and the cost of the bitwise unit has increased so that is also another factor. Control4 is actually more reasonably priced than the bitwise unit. I know they say the bitwise unit can do so much, but I am only using it for a/v so maybe they should make a scaled down version costing less. Just my two cents.

I think it's incredibly cheap if you're using it for multiple installs. Once I've demo'd some Bitwise systems and sold them, I'd be more than happy to pay for those templates.

I would like to see you offer a one-time template. Don't know how you could do it other than honor code, but a one time use template only good for integrators/demos, kind of like how command fusion does it.

cgav, I have the green light to put up the working iPhone demo template for download. Like I said before, it's nothing fancy, but it would allow anyone to do some real world testing right out of the gate without having to invest in purchasing templates.

Tea, I do realize the template package may not be for everyone. I based the pricing around templates that are available for other control systems and I appreciate the compliments, by the way. I am not very familiar with Control4, so I can't comment on the ease of programming, but that is what turned me on to BitWise. The fact that I was able to do this in a short amount of time is what took all of about 10 seconds for me to decide to swap out my AMX system.

I had the BC4X1 sitting in the middle of the floor and plugged into my router, I plugged in some emitters and starting working with the software to see how quickly I could get something to happen from my iPad. In about ten minutes time, I had used codes from the database to populate my DirecTV page and uploaded the project to the processor and sent it off to the iPad.

To my amazement, it worked perfectly. That's when I pulled the plug on the NI-700 and decided to program the rest of my system. I do like the fact you can use as many devices as you want on a single processor. I went on to set up a couple iPod touches and saved the project on my notebook as an HTML project. When the iPad has gone AWOL and I am working, I simply use the browser to control the system instead.

When you compare the cost of an entry level iPad and the BC4X1 to just the price of some of the high end remotes from RTI and URC without an extender, it's a bargain in my opinion.

As I said, its a great value but it adds a hurdle to getting involved in Bitwise. In my opinion Bitwise should pay a percentage of sales to Blackman Designs even if it means charging that percentage on the product. Id rather pay a smaller amount every time then jump in not knowing how the water is.

AGAIN, I cant say enough about how incredible the graphics are.

Bitwise, thank you for taking the time to come up with a solution. My wife has an iphone I may be able to try it on.

I just added the iPhone demo to the downloads page. Here is a direct link to the file: [Link: blackmancustoms.com]



Just import the included .grl into a new project or an existing one. The page flips / navigation are already programmed so you should be able to have a few devices up and running right away. I hope it helps out.

Noel

In addition if you want to use a preprogrammed template you can use our app here
[Link: totalcontrolapp.com]

or our android version here
[Link: totalcontrolapp.com]

comes with a premade template. you can be in and done in less than 15 minutes for most setups. we also have a remote skin function if you want to add your own graphics. see here
[Link: totalcontrolapp.com]


the other side though is that we don't sell a 1 time template. it has a lower cost but the licensing is per itunes account on apple product and for android it is per device with discounts on multiples.

6 of 1 1/2 dozen of another. i guess it comes down to which you prefer to use for a particular situation.

Hey SOUND.SD
- If you sign up for our forum we have some buttons and basic pages you can access as a dealer. These are no charge. However, no where near as pretty as Blackman Designs!