I have to do some work for a new customer where a previous installer (who is now out of business) had installed a Niles Intellicontrol. I will have to make some modifications to his Intellicontrol (delete some components, add a few, etcc...).

I have only a cursory understanding of the Intellicontrol - so I am in for a little learning curve. I myself, focus on Prontos and MX 700/800 & 3000 remotes.

My main question revolves around wondering if I can extract the configuration file out of the remote so that I can make the necessary modifications - and then download back to the remote, after the changes have been made. This Intellicontrol is probably 3-5 years old. I do not yet konw what revision of firmware is in the remote or if that is even an issue.

What does Niles call their editing software program anyway? I assume I will have to purchase that software program, or do they offer it for free? Any comments on how easy this program is get to know? I'm not too worried about it, but just wanted to see if any senior Intellicontrol programmers were lurking in this forum.

Thanks

Yes and No.

Yes you can extract the programming from the IntelliControl Main System Unit(MSU). However, you will not see any labels for the buttons, macros or IR commands. The labels are NOT stored in the MSU. You will only see generic command place holders. (I don't remember what they look like)

So, your ability to make changes will be severely limited. It will be difficult or impossible to understand what the previous programmer did.

You need the "IntelliFile" software and their hardware programming kit to program the system. They control it tightly and you have to pass a test to be able to order the programming kit.

Hope that helps,

George P.

You need the Intellifile II programmer, not the Intellifile. The Intellifile only works on Intellipads. The Intellifile II works on both the Intellicontrol and the Intellipad.

CJ

if i am correct cant you search the computer after the upload with your intellifile II and find the labels later. its called an .ifd file. i know me and my other programmer share files and we email them back and forth, he mentioned to me that i can do this, any others with this knowledge?

Thanks all for chiming in. I know many think the Intellicontrol is a good remote, but I think I am going to get the customer into a MX3000. I need to take a closer look at his equipment and assess what, if any, of his equip has discrete power commands. The Niles system seems so antiquatted. The Intellifile II is very expensive and not entirely a great program. I'm not going to invest into that system, as I would never sell another one. And I would send the customer to someone else here in town but I'm pretty sure no one else in town has that hardware or software to help this guy. Why anyone would sell the Intellicontrol instead of some of the newer remotes that have a much better programming platform - is a mystery to me. Unless you've already made the investment in that system and just don't want to switch, but it is not any more robust than the RTI system and, as long as the equipment has discrete power commands, the MX series of remotes are just as good (if not better), easier to program and install, and have a much more robust programming system/platform. BTW, no offense meant to existing Niles fans/dealers out there, so no flaming needed.

FP, you are missing the point of the Intellicontrol as a system. It is not deisgned to be complex, but to manage a system. The programming is very basic and does what it is supposed to. We sell and install quite a few of the 20-40k theater systems and the Intellicontrol MSU(control box, not the remote) is great for those systems. We only use the Niles remote with 1 out of every 5 that we do. We use the MSU to get relay control for a screen/drapes, relay control for the amplifiers, and sync status for all of the components. We then use the MSU to only manage the source macros and let a Pronto or MX or other remote run the rest of the system. There are documented IR commands that duplicate every command on that clunky RF remote that you can put into any universal remote. We do use the RF remote for situations where the wife wants to be able to run the basics. The beauty of the Intellicontrol managing the system is this: When you push a source button on the remote, the remote sends a .5 second command to the MSU and he MSU then executes the macro. No pointing, no missed commands, no delays. If a component is off that needs to be on, the MSU sends the power command. If that component is already on, the MSU skips that command, making the macro faster, even if there is a discrete command. Each component has an assignable "power on delay" which makes sure the MSU waits until the component is on and warmed up before sending the input command. This is a lifesaver with Samsung DLPs. When you turn the system off, everything goes off. Just like it's supposed to work. Add to this the fact that the TSU-7000 will work with the MSU just by switching the 7000 to RF and you have a great combo. My reccomendation is add the MX, but keep the MSU managing the system.

Jason

The biggest problem we ran into with the Intellicontrol is the fact that they lock up...alot. We would spend more time driving to houses to do a 3 second fix. We finally started cutting the power cord to the MSU apart and putting a momentary, NC, switch in the negative side and mounted that at the front of the cabinet so the client can fix it by just pushing the button. Otherwise the system was very good, and depending on your programming skills, you could do just about anything with it. My other complaint is on the remote itself. Up, Down, Left, Right, and Select were way too small, especially for older clients.

My .02

Matt

Hey Jason, is there an easy way to use the Intellicontrol system controller MSU with the HTM remotes?

TIA.

You can either
A:add an RF station for the MX, then only use one IR flasher output from the RF station into the IR input of the MSU. Then, connect your IR emitters to the MSU. The MSU will pass all IR that it receives to all IR ports.
B:add an IR receiver to the system to point the remote at. Connect this to the IR input of the MSU the same as option A.
C: test the MX in RF mode with the MSU to see if it will talk directly to the MSU. Make sure you test all the id codes as one may work where another wont. I have done this quite a few times with Prontos but have yet to try it with an MX series remote. It may work it may not.
Either option A or B will work and will allow you to use any remote you want with the MSU managing the macros.

Jason

Yeti -
You can only pull that trick if you did the work in the first place... If you didn't program the unit in the first place, you can't re-create the .ifd file...
We run into this from time to time with having 3 laptops in the field, and not always having them caught up to date with eachother's latest customer files... The only way we have come up with is to re-write the program from scratch (not too much work if you do these every day...)

jason- do you have a .pcf that you use for the intellicontrol commands?

Thanks,
CJ

I do somewhere, e-mail me and I'll send it to you.

Jason

Just sent one.

Thanks,
CJ

I have set up a system with an Intellicontrol. I programmed the Intellicontrol with learned codes using the yellow brick. (I do not have access to Intellifile II.) I have programmed a Pronto 7000 to correspond to the devices on the Intellicontrol MSU using the archived Intellicontrol ccf; that is, the Pronto sends out Intellicontrol master and function key codes. The Intellicontrol RF remote seems to control all of my devices without a problem, but the Pronto, although set to RF, controls nothing. I belive that the problem is simply that the Pronto and the Intellicontrol are not on the same channel or ID, and thus the MSU is not recognizing the Pronto signal. It has been suggested to me that the appropriate settings for the codes from the archived ccf is channel 1, ID 0, and the correct dip switch setting for the Intellicontrol remote is All Down. Is this correct? I would appreciate any ideas or assistance.