I figured since I screwed up yesterday and was troubleshooting a problem I was having for about 2 hrs I would post here so we could laugh at my stupidity. Post your funny stories also.

So I have a system that includes a Polycom HDX-8000 being controlled by a T4 and XP8 out the the RS232 port number 1. I was having a problem controlling the Polycom. I checked all programming and made sure that port 1 was in there right. I called Polycom to see if my serial strings might be wrong, despite the fact that I got the strings straight out of their Integrators Guide. They couldn't help me so I called RTI. While talking to RTI I saw that instead of the commands being on RS232 port 1 they were on CM232 port 1. And worse then that was as per my usual I had even labeled all the ports in the software and the RS232 port 1 was labeled Polycom. Yup I felt like an id 10 t!!

We also found out later that one piece of the Polycom setup was bad and not alllowing me to control the camera only the HDX codec itself.

So post up your funny RTI related screw-ups.

Starting with RTI I had 2 minor but frustrating problems.

First was leaving the USB cable hooked to an RP-6, then the T2-C wouldn't work, so I ripped everything apart for a few hours, re-checked programming over and over, re-downloaded, etc... Then finally noticed the LED on the RP-6 was on constantly... until I unplugged the USB cable from my laptop............... Lesson learned.

Second was after testing some IR codes with a T4. Then suddenly nothing works. I had coincidentally just re-done all of my system macros and really re-built the entire programming of this T4/RP-6 combo as well as re-wired how my IR was routed. So I'm going through my programming with a fine tooth comb, checking everything, re-checking wiring, pulling things apart, etc... Then, after ID not telling me that I needed to update the T4, I downloaded to it and bam there it is. Working fine..

But my BEST chasing tail story is with my first Elan install. I had never done ANY distributed audio, video, or anything like it at all. So there I am, installing a System12 with it's 40 or 50 RCA connectors on the back, and two touchscreens. We have 2 cameras and 2 touchscreens and no other video sources. The rack was on casters in an under-stairs closet. That point is important. No matter what I did, I could only get the front door cam on the kitchen touchscreen and the back patio cam on the MBR touchscreen. No matter what. Programmed, re-programmed, re-programmed, over and over and over. And if you've done Via!s before, you know they take about 5 minutes to upload programming. I was out here for weeks. 2.5 hours each way drive. Eventually, we had our Elan rep come out and he helped me. After 2 days, he was convinced we had a bad S12 and we were about to rip it out. Finally he calls one of his tech guys and hand the phone to me. I'm standing behind the rack when I find out that I had the touchscreen video plugged into the camera LOOP outputs instead of the zone outputs! So simple! The Elan rep was a bit bigger than me and couldn't fit in the little closet to see behind the rack. He would have caught it in the first 5 minutes! Because we only had 2 video sources and 2 video displays, we (meaning me, the rep, and tech support) never caught on to what was happening. All we saw was "the video isn't switching."

So stupid, but I'll NEVER make that mistake again. That Elan job took me like 2 months. I could do it in 2 days now...

I did the EXACT same thing with the CM232 -vs- RS232 ports... thought I was loosing my mind!

old urc mx800

couldnt get moto box to work reliably. mrf200 beat up - put in 260

still intermittent. no rf problems.

jacked with it for 45 minutes

happened to bring my demo/loaner 800. loaded the file and worked 100%.

2 hours of masterbation starting at 5pm last night all for a flaking rf out from the remote.

TODAY DAMMIT

A system works intermittently. Marantz RC9200 and RF receiver control it. It had worked great on shelving, then when I was out sick another guy, not really an installer, moved it into the new cabinet. Today, one thing after another worked sometimes. Sometimes when the door was open, sometimes when we stood in front of it. Mercifully, the remote battery got low. I put it on the charger and went to troubleshoot the other system.

The other system has a DirecTV H20. It's positioned where a lot of sky light hits it. Three years ago I found with the original receiver there that just blocking that outdoor light solved any problems I had. The closet door has punched metal, about 50% open, so closing the door doesn't darken the area.

I tried everything with this one, including one layer of black tape under the emitter -- it never worked. Then one, two, three, four layers of blue tape. The IR still got through that tape ( ! ) but we still had to shield the whole thing from outdoor light...and if we shielded it with something that reflected IR back onto it, the sensor overloaded. Thank God I read at this site and I knew that could happen! So I'm going out there again with an IR Condom (the black cover) and a variable resistor, and I'm going to totally block the outside light, then find what value resistor will lower the IR to a working level, then I'll go buy that value resistor and put it in. What a pain.

So, back upstairs. After more tail-chasing, I went out and got my visible LED that I got from Xantech at CES. It shows no IR! Turns out that one LED cable was shorted. I looked at it carefully, and saw that it was a double emitter but one emitter had been neatly trimmed off. May I say EXCLAMATION POINT ! ! ! I looked at the other two, and one of them was trimmed the same way. So only one LED had been operating three components when the moon was in the right position and Klingons were flying around Uranus. I threw those LEDs. The guy who had ignorantly, I mean innocently, trimmed them off caught them before they hit the floor. Put in one dual emitter and we were done.

I prefer tracking down my own stupidity because I'm more limited than the rest of the universe in what they can come up with.

Do you ever feel on a service call like someone is filming you, or like you're back in school and this is a pop quiz? I was an excellent test-taker, but sometimes I just hold still and look around for the camera.

called RTI? When the heck did you have time to call RTI... You kept calling me. I told you first... "Are you sure its on the right port!!!" :)

I'll talk to you at some point today.

That little adjustment pot on the 5 port ir block that comes with the RP-1 has f'd me more times that I will admit. Just last evening, small system all done, plasma works fine however the re-used dual emitter from the prior system didn't work (ripped it out and thought it was bad) nope...pot not turned up enough.

Related is the old Xantech systems or any that use non-regulated power supplies, I caused myself many hours of pain when updating the IR receiver on a 9vdc system and all emitters blinked but no dice. I freakin' moved the IR reciever, got varying types of receivers, switched out emitters and it was just that the power requirements needed to be 12dc and regulated.

Totally unrelated, I hate the word "prolly", is it really that hard to spell probably?

Lastly, because I don't want to start a new thread, but why couldn't RTI use solid black rubber material for their buttons on the M2 or even all their remotes? My M2 which gets a lot of use, the channel +/- and vol +/- have WHITE coming through on the edges. Does not look good.

We have a very strict rule that as soon as that is installed, it gets turned all the way up. Once or twice, i have had to back it back down.

If I am troubleshooting a problem and I find out that is not turned up, I crack them with a coax whip!

We turn the gain up all the way, but it still forgotten half the time. Usually one of the first things I check now. After I recheck that the cable is out of the processor..

Please fix this sometime RTI, is it really necessary to disable the processor while the cable is attached??

I think it probably is. With it still attached, it is still communicating with the computer and probably can't do this and process commands at the same time.

For him, prolly.

I think this costs a few pennies more, or maybe even more than that. A color layer on top is usually chosen as it is cheaper than a solid-colored material.




Well, yeah, it's necessary, but only because they didn't design it to be unnecessary. This was one of two dumb things on their part that they have done.

The first RTI system I did had a T2+, along with an RP6 about eight feet up on a wall and no place nearby to sit. What a pain that was! I realized when I was doing that system that I had to go through about fifty iterations of programming, meaning my laptop's USB connector got a year's worth of use in one day. Now, when my laptop's one USB connector is broken, my laptop must be replaced, so this is a BAD IDEA on RTI's part.

And even if I didn't have to disconnect from the computer, here's the second dumb thing: they weren't thinking of the programmer's computer at all; the T2+ and the RP-6 use different size USB connectors, so I HAD to change cables every time I changed from T2+ to RP6.

They (yes, I called RTI) suggested I get a little hub. That rubbed me the wrong way, as now I have to spin a web of cables on the coffee table at the client's house, and it looks messy, especially since I am continually plugging and unplugging from the hub.

But I do it. I just tell the customer that RTI makes great remotes but they didn't think through what kind of mess it would take to program them.

I can still control devices while in toolbox connected to a Crestron processor.

I have faith RTI can figure this out as well...

The new IP devices don't need to be disconnected to operate, but heck, they upload via the network so RTI didn't figure out anything, they just made network devices.

There probably won't be any changes to the non-IP products. I think they'd have to redo the software to fix this, and that would g ive us the nightmare of pre- and post-fix versions of the remotes. Better they should just learn their lessons and never do this again with any new product, IP or USB.

Prolly.

It will be nice to ID everything, then sit on the couch and program and test. Then have your guys run around the house testing everything... ;)