10 Zones w/plasma & projector - ROUND 1

[BMXTRIX]

These photos are the first installment of my ongoing project.

I recently built a home and had the opportunity to run wiring myself which included a hundred feet of conduit, and several miles of cabling. The home is wired for up to 16 zones of stereo audio, along with surround in the family room. As a Crestron programmer, it was a no brainer for me what was going in to control everything.

Since I have a 2 year old - and likely will have a new one on the way sometime, getting the equipment out of the room was important, so the equipment that didn't need human contact went to the basement in a Mid-Atlantic rack. The equipment we need to touch - DVD, VCR, gaming, went in a cabinet right next to the couch.

All audio is handled from the head end in the basement where incoming cable, phone, and security is located.

The family room acts as our primary viewing location and the theater. So, while we have a 50" plasma available to us for daily viewing, a 106" screen drops from the ceiling as well for movie night.

LOTS OF IMAGES>>>>
Crestron control keypad - currently located for front porch, living room, dining room, garage, study, rear deck, kitchen, master bathroom, and master bedroom. Sources include FM radio, DVD/CD (in family room), CD jukebox zone 1 and CD jukebox zone 2, cable television, and XM radio (aux).

The equipment rack in the basement... With a few cables showing around the sides. Need to trim it in with drywall.

Anyone who has seen a home theater KNOWS this image was Photoshopped. But, it does look fun this way. Two pictures, one with the lights out and the image on screen, one with the lights on of the room and screen.

Here's the screen dropping. (Photoshop) - The Draper Ultimate Access V screen which hides behind trapdoors in the ceiling when not in use.

This is what we see everyday... Obviously a multi-use family room. Kids toys and some good normal digital cable stretched to fit. I will be pulling the plasma, painting the walls, and adding backlit movie posters. I may add crown moulding as well.

The back of the projector. A Panasonic PT-L300U model from a couple years back. I keep thinking about upgrading, but I'm waiting for 1080p projectors and some more cash in the bank. I still need to cut open the ceiling, replace drywall with plywood, and hide all the cabling 100%. All custom pulled/made Extron mini-high resolution cabling.

The front corner of the room with the small rack at the end of the couch and the small sub next to it. Velodyne HGS-18... the room pounds. The mains are Definitive Technology BP-30 speakers. NO BUILT IN SUB! The biggest they make without a sub internal. They sound great on their own, with less subwoofer issues.

The small rack with the panel and cordless on top. More or less toddler proof... I will add the magnetic lock if I have to.

This is what $2,000 LCD projectors looked like 2+ years ago... imagine what they look like now! If you haven't considered front projection, it's awesome! Yes, this is the 106" screen!

 

[BMXTRIX]

After seeing how poor the front projector looked with the large windows in the room, we added this 50" plasma to our system a year+ ago. Not the best quality for sure, but reliable and a good daily viewer. The Sonance Silverscreen speaker under it I am NOT happy with, so I expect to replace it with a Def-Tech Mythos. The Def-Tech C/L/R 2000 I have is just to big for that location.

Here's the small rack again. Bought it at racksandstands.com then modified it with rack rail and added the custom shelving. Nice drawer at the bottom... I need a shelf for the VCR, but may just end up replacing the VCR with a PS3 or X-Box 360.

The wall plates behind the big rack in the basement. Yup, there are a lot of rooms available to send audio to!

Closeup of the touchpanel in the family room. Apparently the fireplace is still on. Like my AV Integrated logo?

This really is the view I get all the time. Taken while seated in the corner of the sectional couch. It's supposed to be fun, and it is.

Another pic of the family room panel. Lights control? Check! Fireplace control? Check! Blinds control? Check! Surround modes.... security, sources, check, check, check!

Yeah, to many pictures of the panel, but it's my living and is fun. XM radio w/ full 2-way feedback to the panel.

This is my current nightmare. The rear of the large rack which was quickly wired just to get things working. All cabling needs to be redone and wired in so it is pretty. All distributed video and audio will be terminated to wall jacks, and all internal rack cabling will be 100% custom made Planet Waves cabling. More images to come as things progress.

 

[Sheep]

Very nice! I have the same phones as you....thats all though


I found that Yoda from Ep.3 looked SWEET on my TV. The contrast, Black levels...awwwwww tubes.

SheepStar

 

[Mr. Lamb Fries]

Very nice! I have the same phones as you....thats all though

I have the same Titanic poster as you...Jk
Just through out my "Sit & Spin" or that would be another thing in common!!

Looks sweet!

 

[HookedOnSound]

Nice setup.

Are you really controlling the fireplace with your Creston setup?

If yes than I'm jealous.

 

[Naves74]

Very Nice

That is very very nice.

Where can you find out some more information on Crestron Programing?

 

[mulester7]

....wow....in about 12 directions....I guess not everybody lives in a basement/dungeon....BMX, it would appear you could wire The Pentagon....do you have to be a licensed electrician to do the installs you do commercially?....

 

[BMXTRIX]

Thanks everyone!

Answers:
Crestron is at www.crestron.com and you can PM me directly for details on anything specific. Crestron programming is my job and they train in various locations in the USA. Not everyone's brain can fit programming into it nicely, but plenty do fine. Likewise, I am a VERY slow technician, but I know how to do that work.

Yes, the fireplace, the blinds shown are electric and tied in. They automatically go down at sunset and rise in the morning. Security cameras are being hooked up currently and there are 3 zones in lighting in the room that are controlled. About a dozen A/V sources as well. Thermostat control may be added at some point... maybe.

Mule - My basement is it's own world. I have a good size basement that is beckoning for a theater, but it is entirely unfinished (about 1000 square feet) and I want it that way for my work shop area and to ride my bike in during the winter.

I work for a commercial company now, and low voltage, in most states, does not require any sort of wiring plan to be submitted or approval by the state. Sometimes they do inspect the wiring, then guys just need to have wired it away from high voltage. As long as fire codes are fine and no interference with high voltage is possible, then low-voltage is usually not an issue. But, we do have a master electrician on our install team because we do 100% room build outs when we can. Furniture, ceilings, lighting, floors, plus all the A/V gear. Biggest I've worked on is a million dollar ROOM. A military command center. Cool stuff. Much different than home A/V though.

Oh - the screen going down...

 

[Naves74]

Questions

I would love to PM you and ask you more questions but I have not gotten an email back so I can activate my account.

Your job sounds great and I would like to get more information about it. I graduate in May with a Degree in Electircal and Computer Engineering and would love to do something like that or own my own company.

I can program in C/C++, assembler, java, and labview. The system that the remote has it looks alot like labview and would like to know how in depth the programming is. Is is text based or does it have a graphical user interface where you point and click boxes. And do you program it on a computer and put it into a remote?

Thanks,


Naves

 

[BMXTRIX]

Is is text based or does it have a graphical user interface where you point and click boxes. And do you program it on a computer and put it into a remote?

Naves - There are two halves to Crestron programming.

1. The touchpanel design and layout side. This is the actual layout of all the buttons and is similar to a lot of other graphics type programs. All Windows based you draw buttons, add graphics, backgrounds, etc. Pick the colors, rework things... Till it is easy to use and makes sense.

2. The actual programming. Actually making things so that they all turn on, off, etc. This is hard to describe as a programming language. It is heavily Windows based, drag and drop, but you are pulling in individual programming logic elements, then you tie them together. Or, and, buffer, not, stepper, etc. Then tie the logic together with unique names. If PLAMA1 is on, AND switch between plasma and projector is pressed, then turn plasma1 off and turn projector1 on. About 5 or 10 commands to make that work, plus the logic necessary to pick the correct source for the projector and make sure it powers up on the correct input.

3. There is also an advanced section of programming that is similar to C programming. All code is manually typed and very familiar to people who have done a bit of C programming.

All programming and panel layouts are done on a PC. Crestron consists of a control system (the brains) and the touchpanels and keypads, and other components in the system. So, their control system is the brains of the operation and gets all the code dumped to it. Then it controls all the other devices and looks for button presses from keypads and touchpanels. Touchpanels are connected to the control system and you load the panel through the control system from your PC. That way, you don't have to walk to each panel and connect to it directly.

The control systems they put out are state of the art. Near bulletproof. No Unix, no Windows. Just a few seconds after you plug it in, it is up and running and it is designed for 24/7 use with no cooling fans and remains cool to the touch. Crestron puts a 3 year warranty on it as well.

 

[Naves74]

Thanks alot I think I got how everthing works. It sounds like alot of digital logic or you can do it in a high level language. To tell you the truth it sounds alot like programing microcontrollers and processers.



Naves

 

[Takeereasy]

Simply awesome BMXTRIX. I am very jealous....er happy for you . Nice setup and finishing work.