Anyone upgrade 500t to 700t?

Posted by Geoffrey Reynolds [IP: 198.80.152.51] on April 13, 1999 at 09:32:10
Using Mozilla/4.5 [en] (WinNT; I):

In Reply to: Anyone upgrade 500t to 700t? posted by Robert J on April 12, 1999 at 18:18:52:

:Having been there and experienced these hicups,the 700t is the answer to all :these problems, it comes in two parts a little box that is hidden out of sight
:that you connect little senders to it that cover the IR eyes of the equipment

This isn't entirely correct. The standard 700t comes as an IR only unit, but can be upgraded to the RF version, which requires the extra control box (the TCM-3).

:also it can't be networked like Phast and Crestron but its a lot cheaper and
:just as versatile in all other areas that count.

I strongly disagree with the last part of this statement. Even with the TCM-3, the 700t can only sense current from 2 devices and only has 1 or 2 serial ports. You can't expand this capability and use additional TCM-3's in the same macro (you can connect multiple TCM-3's together, but the interaction is very limited). With the Crestron system, you can buy current sensors in multiples of 2 (each unit has 2 current sensors). Other options available include power controllers, slide controllers, additional RS-232/422 ports, volume control modules, relays and digital voltage/closure inputs, Lutron interface, etc. AMX/PHAST systems have similar flexibility.

For those who may be wondering, power sensors are useful when you are writing macros that rely on the on/off state of a component that has only a toggle power command. Combined with a little logic, the power sensor allows you to implement discrete on and off commands.

As to cost, a Crestron SmarTouch starter system, which would have everything a 700t with the RF option would have, costs only a bit more (as in several hundred dollars) than the Lexicon system. Same for a starter AMX/PHAST system. The difference is that the Crestron and AMX/PHAST systems can be expanded to do far more than the Lexicon can do. Obviously, a fully decked out system will cost more, but you get tons of functionality.

Programming any of these systems for at least the functionality level of the Lexicon is roughly equivalent. The software for the Crestron equipment has many more options than the Lexicon software. I have no direct experience with the AMX/PHAST software.

Follow Ups:

• Anyone upgrade 500t to 700t? - Robert J 13:51:57 04/13/99 (1)
  • Anyone upgrade 500t to 700t? - Geoffrey Reynolds 15:08:22 04/13/99 (0)
• Anyone upgrade 500t to 700t? - Shawn Fogg 10:18:06 04/13/99 (1)
  • Anyone upgrade 500t to 700t? - Geoffrey Reynolds 10:27:35 04/13/99 (0)

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