2014-02-25, 21:05
Evening chaps,
First off, I am in no way affiliated with Simerec.com.
But once again I prove my username matches what you're all gonna be thinking by the end of this post
Where to begin, eh!
Hot off the press and still warm from the production line. I introduce to you.
The Simerec PCS-MCE!
This is the solution to all the HTPC builders who want IR but don't have CIR headers on their motherboards, want it fitted internally and not to have to have a dongle, want full RC6 and MCE compatibility with their remote AND to be able to power the unit on from powered down and to be all in one. AND MUCH MUCH MORE!!!
Well this is it!!
As a lot of you already know. A fair few of us have fitted Simerec's superb PCS-2 to our mk1 NUCs. last summer, I too fitted one to a Celeron NUC but I took it one further and fitted an RC6 IR receiver alongside internally too. Link is in my sig.
I sent a link of the threads to Simerec to say "this is what some of us are doing with your awesome product and thanks!"
Roll onto July/August and rumours in the hardware section on this forum mentioned Simerec releasing a possible PCS-3 with on/off and RC6 combined! I had sold the NUC and wanted to build a custom box from spares I had. I emailed Steven at Simerec in September to say I had heard rumours and if they were true, could I pre-order one. Steven replied saying that it was true, that if I could wait and as a part thanks for using their product, they'd send me their first one FOC!
Well 5 months of emails between the 2 of us ensued and with great pleasure I can finally reveal a glimpse of the final product!
But it gets even better!!
Not only can I fully control my HTPC and power it on and off. But It has these awesome features....
The "Accessory Power Switch"
The Accessory Power Switch works alongside the PCS-MCE. It allows your existing MCE compatible remote to be used in various ways to switch power to a single accessory such as lighting, a secondary hard drive power, a video input/output switch, or something else. Because the Accessory Power Switch uses what's called a DPDT relay, a system can even be set up to boot from either of two different hard drives VIA REMOTE. Imagine pressing a button and it boots openELEC. Switching off then pressing a different button and it boots Windows! There are many possibilities. I'm thinking it could power on/off an LED light pack or power on/off a pulse eight internal adapter? Or to control some internal HTPC lighting to show off your box?
The accessory power switch will be a purchasable option. It is not known yet if it'll be offered pre-configured with wiring for a user's specific application, or if it will be bare and left to the user to wire it exactly like they want.
There's more,
Key-sequence \ Password Assignment
The PCS-MCE can be programmed to require up to a 10-digit key-sequence to power the PC on, off, or both. Combining this with the optional accessory power switching module allows for many, flexible booting and power switching options.
Button Function Customization
Virtually every button on the Microsoft MCE remote (or universal MCE remote equivalent -- ex. Logitech Harmony) can be re-assigned a different function on the PCS-MCE. Custom key shortcuts can be assigned to buttons that are not normally available via your HTPC IR remote. Button re-assignments can provide for a variety of flexible media player, PC booting, and accessory power switching functions.
Due for full production release in April 2014.
Prices are TBA.
Once I have it [its enroute as we speak] I'll do more photos and video of it in action.
I'm pleased as punch that it's finally coming. The PCS-2 worked so well and really set the bar for the quality and workmanship of their products and IMHO it really filled the gap that was missing for full on/off control. Now the PCS-MCE fully fills that gap as the all in one product a lot of us have been looking for when we negated to realise our chosen motherboard hasn't got a CIR header!! I'm confident the PCS-MCE will be THE ideal part many of us are looking for to fulfil our "never leaving the sofa again" regime.
Plus with the accessory part, this really could give some of us some really trick controls all from a little eye inside our HTPCs!
And finally, you might wonder why the serial number isn't 000001. Well that's because the serial number is generated at random that is used to enter to the configuration mode. So from now on, we must all count numbers as 120956, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc
Still a jammyb!
I'll be updating this thread when it arrives.
Jammy
Simerec.com
First off, I am in no way affiliated with Simerec.com.
But once again I prove my username matches what you're all gonna be thinking by the end of this post
Where to begin, eh!
Hot off the press and still warm from the production line. I introduce to you.
The Simerec PCS-MCE!
This is the solution to all the HTPC builders who want IR but don't have CIR headers on their motherboards, want it fitted internally and not to have to have a dongle, want full RC6 and MCE compatibility with their remote AND to be able to power the unit on from powered down and to be all in one. AND MUCH MUCH MORE!!!
Well this is it!!
As a lot of you already know. A fair few of us have fitted Simerec's superb PCS-2 to our mk1 NUCs. last summer, I too fitted one to a Celeron NUC but I took it one further and fitted an RC6 IR receiver alongside internally too. Link is in my sig.
I sent a link of the threads to Simerec to say "this is what some of us are doing with your awesome product and thanks!"
Roll onto July/August and rumours in the hardware section on this forum mentioned Simerec releasing a possible PCS-3 with on/off and RC6 combined! I had sold the NUC and wanted to build a custom box from spares I had. I emailed Steven at Simerec in September to say I had heard rumours and if they were true, could I pre-order one. Steven replied saying that it was true, that if I could wait and as a part thanks for using their product, they'd send me their first one FOC!
Well 5 months of emails between the 2 of us ensued and with great pleasure I can finally reveal a glimpse of the final product!
But it gets even better!!
Not only can I fully control my HTPC and power it on and off. But It has these awesome features....
The "Accessory Power Switch"
The Accessory Power Switch works alongside the PCS-MCE. It allows your existing MCE compatible remote to be used in various ways to switch power to a single accessory such as lighting, a secondary hard drive power, a video input/output switch, or something else. Because the Accessory Power Switch uses what's called a DPDT relay, a system can even be set up to boot from either of two different hard drives VIA REMOTE. Imagine pressing a button and it boots openELEC. Switching off then pressing a different button and it boots Windows! There are many possibilities. I'm thinking it could power on/off an LED light pack or power on/off a pulse eight internal adapter? Or to control some internal HTPC lighting to show off your box?
The accessory power switch will be a purchasable option. It is not known yet if it'll be offered pre-configured with wiring for a user's specific application, or if it will be bare and left to the user to wire it exactly like they want.
There's more,
Key-sequence \ Password Assignment
The PCS-MCE can be programmed to require up to a 10-digit key-sequence to power the PC on, off, or both. Combining this with the optional accessory power switching module allows for many, flexible booting and power switching options.
Button Function Customization
Virtually every button on the Microsoft MCE remote (or universal MCE remote equivalent -- ex. Logitech Harmony) can be re-assigned a different function on the PCS-MCE. Custom key shortcuts can be assigned to buttons that are not normally available via your HTPC IR remote. Button re-assignments can provide for a variety of flexible media player, PC booting, and accessory power switching functions.
Due for full production release in April 2014.
Prices are TBA.
Once I have it [its enroute as we speak] I'll do more photos and video of it in action.
I'm pleased as punch that it's finally coming. The PCS-2 worked so well and really set the bar for the quality and workmanship of their products and IMHO it really filled the gap that was missing for full on/off control. Now the PCS-MCE fully fills that gap as the all in one product a lot of us have been looking for when we negated to realise our chosen motherboard hasn't got a CIR header!! I'm confident the PCS-MCE will be THE ideal part many of us are looking for to fulfil our "never leaving the sofa again" regime.
Plus with the accessory part, this really could give some of us some really trick controls all from a little eye inside our HTPCs!
Steven @ Simerec.com Wrote:"We wanted to push things a bit for several reasons -- one being that since the PCS-MCE only operates with RC6 codes (ie, it can't be programmed to recognize non-RC6 IR codes like the PCS-1/PCS-2 can), we wanted to compensate a bit. However, the truth is that almost everyone uses RC6 with the PCS-1/PCS-2, so it really doesn't justify having that feature."
And finally, you might wonder why the serial number isn't 000001. Well that's because the serial number is generated at random that is used to enter to the configuration mode. So from now on, we must all count numbers as 120956, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc
Still a jammyb!
I'll be updating this thread when it arrives.
Jammy
Simerec.com
