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CQC
Submitted by
Dan (electron)
, Jun 10 2011 07:00 PM | Last updated Feb 15 2015 02:51 PM
CQC is a powerful distributed, software based home automation suite for the Windows platform, though Android and iOS clients are provided by third parties. It is sold in a tiered configuration, with each tier allowing for more devices and touch screen clients. It currenty provides over 200 drivers for devices and network based services.
| Status: | Active |
| Author: | Charmed Quark Systems, Ltd |
| Website: | http://www.charmedquark.com |
| Download: | http://www.charmedquark.com |
| Forums: | http://www.charmedquark.com/vb_forum/index.php |
| Since: | 2003 |
| Latest Version #: | 4.6.0 |
| Latest Version Date: | 11/21/2014 |
| Architecture: | CQC is a C++ based product, based on our own large and comprehensive object oriented platform, called CIDLib. CIDLib and CQC together comprise around 900,000 lines of very high quality code, and they provide Charmed Quark with a very high level of control over quality and functionality. CQC is a very network oriented product, based on a similar sort of architecture to that of enterprise level software solutions used in large companies. It's fully client/server based and secure. Despite its breadth of functionality, CQC is quite light weight, due to it's tight coding in an efficient language. |
| Features: | |
| Price: | 199 |
| Currency: | USD |
| Trial: | 40 |
| Operating System: | Windows |
| Open Source: | No |
| Web Interface: | Yes |
| Plugin Support: | Yes |
| 1-Wire: | Yes |
| Weather: | Yes |
| Cameras: | Yes |
| Text-To-Speech: | Yes |
| Voice Recognition: | No |
| Scheduled Events: | Yes |
| Triggered Events: | Yes |
| Irrigation: | Yes |
| Bluetooth: | No |
| HVAC: | Yes |
| RFID: | No |
| Protocols: | ALC, C-Bus, Elegance, HomeWorks, INSTEON, JetStream, LiteTouch, ModBus, RadioRA, RadioRA 2, UPB, Vantage, Z-Wave |
| Automation & I/O Controllers: | Arduino, Barix Barionet, CentraLite LiteJet, ELK M1(G)/EZ8, Global Caché, HAI OmniPro I/II, HomeWorks, ISY, WGL Rain8 |
| RF Interfaces: | |
| Alarm Panels: | DSC, ELK M1(G)/EZ8, GE Networkx NX-8/E, HAI OmniPro I/II |
| Scripting: | Proprietary |
| Touch Screen Client: | Android, Windows XP/Vista/7, iOS |
| IR: | Global Caché, Ira 2, Irman, USB-UIRT |
| Audio & Video: | Arcam, Audio Authority, Audio Design Associate, AutoPatch, Denon, DirecTV, Extron, Integra, J. Rivers Media Center, JVC, Krell, LG, Lexicon, MERIDIAN, Marantz, NAD, NuVo, Onkyo, Outlaw, Panasonic, Parasound, Philips, Pioneer, Popcorn, Roku, Rotel, Runco, Russound, SageTV, Sherwood, Sonos, Sony, SqueezeBox, Theta, Tivo, VLC, Winamp, Windows Media Player, Xantech, XBMC, Yamaha, iTunes |
| Energy Monitoring: | Brultech |
| Plugins: | |
| Phone Interaction: | CallerID, Notifications |
| External Links: | |
| Installation Notes: |
6 Comments
Long time CQC user here. I would be more than happy to answer any questions people might have regarding the system.
IMHO, it's one of the most powerful and flexible DIY systems available today. Their pricing is built around tiers (the higher the tier the more equipment you can control), but you can intermix and change gear at any time without additional cost. So if your tier allows you to control 15 devices, you can use any 15 that CQC offers and change them at any time. This is extremely helpful because we all tend to change gear over time. If you have have a Denon receiver and then switch it out for a Integra receiver, you don't have to pay CQC additional money to use the new device. You just remove the Denon device and add the Integra device.
I used to use CQC for a very long time myself, and while the learning curve is pretty steep (I ended up going back to HomeSeer), I did like how the touch screen platform allowed you to design really complex screens (such as multiple PNG's with transparency stacked on top of each other). I really wish CQC relied on a non-proprietary scripting solution, I think it would attract more people.
I made a few attempts to update the entry. But each time I'd make a small mistake and it would make me go back. And each time I had to go back it lost all of the carefully gone through check box items again. So I kind of gave up.
I'm working on making only a few fields required, so it's more like a wiki. Originally I planned to use it by myself, but then decided to open up the tool. Sorry about that. I'll split these few posts about the issue into a feedback thread once I have this addressed, so the comments are just about the software
I went back and did it a step at a time and got it done.
There, only 7 basic fields are required (Should be filled in already).