CQC on sale

I'm 99.33333% positive that you don't have to install 2.whatever first before installing either the beta, or 3.0 when it comes out (well, you obviously wouldn't for 3.0).

So, what you should do is buy CQC, and then go to the beta forums, and follow the link to the 3.0 beta. The only thing the 3.0 official release will have that the beta doesn't currently have is any remaining bug fixes. So, there will be no learning curve or jump from the 3.0 beta to the 3.0 official.

If you installed 2.whatever first, and then 3.0 when it came out, then ya, there'd definitely be some relearning...so I'd skip 2.whatever altogether right now.

But again, that doesn't mean to wait until 3.0 is official released (because I believe the sale ends at that point)...just buy it now, and install the 3.0 beta.

Dean's betas are more stable that most large corporation's major version official releases....so don't let the "beta" scare you.

Dean has also really streamlined the "install over it" method, so it won't result in a messedup halfbreed of a CQC install if you install the beta now and then install 3.0 over it when it comes out. It's not the same as "upgrading" a windows install vs. a clean install. It's much cleaner than that.
 
yeah, my 2.3 ->2.4.x (what 3.0 beta is called) was dang smooth. There may have been 1-2 "breaking changes" in it, but if you just start with 2.4.x, you'll be fine.

And FYI, i'm 100.0% positive you don't need to install the current production release in order to get the beta.
 
ok, ok...somebody give me a hand to help me climb on the wagon... :lol:

I'm succombing to peer pressure and will be buying today...my credit card was just paid off so that calls for a celebration..

We could always do a 'new guy' webinar (aka, CQC 101) to walk folks through how to set it up, so that you can get immediate value out of your investment.
 
We could always do a 'new guy' webinar (aka, CQC 101) to walk folks through how to set it up, so that you can get immediate value out of your investment.
I see Dean's on now. I'm gonna bite the bullet also and join the team. I'll wait for Dean's official word on how to proceed. I like the new guy webinar.

R
 
ok, ok...somebody give me a hand to help me climb on the wagon... :)

I'm succombing to peer pressure and will be buying today...my credit card was just paid off so that calls for a celebration..

We could always do a 'new guy' webinar (aka, CQC 101) to walk folks through how to set it up, so that you can get immediate value out of your investment.

If you are starting now, I'd skip the current formal version and go just straight to the latest beta. It's stable now as it's heading down the straightaway towards the finish line and plenty of people are already using it. So just start there and never bother with the current version. The thread that always has the latest beta is linked to above. The version is 2.4.xx because always number the betas for the next version using the current version, so that when it's finally time to do it, we can start with 3.0.0 instead of 3.0.50 or something like that.

There's also a link on that page to the beta web site contents that has all the documentation for the new version as well, so use that instead of the official web site if you are going to start with the beta. The videos have not been updated yet, though the only ones that are substantlly affected are the ones related to the interface development stuff. The rest, though maybe not covering everything that's now available, are still relevant.

I'm starting on the new videos now. And note that that release notes that come up at the end of the installation are generally not updated until the very end, so they still refer to the last formal release.
 
Bit the bullet and swallowed it. Bought CGC plus the additional 5 years of maintenance fees. Couldn't pass up the sale. IVB, let me know when the newbie webinar is scheduled and hopefully a link in case I cant watch live.
 
We typically do them at 8:30am PST Sat mornings as that's the most convenient cross time-zone timing. Does that timeslot generally work for you? I might be able to do a Friday Night ~7:30pm PST, but that's pretty late for the EST'ers.

If so, I can post a thread on the CQC forums and here about selecting a particular Fri/Sat.
 
I'm interested in CQC but now sure I have the knowledge to program. I have no programming or computer background. Will this be too complex for someone with limited background to learn? I think I need to view the video tutorials to get a feel. I don't have anything hooked up yet, so it's hard for me to play around with it yet.

Thanks
 
The tutorial videos are really good for seeing just how easy it is for the average user to put stuff together and get going.

As for if you can use CQC easily without any programming ability or experience.... I'll let IVB handle that question. :)


The only time you would need to know programming is if your particular piece of hardware is not currently supported. You then have a few options (assuming you have the protocol needed to control the device):

1) Learn the CQC programming languages (CML and PDL) and write your own driver.
2) "Hire" someone in the forums to do it for you. (in quotes because some people will do it for free if they have the time..and that's usually a big if. Otherwise, some will MAKE the time if there's a reasonable incentive to do so).
3) Convince Dean it's in CQC's best interest to support that particular device, and then he'll do it (good luck on that one).

The other time knowing programming would be useful is for writing macros, which are basically for more complex tasks. There's a tutorial on how to do that, but still requires some basic knowledge of programming. In general, though, macros aren't a requirement for making stuff happen in CQC...it can just make it easier.
 
I'm interested in CQC but now sure I have the knowledge to program. I have no programming or computer background. Will this be too complex for someone with limited background to learn? I think I need to view the video tutorials to get a feel. I don't have anything hooked up yet, so it's hard for me to play around with it yet.

Thanks

Well no one can answer that question for sure except you. But 99% of CQC does not require any programming skill. Everything is GUI based and you build up your commands using the GUI. So while the final command structure looks like a programing line of code, you don't actualy create it that way. As long as you can understand basic logic (like IF A happens THEN I want B to happen) you should be fine with creating CQC commands.

Now there are things in CQC that you can do with more programming skill. For example, you could write a driver to control a device that isn't currently controllable yet. Or you might want to write a macro to streamline some commands etc. But those items are not required for most setups.

I took a single Fortran class back over 15 years ago and have no other programming skills, nor do I work in the technology field as my profession. I have no problem creating logic commands in CQC at all. They are not always the most efficient, but they work just fine.

So bottom line is don't let any of the "command lines" that you might see on the CQC website scare you. That is not how you create those logic commands, that is just the end result.

The tutorials will be a big help for you. This way you can see the CQC system being created and you can see how it works in general without having to install anything on your computer.
 
no programming background needed, i did 100% of my setup without writing any code. It's almost entirely point-n-click, some typing is needed but not a huge amount.

I did do the "if-then" type stuff. As I said in this post:

As with many things, it depends on your definition of the word "programming". I'm not sure I'd consider "if-then" programming, rather basic logic.

When I tell my kids "If you're thirsty, then get yourself a glass of water", I don't think i'm teaching them programming. When I tell my kids "If you're thirsty and you don't want water, then get some juice. If it's past 7pm and you're thirsty and you don't want water, then get some milk", it's slightly more complex logic, but it's still a far cry from programming.

I personally don't think i'm educating my kids on how to be computer programmers when I tell them the above, but you may disagree.

BTW, to give you a good overview, check out the CQC 101 webinar in my sig. It's about 90 mins long, but it takes you through some of the background, theory, how to use it, and you'll "get it" much quicker after that.
 
Well now that I have my family calendar online :), I can see that i'm busy this weekend but am free on 5/2 @8:30am. How about you? If yes, i'll post a thread on the various fora. How about:
8:30-9:30 CQC 101 (abbreviated)
9:30-10:30 CQC User Group Webinar (may be advanced stuff)
 
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