Category: General articles

  • MHUB-OS 8: a quick guide to zones

    Zones define a physical space in a property where outputs from MHUB terminate.

    A Zone can include a maximum of 1 video output and a maximum of 4 audio outputs. For example, you can create a zone called “Kitchen” and assign 1 video and 1 audio output to it to provide you with viewable TV and sound. A Zone must contain at least 1 output from an MHUB for it to be addressable for control. Note: outputs can not be shared or split to more than 1 Zone.


    MHUB zones

  • Voice control with Amazon Alexa* using the “MHUB AV” Skill

    HDANYWHERE (HDA) Amazon Alexa App Skill

    *Before you activate the Alexa Voice Service with your MHUB, make sure Amazon support your territory and version. We cannot guarantee voice services or offer support to those territories not officially supported by Amazon. Check here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=202207000

    What you need to get your MHUB to respond to voice commands:

    1. You have completed the first-boot procedure within MHUB-OS
    2. You have MHUB-OS version 8.10 or higher installed on your MHUB
    3. You have an active HDA Cloud account
    4. You have downloaded uControl packs for all displays and source devices you want to control
    5. You have completed input mapping in MHUB-OS
    6. You have an active Amazon account
    7. You have an Amazon Alexa enabled device, such as Amazon Dot/Echo/Show

    Setting up AV Skill

    Configure voice commands to do exactly what you want

    Let’s take the command “Alexa, Turn on football” as an example.

    It might appear like a very simple command but there are a number of things that need to happen in order to watch football! First the TV might need to turn on, but in which room? The volume might need to be set to a desired limit. The correct source input might need to be selected on MHUB and finally that source will need to navigate to the channel hosting the football.

    You can configure all those actions in what we call a “Sequence”.

    Taking the example above:
    Alexa (this wakes up your Amazon Dot/Echo/Show)
    Turn on… (this invokes the smarthome skill)
    football (this is your custom name for the Sequence, it can be anything you want)

    Inside MHUB-OS we can configure exactly what “football” does.

    • You can select if you want MHUB to turn your TV on and adjust the volume
    • You can tell MHUB to switch to the source device with has the football on it
    • You can instruct MHUB to change the channel on that source device

    Read more about Sequences and Scheduling.

    Troubleshooting

    • When searching for devices, nothing is found
      1. Check you cloud account details were entered correctly
      2. Ensure only 1 system is linked with the cloud account being used
      3. Ensure you have backed up the system to cloud after configuring the Alexa Skill on MHUB-OS
    • When you try to control a zone Alexa says the command isnt supported
      1. Ensure there are no other devices linked to the Alexa that have the same name as the zone.

    Here’s a table of all the commands you can tell your MHUB to do…

    Now you’re ready to go. Take a look at a full list of commands that you can say to your Echo.

  • HDANYWHERE product information on power usage and BTU outputs

    The table below details the PSU DC rating, the system power draw in watts and BTU(British thermal unit) heat output of each device.

    Product Code Release PSU Rating (DC) Power Draw (watts) BTU

    XTND
    XTND2K30 2017 5V 1A 2.5 9
    XTND4K40ARC 2018 24V 1A 20 68
    XTND4K100TPC 2018 24V 1A 12 41

    MHUB
    MHUBAUDIO64 2018 24V 13.4A 520 1774
    MHUBMAX44 2018 24V 2.71A 19.2 66
    MHUB431U 2018 24V 2.71A 36 123
    MHUB862U 2018 24V 2.71A 28 198
    MHUBPRO4440 2018 24V 2.71A 40 136
    MHUBPRO8870 2018 24V 6.3A 98 334
    MHUB4K44PRO 2016 24V 2.71A 42.72 146
    MHUB4K88PRO 2016 24V 6.3A 100 341
    MHUBPRO24440 2019 24V 5A 68 232
    MHUBPRO288100 2019 24V 6.3A 130 444

    SPLITTERS AND SCALERS
    SPLITTERMAX12 2019 5V 1A 2 7
    SPLITTERMAX14 2019 5V 1A 2 7
    SIGNALMANAGER 2018 5V 1A 1.65 6

  • Unable to get HDR through MHUB or XTND to TV / Projector

    If your MHUB is marked with “TPC” then it is capable of passing a HDR picture to your display. There are a number of reasons why HDR may not be fed through your HDA device. This support post aims to troubleshoot the most common reasons and how to resolve them.

    Important: there are different versions of HDR, make sure your display supports the format your source is outputting!
    There are multiple variants of HDR such as HLG, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, please ensure your display supports the relevant HDR technology.

    When connecting your HDR enabled source and display to a HDA system you may need to adjust some settings to get it to work.

    1. First, disconnect the source and connect it directly to your display. Do you get HDR?
    2. Ensure you are using High Speed HDMI Cables, this is important as long HDMI cables (over 5m) unless Active or Fibre will not work.
    3. Was you HDA device manufactured before 2019? Does it have TPC markings or 18G/18Gbps on it anywhere? If it doesn’t then there is a good chance that your HDA device does not support HDR as it was made before the specification was finalised.
    4. Does your HDA device support scaling? If so please ensure it is set to bypass.
    5. Copy or set a custom EDID directly from your display. This post explains how to copy EDID directly from your display.