Chromecast TV - casting

Configuration
1

I had an old Chromecast where I could cast a picture of someone at the door from Home Automation onto the TV. Very useful. Have upgraded to a new Chromecast TV and this only works sometimes. Often I get the menu to choose what to watch on Chromecast TV (as if just turned on) rather than the image I have cast. Sometimes I do get the cast image. I can’t work out the logic, or what I need to do to always cast the image. Welcome any advice. Thanks David

2

I would really appreciate step-by-step guidance on how to cast radio stations to my Chromecast devices, at spercific times.
My Chromecast devices already show up in HA and I can adjust volume, but I’d like to cast select radio stations ( I have the URL’s). I am not very technical and therefore the simpler (and the more extensive) the guidance, the easier for me.
Any help will be greatly appreciated,

Thanks

3

Using the Home Assistant UI:

  • go to Settings / Automations & Scenes
  • click the + create automation at bottom right
  • choose start with empty automation
  • Give it a name
  • under trigger change device to Time - and complete when you want
  • under actions change device to Call a service
  • set service to Media player: Play media
  • choose your chrome cast device ans the target
  • put the URL in the Content ID
  • put audio/mp4 in the content type
    then save it

to prove it works now click the 3 dots by the call service and click run actions.

Hope this helps
Cheers David

4

David,

Your instructions are great and did the jiob. THANKS !!!

Two more questions :

(1) Can I select days of the week, such as different station (URL) for different days of the week, or week days and weekend ?

(2) I have the Jewish Calendar integratrion in HA. Can I use factors of this integration as a(n additional) trigger, which would then (if possible) make another Automation not run ?

Thanks again, your explanations are something I had been looking for a long time

5

Hi again - am pleased that worked for you.

The answer to your questions is YES. In fact you can do most things with Home Automation - which is why I love it.

Automations can have conditions that means they only run if the condition is true.
You can test any of the information you have in HA.

The main thing is to experiment and learn more. There are lots of tutorials on the internet, and YouTube videos. Just search for what you are looking for. If you run into problems or need more pointers just ask the community.

I am pretty busy this week, but can advise further at the weekend if your still stuck.
Enjoy it and have fun,
Cheers David