Hey everybody, I am trying to get setup with a universal remote that will do what "I" want it to do. I would like to control small pieces
of the following devices all without pressing a device button first:

Sanyo PLV-1080HD Projector -> Power on and Off discretely, select input
Onkyo HT-R340 AV receiver -> Power on and off discretely, select input, volume up and down, set volume at XX level
Windows 7 W/Media Center -> Wake from sleep, Media Player: Play, Pause, FF, RW, Fullscreen
X-10 Ifrared Receiver -> All Lights on, All lights off, then two presets each controlling only one set of lights

Here is my wish list:
1 button to power on Projector, Receiver, and bring computer out of sleep.
1 button to power off Projector, Receiver, and put computer to sleep.
1 button to switch input on projector to HDMI and input on Onkyo to DVD and set Onkyo volume to 40
1 button to Switch input on projector to Component and input on Onkyo to Video 1 and set Onkyo volume to 28
1 button to select light 1 and set it at 75%
1 button to select light 3 and set it at full
And with this no matter what button was pressed before, have the following always "active"
Volume +- and mute control the Onkyo
Transport buttons, Play Pause...always control Windows Media Player

I have a Dinovo Mini for the HTPC, so only the basic transport controls are needed.

I am currently using an RCA RCU810 universal, without JP1 connector, that has great range and button layout, but poor programability. I
have actually reached the programing limit and basically have programmed everything I could until I ran out of memory. I picked one "device"
selection and then took the remotes I had and manually programmed each button to do what I want. The problem with this is the lack of memory,
and if a different device button gets pressed the wife can not figure out what to do to work the thing. She is an intelligent woman, but
easily intimidated by technology.

I also have a FUNAI Catalyst 48 JP1 remote, but no way to properly program it. I have modded Xboxes, built computers, configured cisco routers,
and work with computers daily and the whole JP1 thing just eludes my comprehension. I can not figure out which JP1 adapter nor which applications
I should even attempt to use to program the thing. I also am running Vista x64 and Windows7 x64 on most of my machines at home. Almost all the
JP1 apps appear to be written for Windows 98 and Excel...If I understand JP1 correctly I should be able to program the buttons on the remote
individually just the way that I want them, so the volume controls always send the Onlyo commands, and the transport controls always send the
Media player commands.

Finally I just got a cheap used Harmony 510. It will control my limited amount of devices, but after the initial setup its range seems to be
around 7 feet. Is this Normal with the 510? Now I know that the Harmonys are made to do "activities" and that is how they are supposed to be used,
but is it possible to just get it setup so one mode will just send the commands above to each piece of hardware? Also is there a way for the
Harmony to set the volume at a specific level? The harmony also seems to only be able to do 5 commands in a sequence, can you get any more?
Is this the way I should go and learn or do you think I will be disappointed?

Thank you for your input!

I have no idea about harmony, but can address your JP1 questions. First off, you need to visit the JP1 forums (http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/index.php) and read the beginner threads. If you want complete control of absolutely every aspect of your remote and don't mind the programming, JP1 can't be beat, for the price.

As new remotes have come out over the years, the interface has changed. So your old RCA takes a JP1 EEPROM cable, which you can easily build yourself with about $5 worth of parts. Unfortunately your RCA has no pins to connect it, so you'd have to add those, which is probably more trouble than its worth. Your newer Catalyst takes a JP1.3 cable (http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9405&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=), which you can buy for $30. It's more complicated to build yourself, so most people prefer to buy them.

If you did manage to get the RCA modified and working with JP1, you can free up a ton of memory by getting rid of all your learns and replacing them with upgrades and easily have room for all your devices. You can get vol/mute to always control the onkyo today without JP1 by simply setting up volume punch thru (a.k.a. volume lock) per the manual.

The JP1 software is certainly not just written for Win98 and excel. It's true some of the tools were written in excel early on, but now there's a very sophisticated, multi-platform app called Remote Master for building device upgrades. You get a nice picture of the remote, so you can just drag and drop any functions onto any buttons you like. I don't use Vista (if I can help it), but I've seen reports of success in Vista x64 with the main programming tool, IR, and the JP1.3 cable, which has x64 drivers. The JP1 cable for your RCA does not have x64 drivers. Unfortunately, we're at the mercy of the electronic component manufacturers for drivers, and the components in the JP1 interface have no x64 drivers. The ones in the JP1.3 interface fortunately do have drivers for nearly every platform imaginable.

One drawback of the Catalyst is it's not learning, so you couldn't build upgrades totally from scratch. But of course you can still use any of the thousands of upgrades others have created, or build your own from pronto files.

If this is still too confusing and sounds like too much work, JP1 probably isn't for you. I've used JP1 for years and can't even fathom anything else. A JP1er needs to be comfortable programming and needs to be a cheapskate at heart. My main remote cost me $10, and I built my own cable for another $10. I get queasy if I even think about spending more than $20 for a remote. If the dog eats my remote, I just go get another one for $10 and download all the programming in a few seconds and I'm back in business. I'm up to 12 devices at the moment with a couple dozen "activities", and every button does exactly what I want. I've programmed it in a very intuitive way so the whole family and the babysitter can use it with no problem. Aside from the LCD display and the wizard based setup, there's nothing harmony can do that my remote can't. And mine can do much more. Every time I read about all the hoops some harmony users have to jump through to get certain activities working, or discrete commands or what ever, I'm greatful that I have complete control over what my remote does and can make it do precisely what I want. Yes, harmony works great for most people most of the time. But those few instances you really need the ability to tweak, you can't.

The biggest drawback of JP1 remotes, IMO, is the lack of an LCD to label additional functions. Along with the programming wizard, this is a major advantage of harmony and the like. On a JP1 remote any extra functions get assigned to buttons which may not make sense or are hard to remember. This is usually the deal breaker for many on the JP1/Harmony fence.

JP1 relies totally on its community of users and wonderful volunteers who have reverse engineered these remotes and have written some brilliant software to control every aspect of them. The software is updated and enhanced on almost a daily basis. Just ask for a feature, and it's usually added within a few days. There has been a huge amount of time and effort over the years to provide all these great tools, and you can reap the benefits for free.

If you're still interested in JP1, visit the JP1 forums (http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/index.php) and we'll be glad to step you through the process.

Thank you for the insight. I have emailed Tommy to get setup with the JP1.2 interface. Once I have everything in hand I am hoping to do an actual step by step write up with screen shots on how to do the process...

I have JTAGed and flashed a bunch of other devices, used hex editors, and re-flashed every device I could, but these JP1 remotes just don't quite click in my head properly.

Thanks again.

Why are you ordering a JP1.2 cable, do you know that your Cat48 is a JP1.2 model? If it's an older model it's likely to be a JP1 model, just like your RCA RCU810. As for adding the 6-pin connector to the RCU810, it's not as hard as Dave made it sound. I've written up instructions specific to this remote here:

http://www.hifi-remote.com/jp1/RCU810/

When programmed with JP1, all of the limits in the RCU810 become meaningless.

Rob,

Are you sure about that? The remote chart shows the Cat48 as JP1.2.

Rob, I built the JP1 Parallel port cable using the instructions from the JP1 site, and I was unable to communicate with the Catalyst. I hope this means the cat is 1.2 as the chart shows and not that I messed up the cable.

I will definately give your header instructions a try on one of the 810s I have and then I can use the cable I already have made.

Thanks for taking a look!

Rob,

Are you sure about that? The remote chart shows the Cat48 as JP1.2.
There isn't just one Cat48 remote. This is a model that they use mainly as an OEM remote that will ship with certain devices. They have been calling them Catalyst 48 since the beginning of time, so the actual platform used for the remote has changed as UEI's preferred platform has changed. The first Cat48 that I ever got originally shipped with an Outlaw receiver and was definitely a JP1 (EEPROM) remote. I do also have a Cat48 that shipped with a Gateway TV that is JP1.x (JP1.2 if I recall correctly). As JP1.3 is now the preferred platform, my guess is that there are some JP1.3 versions out there already.