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Official Logitech Harmony 900 thread - Page 87

post #2581 of 2672
1/24/13 at 5:45am
JKasanic.....Do you still have your issue?
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post #2582 of 2672
1/24/13 at 5:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnottyBoomBody View Post

Been thinking of getting a 900 but I see they are no longer listed on Logitech's website and none of the local BB have them in stock any more and they can't be shipped, I did find some on Amazon but I was wondering if this model is discontinued and if something else is replacing it. I need a remote with a number keypad mostly to change channels quickly. Should I try the 650 ?
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I just looked on BB website and they have them and they are on sale. I doubt that they discontinued these remotes. They are very popular.
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post #2583 of 2672
1/24/13 at 8:49am
Logitech sold off Harmony. I was in BB yesterday. Sales guy said no more Harmony at BB. He said there are 10 900s in a warehouse in NY that serves the entire east coast.
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post #2584 of 2672
1/24/13 at 8:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pain Infliction View Post

JKasanic.....Do you still have your issue?

 

Sorry, I still need to try your solution.  You could be right that I'm flooding the cabinet with too much IR but I thought the feedback on the remote (red X through transmission icon) was to indicate whether or not "RF" communication with the blaster occurred successfully or not?  I would think that if the IR eyes were interfering with the IR from the blaster (or each other) that I would still get a positive transmission to the blaster and just sporadic results with each command press?  Are you implying that the red X is actually a signal that the "IR" transmission to the specific device was completed successfully?  I suppose I should just read the manual...confused.gif

 

On a similar but separate note, you mention using smaller emitters on each piece of equipment.  Could you post a link to what you're using and how these interact with the RF blaster (i.e. I would imagine you need to daisy chain them somehow as the RF blaster only has two ports and I'm sure you're controlling many more pieces of equipment)?  Is there a port multiplier or something you can buy to use the 2 2.5mm ports out of the RF blaster but then have several 3.5mm mono IR cables going to each device?  Also, do you know anything about plugging an IR cable directly into a device (like my Sony projector, Darbee or Popcorn Hour) rather than using an IR emitter on the front of the device?  I see these IR jacks on the backs of all these devices but I'm not sure if they're meant for universal remotes or some other device??

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post #2585 of 2672
1/24/13 at 9:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by electricmanscott View Post

Logitech sold off Harmony. I was in BB yesterday. Sales guy said no more Harmony at BB. He said there are 10 900s in a warehouse in NY that serves the entire east coast.

They are going to sell it. It's not sold yet.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57565558-92/logitech-to-unload-harmony-line-after-disappointing-quarter/
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post #2586 of 2672
1/24/13 at 9:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkasanic View Post

I had to change my DirecTV to use IR and receive from one of the stock IR emitters that came with my remote to use my 900.  My understanding is that the RF for the DirecTV box is not compatible with the RF from the 900 so this is the only way to communicate with the DirecTV receiver using the 900.

I'm only using the stock IR emitters that came with my blaster (and remote) but I was curious if I could expand the number of ports available without purchasing another blaster?  My blaster and emitters are in very close proximity to each other as I have everything in an 85" tall Sanus AV rack.  Honestly, I haven't figured out the best way to fix the emitters (and blaster for that matter) inside the cabinet so I just have the blaster sitting on a shelf in the middle and the two emitters dangling over the inside of the glass door (one high and one low) to ensure they hit every device.  In fact, I can confirm this works because at one point or another I have remotely controlled each device from 30 ft away.  The problem is that the blaster response is hit or miss (i.e. I get what I'm calling the BSOD of Logitech RF remotes...the dreaded red X when communication with the blaster fails).

When you go into the settings for the activity screen you can redo the order that the devices power up. The directv box cannot be controlled through rf with the 900 as they're different frequencies. As far as your blasters are concerned, have you done the advanced rf setup on the remote itself where you can assign each individual blaster to a device? Don't forget to check your delays and repeats. You can troubleshoot and say my device responds infrequently or not at all and adjust the repeats. I believe you can spilt off the blaster to put stick on blasters as mentioned above if you're still having issues. You should also have someone look at the blaster while your pressing buttons from the main room to insure its getting the signal.
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post #2587 of 2672
1/24/13 at 1:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkasanic View Post

Sorry, I still need to try your solution.  You could be right that I'm flooding the cabinet with too much IR but I thought the feedback on the remote (red X through transmission icon) was to indicate whether or not "RF" communication with the blaster occurred successfully or not?  I would think that if the IR eyes were interfering with the IR from the blaster (or each other) that I would still get a positive transmission to the blaster and just sporadic results with each command press?  Are you implying that the red X is actually a signal that the "IR" transmission to the specific device was completed successfully?  I suppose I should just read the manual...confused.gif

On a similar but separate note, you mention using smaller emitters on each piece of equipment.  Could you post a link to what you're using and how these interact with the RF blaster (i.e. I would imagine you need to daisy chain them somehow as the RF blaster only has two ports and I'm sure you're controlling many more pieces of equipment)?  Is there a port multiplier or something you can buy to use the 2 2.5mm ports out of the RF blaster but then have several 3.5mm mono IR cables going to each device?  Also, do you know anything about plugging an IR cable directly into a device (like my Sony projector, Darbee or Popcorn Hour) rather than using an IR emitter on the front of the device?  I see these IR jacks on the backs of all these devices but I'm not sure if they're meant for universal remotes or some other device??

Yes the red X means that the command did not go through. There could be something possible interfering with the RF. Flooding the rack with the IR commands is still a possibility though. I have done that before. What I use is the Niles IR repeater system. From the Logitech RF to IR blaster into the Nile IR repeater to the mini flashers on each component. I have all of this tucked away so you never see anything. Very clean and I have no issues with commands not going through. I used this system and expand the amount of flashers. Some of the flashers have two heads on them so you can control more components with the same amount of outputs. also you can get different models so you can have two IR receivers if you want to control the components with a different TV or what ever in another room. That is if you have all of your AV components in the entire house in that one rack.

http://www.amazon.com/Niles-Control-Anywhere-Surface-Mount-MicroSensor/dp/B002LI6K0I/ref=sr_1_11?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359062705&sr=1-11&keywords=niles+ir+repeater+system
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post #2588 of 2672
1/24/13 at 4:06pm
Ok logitech IS stopping the production of their Harmony line by the end of the year. They are trying to sell it off after a bad 3rd quarter. I hope somebody will buy it and keep these remotes alive.
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post #2589 of 2672
1/24/13 at 6:09pm
Gee I wonder why they had a bad quarter? Could it be because the new remote sucks and the software has gotten horrible? rolleyes.gif
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post #2590 of 2672
1/25/13 at 6:00am
I actually love the remote. I have 3 or them.
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post #2591 of 2672
1/28/13 at 9:24pm
Has anyone had their 900 for 18 months or more? I'm very tempted to pick one up but continue to stumble upon the many reviews stating they fail after 18, 12 or even 6 months.
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post #2592 of 2672
1/29/13 at 3:57am
yes
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post #2593 of 2672
1/29/13 at 5:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBinTX View Post

Has anyone had their 900 for 18 months or more? I'm very tempted to pick one up but continue to stumble upon the many reviews stating they fail after 18, 12 or even 6 months.

Just be careful not to drop the harmony remotes. That is when they start to get all jacked up.
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post #2594 of 2672
1/29/13 at 7:16am
I've had my 900 for over 2 years. It's held up very well.

My kids have dropped it on the tile floor 2 or 3 times (that I know of). Once the plastic case got out of alignment, but I just snapped it back into place.

I even spilled a little bit of drink on it once.

Occasionally the time gets reset, but I suspect that may have to do with someone removing the battery.

I recommend it.
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post #2595 of 2672
1/29/13 at 12:54pm

The time issue relates to poor contact with the cradle.  Mine would reset constantly (without me knowing as I would place it in the cradle and it would reset without my knowledge).  I did some digging on the Logitech forums and found that cleaning the contacts on the remote and the cradle would solve the problem.

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post #2596 of 2672
1/29/13 at 1:13pm
I wonder what that has to do with the remote resetting??? I know that it will have to do with charging because that is what those contacts are for.
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post #2597 of 2672
1/29/13 at 1:18pm

^^^^Give this thread a read over at the Logitech forums.  In particular Babydoc's post on page 2.

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post #2598 of 2672
1/29/13 at 1:51pm
I just read it but like he said, it puzzles me that the remote resets if the contacts are not clean instead of it being a charging issue. I just do not understand why that would be. Good link thanks.
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post #2599 of 2672
1/29/13 at 2:15pm

I was baffled as well...all I can say is cleaning the contacts solved my issue.  Also, I believe this is an issue at the factory as I don't handle my remote nearly as often as the users in that thread mentioned and mine did it from day one until I cleaned the contacts.

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post #2600 of 2672
1/29/13 at 8:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary J View Post

yes

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pain Infliction View Post

Just be careful not to drop the harmony remotes. That is when they start to get all jacked up.

Quote:
Originally Posted by erikstormtrooper View Post

I've had my 900 for over 2 years. It's held up very well.

My kids have dropped it on the tile floor 2 or 3 times (that I know of). Once the plastic case got out of alignment, but I just snapped it back into place.

I even spilled a little bit of drink on it once.

Occasionally the time gets reset, but I suspect that may have to do with someone removing the battery.

I recommend it.

Thanks fellas...I just placed my order!
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post #2601 of 2672
1/30/13 at 11:48am
They finally got ONE 900 remote back in stock at a local BB and I picked it up and got them to price match Amazon for $252

Letting it recharge now and I'll hook it up later

Thanks for all the info in this thread.

SBB

.
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post #2602 of 2672
1/30/13 at 12:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pain Infliction View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by jkasanic View Post

Sorry, I still need to try your solution.  You could be right that I'm flooding the cabinet with too much IR but I thought the feedback on the remote (red X through transmission icon) was to indicate whether or not "RF" communication with the blaster occurred successfully or not?  I would think that if the IR eyes were interfering with the IR from the blaster (or each other) that I would still get a positive transmission to the blaster and just sporadic results with each command press?  Are you implying that the red X is actually a signal that the "IR" transmission to the specific device was completed successfully?  I suppose I should just read the manual...confused.gif

On a similar but separate note, you mention using smaller emitters on each piece of equipment.  Could you post a link to what you're using and how these interact with the RF blaster (i.e. I would imagine you need to daisy chain them somehow as the RF blaster only has two ports and I'm sure you're controlling many more pieces of equipment)?  Is there a port multiplier or something you can buy to use the 2 2.5mm ports out of the RF blaster but then have several 3.5mm mono IR cables going to each device?  Also, do you know anything about plugging an IR cable directly into a device (like my Sony projector, Darbee or Popcorn Hour) rather than using an IR emitter on the front of the device?  I see these IR jacks on the backs of all these devices but I'm not sure if they're meant for universal remotes or some other device??

Yes the red X means that the command did not go through. There could be something possible interfering with the RF. Flooding the rack with the IR commands is still a possibility though. I have done that before. What I use is the Niles IR repeater system. From the Logitech RF to IR blaster into the Nile IR repeater to the mini flashers on each component. I have all of this tucked away so you never see anything. Very clean and I have no issues with commands not going through. I used this system and expand the amount of flashers. Some of the flashers have two heads on them so you can control more components with the same amount of outputs. also you can get different models so you can have two IR receivers if you want to control the components with a different TV or what ever in another room. That is if you have all of your AV components in the entire house in that one rack.

http://www.amazon.com/Niles-Control-Anywhere-Surface-Mount-MicroSensor/dp/B002LI6K0I/ref=sr_1_11?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359062705&sr=1-11&keywords=niles+ir+repeater+system

 

Sorry for the delay.  I just had a chance to check out the Niles repeater.  I like the concept but the lack of reviews (and poor ones that are posted) is not very encouraging.  This is exactly the kind of device that I would like to have though as it does what I need.  I'm thinking short-term I may just try to assign different devices to the individual (stock) blasters as when I looked at doing this before, I believe Logitech didn't recommend it unless you had more than one device from the same manufacturer (e.g. multiple cable/sat receivers).  It makes sense to me that if the AV cabinet is being flooded with IR that I should restrict IR output to certain emitters based on device location but I was confused why Logitech didn't recommend doing it?  It was almost as if they were saying too much IR is never an issue...

 

EDIT:  Am I missing something or is this the same thing for a 1/3 the price??

 

EDIT 2:  Well, I guess this would be the same as the Amazon link but why would I need 50 ft of CAT5 cable to connector a sensor to the base module if I'm transmitting the signal over RF with my 900?  Don't I just need the IR repeater/hub portion of this kit (aka MSU140)?  I'm also wondering how the MSU140 Hub knows to which device to send the signal it is receiving from the 900 blaster?  Or does it just send it to all of them which I guess would work in my case?

 

EDIT 3:  Haha...ok last edit I promise!  Ideally, I'd like to avoid having to use an MS220 IR receiver (as this would just be receiving commands from the stock 900 emitter) and go directly from the RF blaster into the IR Hub and distribute from there.  Is this possible?  Is that a normal CAT5 ethernet connector for the input on the MSU140?  If so, I wonder what the pinout of the MS220 to the MS140 looks like?

 


Edited by jkasanic - 1/30/13 at 1:02pm
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post #2603 of 2672
1/30/13 at 4:09pm
Bad reviews!? Wow I am surprised by that! I have no issues what so ever. Let me see if I can answer all of your questions..

It is a regular cat5 cable but not the connectors. There are terminals that you screw the wires into on both parts. The cat5 cable is long just in case you have it in the other room or the other side if the room because it is just an IR repeater system.

You do have to use the MS220 because that is the IR receiver. What I do is have the Logitec transmitter flash right into the Niles IR receiver (ms220). It is out of the way and you can see either of them. I give them about 10" distance between the both of them. I know that that adds something else in the chain to mess up, but really, I have no issues because they never get touched or moved around. This is the proble with RF....it is cool because you can use it anywhere in your house but all of your AV compenents are IR so there will be some type of flasher somewhere. You only need the large transmitter/receiver from logitec. The other flashers you can unplug and store them somewhere.

You will need the complete kit so the one link you posted for 79 bux is just part of it.

I hope this helps and let me know if you need anything else or pictures or whatever.
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post #2604 of 2672
1/30/13 at 4:14pm
By the way....Have you ever tried turning on stuff and it did not turn on? There is a good chance that it received the command twice because of the flooded IR signals. Logitec should explain this.
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post #2605 of 2672
1/31/13 at 10:59am
Quick question for you guys. I'm having some problem when trying to just turn on the projector (JVC)!

I'm using the 900 --> it's RF emiiter --> using a 2.5mm->3.5mm adapter --> 3.5mm cable --> to the projector's IR input.

Every single button works fine via RF. However, it just can't turn the projector on! Off & all buttons works. I first thought it might need to learn the ON command. But it's not the case. I removed the projector from using RF, when point the remote to the projector, using just line of sight IR, it turns on the projector fine! So it's not the wrong command issue neither.

What else could I do?? confused.gif
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post #2606 of 2672
1/31/13 at 12:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by landshark1 View Post

Quick question for you guys. I'm having some problem when trying to just turn on the projector (JVC)!

I'm using the 900 --> it's RF emiiter --> using a 2.5mm->3.5mm adapter --> 3.5mm cable --> to the projector's IR input.

Every single button works fine via RF. However, it just can't turn the projector on! Off & all buttons works. I first thought it might need to learn the ON command. But it's not the case. I removed the projector from using RF, when point the remote to the projector, using just line of sight IR, it turns on the projector fine! So it's not the wrong command issue neither.

What else could I do?? confused.gif

I think your projector is bad. Ship it to me ASAP so I can throw it away for you. kidding. What IR emitter are you using on your projector? How do you have it on your projector and do you have two different Ir receivers on your projector?
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post #2607 of 2672
1/31/13 at 12:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pain Infliction View Post

I think your projector is bad. Ship it to me ASAP so I can throw it away for you. kidding. What IR emitter are you using on your projector? How do you have it on your projector and do you have two different Ir receivers on your projector?
The projector has an IR input that I plug the 3.5mm cable directly to it. The other end of the cable is plugged into Harmony's RF emitter base. Again, every buttons/commands work except to power it up via RF. Direct IR works too.
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post #2608 of 2672
1/31/13 at 12:38pm
I just do not know. That is very weird. Maybe somebody else can chime in on this.
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post #2609 of 2672
2/10/13 at 8:04pm
My experience at this point is not good. I hooked up complete new system today and bought the 900 to control it. I had a new wall unit built and installed and the cabinet doors are 5/8" thick solid wood and with my remote 10' away it doesn't operate the components. Done messing with it tonight. Hopefully I am missing something.
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post #2610 of 2672
2/10/13 at 8:07pm
Sorry I didn't do this right. This was supposed to be directed to another poster.
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