[moyekj]

I have MX-500 as my main remote control and URC 8810B I purchased ($20) mostly for it's EFC learning and key mover capability. After a lot of hunting and trial and error I was able to fiind on/off discrete EFC codes for some of my home theater devices (TV, DVD player) and program them into the URC 8810B using the "key mover" (994) mode, then learn them to the MX-500. They are very useful for using in macros as I'm sure many of you know.


My question: Is there any way to get the ReplayTV (5040) discrete on/off codes on my MX-500 without going the JP1 route?


Researching the discrete codes for ReplayTV I see that they apparently are only available with hacked JP1 version of PVR_0614 codes, as outlined here:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/cgi-bin2/ueic.cgi?PVR_0614


Just for grins I programmed my URC 8810B VCR device as 0614 and using 994 mode learned the don=042 and doff=066 codes to it, but obviously confirmed they don't work.


All I really need is to learn the two IR signals to my MX-500 and be done with it, even if it means I have to do this at a store. Are there any remotes that natively (i.e. without JP1) can be setup for these discrete codes?


Thanks for any help.


P.S. In the above link there seems to be a good clue: Pronto users can use the command numbers with the extended RC-6 protocol. But I don't really understand what that means.

 

[sfhub]

I don't think there is a way without jp1. You'll get a more definite answer

off posting this at http://hifi-remote.com/forums (maybe you

already did, I didn't check)


I tried to see if there was anything obvious that would use extended RC6

on UEI remotes but nothing really jumped out at me, but then again this

is not my area of expertise, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[Clay Schneider]

Do you have a way to get proto hex codes into your remote? If so, the discrete hex codes are available on the web. [I use them with my Harmony remote.]

 

[moyekj]

Quote:

Originally posted by Clay Schneider Do you have a way to get proto hex codes into your remote? If so, the discrete hex codes are available on the web. [I use them with my Harmony remote.]

I think you either need JP1 or some other kind of interface to the remote to do that AFAIK. How do you get the codes onto the Harmony remote?

 

[moyekj]

Thanks sfhub. BTW, the URC 8810B does have a JP1 interface, it just doesn't seem worth the money and effort to buy a JP1 cable, learn JP1 programming, etc. all just to get a couple of discrete codes for the replay. Are their other advantages to JP1 I may be missing that would make it worthwhile given that in most cases I can already learn all original remote functions + get discretes on the MX-500 as I described above?

 

[sfhub]

People have mentioned the main thing the Harmonys do that OFA remotes

don't is allow you to label the buttons.


In terms of programming Harmonys seem to lean more towards learning

buttons that aren't builtin while JP1 is focused on using protocols and

EFCs (essentially EFC is to remotes like ASCII is to keyboards)


I don't know how advanced the macros can get with Harmony, but the

stuff I like with the JP1 remotes is the building blocks that are provided to

help you achieve single button all component ON and single button all

component OFF.


(if you have no intention of ever using the OFA remote other than as

a programming tool for the Harmony, just skip to the last paragraph)


- long or double keypress

this is a really great feature as it let's you essentially double the number

of buttons you have available. For example it is very natural to "long

press" the Play button to toggle CA. This allows you to have a simple

button layout w/o feeling like you don't have enough buttons because

every button can potentially serve 2 purposes.


- ToadTog

this is basically the ability to put conditionals in your macros which act

on variables which store state. With this building block you can do things

like "simulate" discrete on/off using just power toggle, since your remote

can now keep track of whether your device is currently turned on or not.

You can also do stuff like have a variable pause before sending the

discrete input select. For example some TVs will not respond to IR for

a short period right after they are turned on. However it is annoying to

put a longish pause in because if your TV is already turned on, you'd

rather it respond immediately when you switch from "DVD components"

to "Replay components" Using ToadTog, you can have the pause before

discrete input select only when first turning on the TV and after that skip

the pause and immediately send discrete input select.


- nested macros

simplifies complex macro tasks by pulling out the commonalities into a

single macro


- ability to backup/restore 100% of your remote in seconds to your

computer. This makes it so much easier to experiment with your remote

and never have fear of anything getting messed up. Also if your remote

breaks, it takes seconds to migrate the whole setup to a replacement

remote.


- ability to program the remote from your computer


- access to library of lots of device upgrades for generating discretes

and for deciphering learned buttons


Hope that helps a little. I think even if you have no need for many of

the functions JP1 will enable your OFA remote to perform, it is still useful

just to get access to the library of many more device upgrades and

discretes (though in many cases the discretes are also available in

the base remote, in some cases they are not)


An example of something that you could get with JP1. I wanted to

control my remote control blinds using my 15-2117 remote so I put

together Hunter Douglas simple protocol to control the blinds. With

JP1 you'd have access to that protocol and could learn them on your

Harmony, so basically the library of functions may be larger than what

came to mind at first.

 

[MaxH]

Quote:

Originally posted by Clay Schneider Do you have a way to get proto hex codes into your remote? If so, the discrete hex codes are available on the web. [I use them with my Harmony remote.]

Can you point me in the right direction for these? I just bought a Harmony H676, and I'd like to use the discrete codes so that if I turn the Replay on with RTVrc, then later starting the "Watch ReplayTV" activity will send a Power On code, not a Power Toggle, which would turn it off.

 

[sfhub]

Well, if you have a 5k remote, for just $15 dollars more you can have your

5k remote programmed to send the discrete on/off (and even use

subunit codes if you have multiple stacked replays) to your Harmony

for learning purposes.


This is what moyekj was discussing in this thread. I will guess he'll

eventually break down and buy or build the cable


Since 5k remote is pretty prevalent here as well as a cross section of

JP1 users, someone here could easily email you the remote image

preprogrammed so you don't even need to learn jp1, just run a program

and press upload.

 

[Clay Schneider]

Quote:

Originally posted by moyekj I think you either need JP1 or some other kind of interface to the remote to do that AFAIK. How do you get the codes onto the Harmony remote?

You just go to the Harmony website and paste the hex codes into the IR code assistant [part of the advanced section on the website]. The assistant will translate them to Harmony and you give it a name and a device to associate it with. Then assign it to the key or macro you want, and re-load your remote from the website.

 

[Clay Schneider]

Quote:

Originally posted by MaxH Can you point me in the right direction for these? I just bought a Harmony H676, and I'd like to use the discrete codes so that if I turn the Replay on with RTVrc, then later starting the "Watch ReplayTV" activity will send a Power On code, not a Power Toggle, which would turn it off.

The base [unit 0] codes are on remote central:

http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin...laytv&dv=dvr&f


If you want the unit1, unit2 and unit3 codes [for using three replays in the same room with independent power control], you can either create them using utilities downloaded from remotecentral, or I can post them somewhere.