Universal remote

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Tscjcampbell

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Universal remote

#1

Post by Tscjcampbell » Wed Feb 19, 2014 5:42 pm

Hello everyone

I'm new to this forum and I just built my first htpc. I have a wmc remote and ir receiver in the living room with the PC, a xbox in the den with no remote currently ( just the paddle) and I just bought a ceton echo for the master bedroom. The remote in the living room does not power the tv on or off, no remote in the den, and the echo remote doesn't control volume or power for the tv. I'm looking for a basic remote that might work in all three rooms, or at least the living room and master bedroom. I'm ok with buying a xbox remote and turning that tv on manually. Any help would be great.
Thanks. Tim

mdavej

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#2

Post by mdavej » Wed Feb 19, 2014 6:15 pm

My favorite is the RCA RCRP05B for several reasons, including its $8 price tag and programmability.

Tscjcampbell

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#3

Post by Tscjcampbell » Wed Feb 19, 2014 7:20 pm

Is this a ir remote? And will it work with the xbox?

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newfiend

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#4

Post by newfiend » Thu Feb 20, 2014 3:06 am

If you want a good fairly inexpensive remote the Harmony 300 or 300i works well. You can program it to control up to 4 separate devices, Power on/of the TV, HTPC, AVR etc.. all with one remote. I would check eBay for the best price as I don't think they are in production anymore. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Logitech-Harmon ... 461af718bf

barnabas1969

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#5

Post by barnabas1969 » Thu Feb 20, 2014 4:36 am

It's difficult for me to see a thread like this without recommending the AR-RX18G. Of course, when I bought it, it was soooo much cheaper than the Harmony. But now, it's just as expensive if not more-so. I guess I should have kept it to myself (both here and on Amazon) so that the price would have stayed low. Oddly enough, mine is the most helpful favorable review for this particular remote on Amazon. I just updated it a couple of days ago with my most recent observations after owning it for several years.

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#6

Post by bob_p » Thu Feb 20, 2014 1:55 pm

Recently programmed Logitech's new high end Ultimate remote - with the touch screen. The combination of hard buttons for typical commands and the touch screen for special commands is pretty good - plus the "Hub" for providing support inside cabinets or to control gaming consoles via Bluetooth - plus remote control from smartphones.

For my HTPC, I've been using the old Pronto 9600 - which was the high-end Pronto remote - and has considerably more capability because of the ability to not only program in the remote control codes - but also add scripting support and even send commands directly to the PC via WiFi.

But the Pronto line has been discontinued, and doesn't appear anyone else is currently providing comparable high-end remotes.

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#7

Post by nathagt » Thu Feb 20, 2014 3:55 pm

+ 1 for the AR-RX18G. I tried a harmony remote and returned it after 2 days because I was constantly pulling old remotes out of the drawer. Haven't done that at all with the RX18G. Gives you complete control over each button no matter what mode you're in. Worth every penny. I use it for my XBOX too.

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#8

Post by mdavej » Thu Feb 20, 2014 4:59 pm

The 18G is my favorite remote as well. But the OP asked for a "basic" remote, which I interpreted as cheap and simple.

Aside from that, I wouldn't recommend using the same remote in all three rooms unless you live alone and enjoy always hunting for your remote. Tscj, are your TV's all different brands? Do you have other devices to control, like AVRs? That will help us get a handle on the total device count, which usually dictates what remotes will work. The Harmony 300, for example, is limited to 4 devices and a single macro. So multi-room use would be difficult, as only one room would have a functional macro, and hence volume punch thru. If you go with Harmony and want it to work in all rooms, the minimum you could get by with would be a 700.

If you insist on MCE remotes rather than universal, old Xbox or Inteset would be best. The new Xbox remotes are missing a few functions like the all important Green Button, so I wouldn't recommend those at all. None of the above are truly universal, so each will work with only one TV.

BTW, not long ago there were several 18G's on ebay for $35-$50. I also picked up a spare RF base for about $20.

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#9

Post by barnabas1969 » Thu Feb 20, 2014 6:26 pm

When I read the OP's first post, I didn't think he meant one single remote to work in all three rooms. I thought he meant to buy three of the same remotes... a separate one for each room. I'm actually headed that way with the 18G. I like the fact that the remote in each room has the buttons in the same places... so I don't need to look at it or even think about where the buttons are.

Wow... $35-50? The last one I bought on e-bay, without the charging stand, was $70. I'll have to go look again! I want two more of them.

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#10

Post by mdavej » Thu Feb 20, 2014 7:29 pm

Yep, several for $35 no charger, $50 with charger, not brand new though. That was a month or so ago.

Probably not very smart of me, but I have a totally different remote in each room, so I do have to fumble around a bit to remember the different layouts. Seems I'm always in the midst of a JP1 science experiment with some new model remote in each room.

BTW, I think the MCE codes on the RCA and other JP1 remotes are DVD 1972 or 1272 for PC/Echo or 2083 for Xbox/Echo (Echo responds to all MCE addresses by default). I don't know for sure because I've never tried the built-in codes.

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#11

Post by Tscjcampbell » Fri Feb 21, 2014 3:26 am

Thank you everyone for you input. I wanted a remote in each room but the same model remote ( to keep the wife happy). I ordered a RCA RCRP05B to try out, if it works I'll order two more if not I'm only out $15.
Thanks for all the help. Tim

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#12

Post by barnabas1969 » Fri Feb 21, 2014 4:07 pm

Just bought another AR-RX18G on e-bay for $49.99 with charger. It's from China, so it will take a few weeks to receive. Great price if it arrives in good condition.

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#13

Post by Tscjcampbell » Fri Feb 21, 2014 10:14 pm

I just received the RCA RCRP05B today. When I type the code 1972 into the remote it does nothing. My usb receiver doesn't even blink. Any thoughts? I got the tv to work no problem. Tim

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#14

Post by mdavej » Fri Feb 21, 2014 10:52 pm

Tscjcampbell wrote:I just received the RCA RCRP05B today. When I type the code 1972 into the remote it does nothing. My usb receiver doesn't even blink. Any thoughts? I got the tv to work no problem. Tim
Wow, that was fast! What kind of USB IR dongle do you have? Can you post a picture or link? If DVD 1972 doesn't work (on the DVD or DVR button), then you may not have a genuine MCE dongle, but Ortek or some other protocol, in which case, you'll have to learn every command.

How about the Echo and Xbox? Those should work with DVD 1972 and 2083 respectively. If you try to put a DVD code on a CBL or AUD button, then you have to do another procedure for it to work. If you need to do that, follow 1.17 in the instructions linked below.

In the mean time, I'll do some testing with my RCA, Xbox and Echo and try to give you some more detailed steps later. I do all my programming via PC, so I'm a little rusty on all the codes.

Here are some more comprehensive programming instructions than those included with the remote:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/wiki/index.p ... x_Commands

Pay attention especially to the volume lock procedure. It's wrong in the manual, but correct in the above instructions.

FYI, here are all the MCE codes in the RCA: CBL 1272, TV 1525, TV 1863, DVD 1972 and DVD 2083. There are a few others, but I don't think they work with PC, Echo or Xbox: AUD 1785, CBL 2187 and TV 1264.

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#15

Post by boogmeister1 » Sat Feb 22, 2014 1:24 am

barnabas1969 wrote:Just bought another AR-RX18G on e-bay for $49.99 with charger. It's from China, so it will take a few weeks to receive. Great price if it arrives in good condition.
I think I may have bought the last one that seller was offering. He's from china too.

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#16

Post by mdavej » Sat Feb 22, 2014 3:58 am

Just following up after doing some tests with my RCA. Posted codes work perfectly with PC (MCE RC6), Echo and Xbox. Do you get 2 blinks when you program a setup code? A long blink means the code or device mode is wrong.

FYI, here are some EFCs in case you need to add any functions. Use the instructions linked above for assigning Advanced Codes (EFCs). You can assign any function to any button (or shifted button) in any device mode. Same goes for macros. They can go on any button or shifted button (except the device selection buttons or the Power button). You can get around these limitations and add even more functionality if you program from a PC or Mac.

# 00178
* 00170
0 00018
1 00010
2 00034
3 00026
4 00242
5 00234
6 00002
7 00250
8 00082
9 00074
Back 00027
Blue 00192
Channel Down 00154
Channel Up 00162
Clear 00098
DVD Menu 00243
Down 00186
Enter 00090
Fast Forward 00114
Green 00176
Green Start Button 00042
Guide 00003
Left 00019
Live TV 00235
More (i button) 00058
Music 00248
Mute 00066
OK 00035
Online Media 00179
Pause 00210
Pictures 00072
Play 00130
Play/Pause Combination 00065
Power Off 00099
Power On 00075
Radio 00144
Record 00122
Recorded TV 00080
Red 00216
Rewind 00106
Right 00011
Skip Back 00218
Skip Forward 00226
Standby 00050
Stop 00202
Teletext 00224
Up 00194
Videos 00096
Volume Down 00138
Volume Up 00146
Yellow 00168

barnabas1969

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#17

Post by barnabas1969 » Sat Feb 22, 2014 8:02 pm

boogmeister1 wrote:
barnabas1969 wrote:Just bought another AR-RX18G on e-bay for $49.99 with charger. It's from China, so it will take a few weeks to receive. Great price if it arrives in good condition.
I think I may have bought the last one that seller was offering. He's from china too.
Yeah, there were two available before I bought one. There is another seller with a price that is a few cents cheaper. They have a bunch of them for sale, but they had some bad reviews, so I chose the next more expensive one.

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CyberSimian

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#18

Post by CyberSimian » Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:38 pm

barnabas1969 wrote:Just bought another AR-RX18G on e-bay for $49.99 with charger. It's from China, so it will take a few weeks to receive. Great price if it arrives in good condition.
The Xsight Touch (European version of the AR-RX18G) is no longer listed on the One-for-All website, suggesting that it may have been discontinued (at least, in Europe). The Xsight Colour, Xsight Plus, and Xsight Lite are still listed:

http://www.oneforall-int.com/eu_EU/prod ... 3/advanced

Anyone who wants an Xsight Touch should probably get one sooner rather than later!

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

tad

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#19

Post by tad » Wed Feb 26, 2014 5:23 pm

I have 4 Harmony 650s working well with my complicated media center/extender setup. One nice thing is that they are readily available.

I've been pretty happy with them, but I had to do a lot of manual code learning for various equipment.

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#20

Post by miracleed » Sun Jan 18, 2015 4:39 pm

just getting this set up over the past couple days:

http://myharmony.com/products/detail/smart-control/

i've had a harmony 700 in the past which worked great. i think i found the link below in these forums.

http://forums.logitech.com/t5/Harmony-R ... d-p/374844

i wanted to upgrade to the smart hub so that i could use the single remote with the amazon fire stick. now i am trying to figure out how to include commands to my hue lights so that when i hit watch a movie the lights in the room dim...

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