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Logitech Harmony remotes
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=13244
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Author:  miker [ Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:11 am ]
Post subject:  Logitech Harmony remotes

I have a harmony 520 that i've been using for a few years and im thinking of upgrading to an 880. Does anyone here have a 880 and can tell me if its worth buying?

I use the 520 so much that a few buttons are starting to wear out. On the 520 I find some of the buttons are way too small and each click has a snap to it. I like the larger rubberized buttons like on the generic remotes. When changing channels my hauppauge is very quick but the 520 has a longer delay between presses. I dropped the timing delay as low as it will go but its still not as quick as the hauppauge remote.
Any comments would be great before I buy one.

miker
________
MERCEDES-BENZ S-CLASS HYBRID

Author:  spideyk21 [ Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:10 am ]
Post subject: 

I have an 880 on the way and have played with one that my friend owns. Great remote, works great with everything he set up. Was even able to learn the controls for his brand new to the market hdmi switch.

Haven't seen it used with MythTV so can't help you there. I will try to keep you posted on my 880 experience with MythTV, setting up the LIRC config file and all (have to check if R5E50 has preset config files for the Harmony Remotes).

Author:  thornsoft [ Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:46 am ]
Post subject: 

spideyk21 wrote:
setting up the LIRC config file and all (have to check if R5E50 has preset config files for the Harmony Remotes).

Don't look too hard - it won't be there.
The Harmony doesn't work that way. It doesn't expect any device to know about IT. The Harmony mimics other remotes. So it just wants to know what you're talking to, and it'll handle the rest.
The problem with Myth, is that there's no standard remote. With a TiVo, you just tell it you've got a TiVo, and it knows what remote a TiVo has. With Myth, it's going to assume that you've got one of the remotes that it knows about. In my case, I had a Streamzap remote with the streamzap USB dongle IR Receiver. I told Harmony880 that I had Myth, it asked to see a couple of the commands from the remote that I already had, so I showed it the Streamzap (like a learning session, but just a few commands, not every key) and it knew what I wanted. Bingo!
I don't know if it knows how to deal with other remotes, but wouldn't be suprised if it knows about the Happauge's.
So anyway, you need to have pre-existing remote/IR capability in order for the Harmony880 to step in and take over. If you don't have anything, a cheap/safe solution would be to order a streamzap from mythic.tv

Author:  cecil [ Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:26 am ]
Post subject: 

spideyk21 wrote:
(have to check if R5E50 has preset config files for the Harmony Remotes).
It doesn't. If you can provide details setting it up, it can be included in future releases.

Author:  spideyk21 [ Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:45 am ]
Post subject: 

cecil wrote:
It doesn't. If you can provide details setting it up, it can be included in future releases.

Can do Cecil. I just check my UPS tracking code and I should have the remote later today. Hope to have this up and running by the end of the week(end).

Have to wire up the IR receiver before all that can happen.

Author:  Mort322 [ Fri Jan 05, 2007 5:16 pm ]
Post subject: 

I have the 880 and love it, especially the charging cradle, with Myth I use a MCEUSB2 IR receiver so I just tell the 880 to pretend it’s a MCE PVR and it works great, I've only ever had to do some minor key editing and because myth sees the USBMCE2 adapter it just assumes that’s the remote I'm using and auto configures it.

Author:  cecil [ Fri Jan 05, 2007 5:35 pm ]
Post subject: 

MythTV makes no assumptions about your remote. How one's remotes works based on how one configures it via lircrc.

Author:  thornsoft [ Fri Jan 05, 2007 5:46 pm ]
Post subject: 

cecil wrote:
MythTV makes no assumptions about your remote. How one's remotes works based on how one configures it via lircrc.

Right! In reality, Myth doesn't know anything about the Harmony. I tell Myth that I've got a StreamZap (because I do, and that's the IR receiver that I'm using), and I tell the Harmony that I've got Myth with a Streamzap, and all is well.
Remember guys, the Harmony 880 won't do anything unless your MythTV box has an IR receiver that is correctly set up and working. It doesn't come with one! So you need a working remote for the H880 to emulate.

Author:  craigtv [ Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:08 pm ]
Post subject: 

thornsoft wrote:
but wouldn't be suprised if it knows about the Happauge's.

The Harmony does indeed know about the Hauppauge remotes. I have a Harmony 720, and I configured it to my PVR-150 Silver remote, just as thornsoft described. It asked for a couple of key presses, and then it just knows the rest.

Since I had the Hauppauge remote working previously, it was seamless.

Author:  ethernut [ Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:40 pm ]
Post subject: 

I have a harmony 688 and I have it acting as a Hauppauge remote as well. works great, I wouldn't take any of those el cheapo remotes for it as I have quite a bit of gear. It makes it stupid easy, which is what I like..

Author:  slowtolearn [ Fri Jan 05, 2007 7:22 pm ]
Post subject: 

ethernut wrote:
I have a harmony 688 and I have it acting as a Hauppauge remote as well. works great, I wouldn't take any of those el cheapo remotes for it as I have quite a bit of gear. It makes it stupid easy, which is what I like..

Ditto, as well as the FAF (spin on WAF, I call it the Family Approval Factor) :wink:

Author:  finger51 [ Mon Jan 08, 2007 3:11 pm ]
Post subject:  LOVE my harmony

I got an 890. It's great being able to go to the next song or crank the volume from the kitchen. It was more $$ but is way convenient.
It took a while to get all the buttons programmed just right but well worth it. I haven't tweaked it since.

Author:  ceenvee703 [ Mon Jan 08, 2007 3:24 pm ]
Post subject: 

I just got an 880 and almost totally like it.

Unfortunately, although it recognized the Hauppauge remote that came with my three-year-old PVR-250, it's not acting like it as well as I'd like... buttons either are slow to respond or give me two presses instead of one.

I haven't seen if there are any troubleshooting options for fine-tuning the remote, or switching to other Hauppauge remotes.

Author:  Too Many Secrets [ Tue Jan 09, 2007 8:46 am ]
Post subject: 

ceenvee703 wrote:
I just got an 880 and almost totally like it.

Unfortunately, although it recognized the Hauppauge remote that came with my three-year-old PVR-250, it's not acting like it as well as I'd like... buttons either are slow to respond or give me two presses instead of one.

I haven't seen if there are any troubleshooting options for fine-tuning the remote, or switching to other Hauppauge remotes.


Buttons can be tweaked. check this thread for details.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=623320

Author:  ceenvee703 [ Tue Jan 09, 2007 11:01 am ]
Post subject: 

Thanks very much for that link; I figured there was a way around it, just hadn't gotten around to searching for it yet. I appreciate it.

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