Please help with dumb ? about learning remotes (1 Viewer)

[Manuel]

I am thinking about getting a Pronto or some other type of universal remote. I have 2 questions.

I have a Mits 65819 and am using 5 different inputs (Dish, DVD, X-Box, VCR, camcorder).

-Will these remotes also change to the specific input with the change of a button? Right now on my current remote I have to cycle through the inputs to get to the one I want. With the macros, could I just hit DVD and then, poof, it's there?

-Will these remotes recognize that a component is on or off? Say I have been watching a DVD. I have a macro to turn my Dish reciever on and set the video input to Dish. If I already had my receiver on will it turn it off instead?

Thanks

 

[Lee Carbray]

As far as I know all the remotes I have seen cannot detect if a component is on or off. Unless that component has separate on and off buttons. If it just has power button the if it is on it will shut off and if it is off it will turn on.

I think you will have to cycle trough the inputs in the same manner as well. It is not the remote that determines this it is the receiver. My Kenwood is the same way. It pisses me off that to go from Prologic to stereo I have to cycle through like ten DSP modes.

 

[DwightK]

I have my remote set with 2 buttons. One to control cycling up and the other cycling down. Then with my tv inputs being controlled by my receiver I then have one component feed, one svideo feed, and one composite feed; each labeled DVD, SAT, then VCR. This minimizes input select cycling to one keypress.

The receiver has the DVD, VCR, DirecTIVO, OTA, xobx, GC, PS2, and DC inputs. My remote has a buton for each of those inputs. So switching around from source to source is quite easy.

This is with a Mitsu TV, Yamaha receiver and SIMA remote.

 

[Jim Lenneman]

Manuel,

The answer has nothing to do with remotes. Either the makers of your gear designed these codes (discretes) into the device or they didn't. Many times these codes exist, even though they aren't on the OEM remotes. While there are remotes that can be connected to devices that can sense "current flow" (and determine whether a device is on or off in most cases) they are normally quite expensive. You could ask your question about discrete codes over on the pronto forum at remotecentral.com or look in their files area. Be sure to include the model #'s.

Jim L

 

[Ted Lee]

Will these remotes recognize that a component is on or off?

like jim said, you need to ensure that your remote has "discrete codes". think of them as *specific* "system on" or "system off" commands. most remotes simply toggle the state of the device - if it's on, it'll switch off and vice-versa.
most remotes these days have discrete code capability. you may need to learn the code from another remote (as is the case for my mx-500) which is kind of a hassle.
be sure to check out www.remotecentral.com - one of the best sites for info about remotes.

 

[KurtJ]

I have the 2000. you could make several macros; one for each of the inputs. Say from dish to DVD with the number of times you have to push the buttons for each macro. Still a PIA, but it's better than nothing. Also, if your remote has separate buttons for each input, have the remote learn those codes. If all else fails, back to remote central et. al as others have mentioned.

You could make all your components power up with one macro when you start your system. Then you wouldn't have to worry about toggling on/off.

 

[Lance Dahl]

Check out the new Harmony remote. It is awesome, I just got one and it is simple to program and set up.
Lance