[tomm1079]

All these single remote threads got me thinking....

i really do need a universal remote.....


2 tivos and a bunch of other stuff....

which universal remotes have PVR keys, let you control 2 tivos at one time.....and still about 5-6 other things?

Did i mention i would like it under 100 bucks

The URC-8910 looks good but i do not think it has controls for PVRs or will do 2 PVR's

can anyone confirm this?

 

[Edmund]

No, the 8910 doesn't have codes to control more then one similar tivo independently, but it can have the codes loaded over the phone. Using a corded phone on a landline, you can have SAT code 1443 for address #1, and 1444-#2 loaded.

 

[tomm1079]

ok this brings me to another question....

which one should i go with the 8910 or 9910


When i look at the different sites for both remotes neither one mentions being able to be used with pvr's and it doesnt look like they have pvr keys.

 

[Edmund]

The only difference in the 8910 and 9910 is the RF circuitry in the 9910. Other then that they have the same codes as each other. To me, the rf preformance of the 9910 stinks. Go with 8910 its cheaper.

 

[timckelley]

IIIRC, I just ordered the 8820 last Monday from buy.com (still hasn't arrived yet). It's cheap (aroundt $19 which includes shipping), and does everything you just listed. You and I are in exactly the same boat as far as what we need the universal remote to do. I can let you know how much I like it after I get it.

Edit: It actually cost $17.96, which includes shipping... I just looked it up.

 

[tomm1079]

IIIRC, I just ordered the 8820 last Monday from buy.com (still hasn't arrived yet). It's cheap (aroundt $19 which includes shipping), and does everything you just listed. You and I are in exactly the same boat as far as what we need the universal remote to do. I can let you know how much I like it after I get it.

Edit: It actually cost $17.96, which includes shipping... I just looked it up.

yes let me know how it is once u get it all setup

 

[classicsat]

I have a cousin to it, the 8011, and I like it well, although I have it modified with the JP1 stuff, so it has more than full Peanut compatiblity (I have Standby and List buttons), plus does my home built A/V switch, as well as everything else in my A/V rack.

 

[timckelley]

as well as everything else in my A/V rack.

By the way, I got my A/V rack for free because my BIL was about to discard his. That's not how he was using it though. It's basically a tall narrow wooden structure (but not narrower than my devices), shaped kind of tower like. There are cabinets with doors on the bottom, but above those are series of hole that can hold metal pegs, which you can get at home Depot. There were a couple of shelves for holding equipment, but I wanted two more shelves (because of the amount of equipment I have), so I built them from wood I bought at home depot. I even added molding to match the already existing shelves, and stained the wood to match the color of the furniture. In the end I got a nicely functional A/V rack. (It also came with glass doors that covers some of the shelves.)

BTW: I'm still waiting for delivery on my new remote I ordered on Monday.

 

[classicsat]

By the way, I got my A/V rack for free because my BIL was about to discard his. That's not how he was using it though. It's basically a tall narrow wooden structure (but not narrower than my devices), shaped kind of tower like. There are cabinets with doors on the bottom, but above those are series of hole that can hold metal pegs, which you can get at home Depot. There were a couple of shelves for holding equipment, but I wanted two more shelves (because of the amount of equipment I have), so I built them from wood I bought at home depot. I even added molding to match the already existing shelves, and stained the wood to match the color of the furniture. In the end I got a nicely functional A/V rack. (It also came with glass doors that covers some of the shelves.)

BTW: I'm still waiting for delivery on my new remote I ordered on Monday.

That kinda describes mine, except I made mine from an old "ladder" frame and scrap pieces of MDF.

 

[timckelley]

yes let me know how it is once u get it all setup

I just got the remote (OFA 8820). A few minor problems so far, but so far pretty good. Edmund gave me this useful information in another thread:

Yes, it has codes for tivo remote addresses 1-4, under both SAT or PVR, the codes are:

Address #1 SAT 1443,or PVR 0740
#2 SAT 1444, or PVR 0745
#3 SAT 1538, or PVR 1239
#4 SAT 1539, or PVR 1240

Other ofa remotes with these codes are urc-6820, 8820, 10820, and hybrid kameleon urc-6690.

This is useful info that's not contained in the owner's manual. My two TiVos are remoate address 1 and 2, so I know to use 0740 and 0745. My second TiVo is currently broken, so I haven't been able to test that yet.

Anyway, without doing any learning at all, I 've this thing programmed to understand my TV, VCR, DVD, and one TiVo. Once I fix my other TiVo, I'll set that one up too.

I just tested all the keys on my old TiVo remote to see if the new one has the analogous cooresponding keys. So far, the only ones I can't find on the new remote are:

Thumbs up
Thumbs down
Clear key
Slow motion key.

I remember from another thread Edmund mentioning advance codes for setting up the thumbs buttons, so I'll need to search for that thread. Meanwhile, maybe Edmund might be kind enough to mention if the other two buttons above also have advanced codes.

Oh, and the only DVD key I can't find is the open/close (i.e. disk eject) button. Does this by chance have an advanced code? (I have a panasonic DVD player.)

True, I could take care of the above 5 buttons simply enough by using the 'learn' feature of this remote, but for some reason I can't get the learn feature to work. I follow the instructions, and then test out the supposedly learned button, but it doesn't work, so apparently it didn't learn.

But if I'm lucky enough to find advanced codes for the above five buttons, maybe it won't matter if I can get 'learn' to work.

 

[Edmund]

The Tivo advanced codes are:

Thumbs UP-00247
Thumbs Down-00245
Clear-00151
Slow Motion-00216

try EFC 00185 for eject on the Panasonic dvd player.

As you can see the 8820 only takes 5 digit advanced codes, so any advanced codes you find you will need to add two zeroes to the FRONT of them.

 

[Edmund]

these are the correct steps for teaching:

1. press and hold SET for two blinks
2. enter 9-7-5
3. press the device key, e.g. TV
4. press key to learn to, and release
5. now within 5 seconds press and hold the key on the donor remote, of course the remotes are facing one another, until the light goes out
6. repeat steps 4 & 5 for other keys, once done
7. press and hold SET to lock commands in.

 

[timckelley]

these are the correct steps for teaching:

1. press and hold SET for two blinks
2. enter 9-7-5
3. press the device key, e.g. TV
4. press key to learn to, and release
5. now within 5 seconds press and hold the key on the donor remote, of course the remotes are facing one another, until the light goes out
6. repeat steps 4 & 5 for other keys, once done
7. press and hold SET to lock commands in.

Thank you for that review of the procedure. Reading your list has caused me to just realize something major I did wrong: I need to point the front-end of the 8820 to the front-end of the TiVo remote. OOPS! I didn't do that.

Also, thanks for those advanced codes... I'll give them a try.

 

[timckelley]

I plugged in all 5 of your codes, and they all worked perfectly! I'm indebted to your wizardry. I can see you're quite a information resource on this site. My remote is now everything I'd hoped it would be - as far as I can see I can do everything each of the underlying remotes could do.

Here's a fringe benefit I noticed, and didn't expect: I was considering creating a macro to invoke standby, but I discovered while fiddling around, it's not necessary because hitting the power button while in PVR mode automatically invokes StandBy. That's handy.

BTW, this all started because my old TiVo remote doesn't work as well as it used to; the buttons are getting sticky, and some of them you really have to mash down to work (especially the up and down buttons.) This not only fixed that problem, but consolidates all my remotes into one remote. And to boot, I save money, because a TiVo remote costs $29 at Best Buy (+ tax), whereas this one costs $17.96, which includes shipping, and there's no tax.


Oh, I just thought of one more minor question: Is there an advanced code for Live TV? The reason this is a minor question is because I can hit the GUIDE button twice to accomplish getting into Live TV, but I guess I could save one keystroke if I were to map a dedicated button to go straight into Live TV.

BTW, with all these advanced codes, I haven't had to use the learning feature at all. I'm a little confused why using advance codes saves memory though. Intuitively, I'd think it would take just as much memory to know which key has which advanced code as it would to store this info via 'learning it'.

 

[Edmund]

Advanced codes and learning use two different memory banks. There is an advanced code for standby, its 00152. Live tv is 00121.

Other advanced codes are here.

 

[rvtivo]

hey guys, i recently picked up a used universal remote mx-700 to run my home theater (including tivo!). it didn't come with the serial cable to program it, but i figured i can just use the serial cable from tivo. since my laptop doesn't have a serial port, i have been looking for a serial to usb adapter. however, most of the adapters look like they a db9 male end, not the female end i would need to plug the tivo cable into. is there a serial to usb adapter that has a db9 female end?

 

[timckelley]

Advanced codes and learning use two different memory banks. There is an advanced code for standby, its 00152. Live tv is 00121.

Other advanced codes are here.

Your LiveTV button worked too, but I have mixed feelings about whether I want to use it. When I press it, it goes to live TV and also displays the info screen for several seconds.

If I press GUIDE twice, it goes to live TV but without the info screen. Since I usually don't want to see the info screen, I kind of like hitting GUIDE twice.

Meanwhile, my 8820 is working dandily and does every function I've demanded of it.

Oh, I also programmed a macro with the 7 keystrokes necessary to invoke closed captioning on my TV. AFAIK, not even my old TV remote could do that; I always had to use the panel buttons to do it. This is a delightful surprise that I could get the new remote to do it.

I'm still getting used to the remote though. After years of using the old TiVo branded remote, I could watch TV in the dark because I knew all the buttons by feel. I'm hoping that after while, I'll know the 8820 buttons by feel, and then I can turn the room lights off again.

 

[classicsat]

hey guys, i recently picked up a used universal remote mx-700 to run my home theater (including tivo!). it didn't come with the serial cable to program it, but i figured i can just use the serial cable from tivo. since my laptop doesn't have a serial port, i have been looking for a serial to usb adapter. however, most of the adapters look like they a db9 male end, not the female end i would need to plug the tivo cable into. is there a serial to usb adapter that has a db9 female end?

The USB serial port is suppoes to equate a PC serial port, which is by convention, male.
You need either a female 9-pin cord, or a gender changer and maybe null adapter.

 

[Tiberius]

This is a little bit off the original, but what about those of us who don't mind spending over $100?

I started with a Sony Series 1, and I really thought it was a nice remote. I thought it was even better after I added the JP1 capabilities. I was able to have all the macros I needed to quickly change between TiVos, DVD, etc. After I switched to a second series 2, I couldn't use the Sony remote anymore because of the addresses...

I wouldn't mind spending the extra money, if it means I have absolutely all functions in a convenient layout.

Any thoughts?

 

[timckelley]

This is a little bit off the original, but what about those of us who don't mind spending over $100?

I started with a Sony Series 1, and I really thought it was a nice remote. I thought it was even better after I added the JP1 capabilities. I was able to have all the macros I needed to quickly change between TiVos, DVD, etc. After I switched to a second series 2, I couldn't use the Sony remote anymore because of the addresses...

I wouldn't mind spending the extra money, if it means I have absolutely all functions in a convenient layout.

Any thoughts?

I'm certainly a novice in the area, but I noticed one that looked pretty nifty:

Kameleon - URC 9960

It uses touch screen technology and it only displays the buttons relevant to the device mode you're in. You can control the brightness, and I think you can plug it into a modem for upgrading.