Good remotes?

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wmorrison
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Good remotes?

Post by wmorrison »

Looking for a good remote that has enough buttons for the major functions used while browsing/viewing/scheduling in MythTV, without too many irrelevant/mislabeled buttons. (I can continue to use a keyboard for more advanced setup/configuration.)

One that looks clean, that is. Sure, I can repurpose a button that says "DVD" or "CABLE" to something else, but if there's a remote that is more aesthetic, that's great.

Thought I had one, that's basically a wireless USB keyboard plus some IR buttons, but the problem I found is that the IR buttons don't work unless the remote is already paired. Which means the PC has to already be on. Which is a problem because I turn on the PC via IR with a SIMEREC PCS-1. Chicken, meet egg. :lol: So I'm looking again and can't seem to find anything I like.
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paulh
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Re: Good remotes?

Post by paulh »

I've used these universal remotes on a couple of systems https://www.mythqml.net/remote-install.php

They can control up to four devices. Not perfect but reasonably cheap and One-For-All are a good make so hopefully should be a little more robust than the cheap but crap Chinese remotes you can get.
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heyted
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Re: Good remotes?

Post by heyted »

I'm currently using a TiVo remote. All buttons work well, and it is intuitive.
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wmorrison
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Re: Good remotes?

Post by wmorrison »

Both those not bad, but I kept looking and found this one I'm going to try:

https://intesettech.com/index.php/produ ... v-devices/

What I like:

- Standard OK plus four directional arrows in ring
- Buttons for both FF/RW and skip forward/back
- Many of the "extra" buttons have only generic symbols on them, and the kit comes with extra labels (but I'd probably make custom ones)
- Programmable, plus MACRO PROGRAMMING, up to a string of 15 commands

I know there are ways to remap commands on the pc instead of on the remote, but since I'd also like to control a few other devices with it, the macros may come in handy.
wmorrison
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Re: Good remotes?

Post by wmorrison »

Initial impressions of the Inteset INT422-3 remote and IReTV receiver.

The IReTV receiver just worked, no setup required. (Xubuntu 19.*)

Remote button C selects the presets for Windows Media Center. (Of course, this can be changed.) Windows Media Center is probably the easiest starting point for controlling MythTV (or any PC in general.)

What works "out of the box" for MythTV: arrow keys and OK, volume/mute (PC volume,) channel up/down sends pgup/pgdn, number keys, might be forgetting a few.

Other buttons are sending keys or key combos that can be set up in MythTV keys. For instance, the INFO button sends something like CTRL-O or CTRL-G (can't remember.) I mapped this one to MythTV INFO that defaults to 'i' and likewise MENU/m. I similarly added the red button for escape and green for commercial skip, then the ff/rw buttons, and now it seems 90% usable for most MythTV functions. I'll still keep my wireless keyboard close as a backup. :)

I found buttons must be held a little longer than a "quick tap" for them to register. I don't know if that's the remote itself or something like the polling rate on the IReTV receiver. I'm hoping it's that, and can be configured, but if not the remote is usable as long as you hold a button for an instant before releasing it. Probably related to that, sometimes when I press the down arrow multiple times quickly to go through a list, it doesn't respond immediately and then jumps down three or four items in the list.

There are lots of options for programming the remote I haven't explored yet. But basically it comes down to either punching in a 5-digit code to select a button map for a specific device, or training individual buttons from an existing IR remote.

However, under the battery cover is a 6-pin header. On Inteset's forum is a post describing how one user used this to reprogram the remote. Of course, Inteset does not support this use, but to their credit they provided the info. I've ordered the interface mentioned there (on the last page which is more current) and will report back after I try it out.

https://intesettech.com/index.php/forum ... connector/

I like that you can configure buttons to always send one control regardless of which device mode you have selected with A,B,C,D. Volume/mute can be locked to always send to the device you want to control volume with. For me that's the audio amp that provides sound for MythTV, a Bluray player, and a CD player. Similarly you can lock channel up/dn or set other buttons to "punch through" to a specific device.

Overall, I am impressed by the configurability of this remote.
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Re: Good remotes?

Post by wesnewell »

The 6 pin header is a JP1 interface. Using it you can program anything you want to a jp1 capable remote. I use my own custom programming this way, using remotemaster and jp1 cable
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gnurocks
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Re: Good remotes?

Post by gnurocks »

It's probably time for me to upgrade, but I've used the RCA RCRP05BR for years. As mentioned, it is a JP1 remote, so the 6-pin header makes it super easy to program with Remote Master (RM/RMIR).

eBay still has them, but here are the specs: https://www.rcaaudiovideo.com/remotes/4 ... u=RCRP05BR
Last edited by gnurocks on Wed Dec 11, 2019 3:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
wmorrison
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Re: Good remotes?

Post by wmorrison »

As far as the "lagginess", anybody know how an IR receiver such as this (USB connection) is set up? It it working as a serial port on some /dev/tty* device? What other "layers" are involved in making it appear as a keyboard to the system? Wondering if I can try changing the baud rate, hopefully in a way that is independent of which physical USB port it's connected to. As I said, it just worked with no setup, so I'm not sure what's happening "under the hood."

I'll research it, but hoping somebody can point me in the right direction.
urbnsr
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Re: Good remotes?

Post by urbnsr »

I have used one like this before with fairly decent results:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N9MBPZT
gnurocks
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Re: Good remotes?

Post by gnurocks »

wmorrison wrote:
Tue Dec 10, 2019 8:10 pm
As far as the "lagginess", anybody know how an IR receiver such as this (USB connection) is set up? It it working as a serial port on some /dev/tty* device? What other "layers" are involved in making it appear as a keyboard to the system? Wondering if I can try changing the baud rate, hopefully in a way that is independent of which physical USB port it's connected to. As I said, it just worked with no setup, so I'm not sure what's happening "under the hood."

I'll research it, but hoping somebody can point me in the right direction.
My guess is that the lagginess may be attributed to the packaged IR receiver? I've tried a few IR receivers over the years and have settled on the Home Electronics Tira-2. There's also the USB-UIRT.

There's a lot of info out there on the Mythtv Wiki. A few years ago I wrote up the following Wiki Page on how to setup both receivers and a direct-to-set top box cable: https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/IR_Blaster_ ... able_Setup
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heyted
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Re: Good remotes?

Post by heyted »

I don't see on Inteset's site that the IReTV receiver has generic RC6 and NEC compatibility like some other Inteset receivers do. That concerns me. Seems like it must. Maybe it does, and it just is not included in the description?
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wmorrison
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Re: Good remotes?

Post by wmorrison »

After using the Inteset a bit more, the "lagginess" or failure to respond is at least partly related to pointing orientation.

If I point the remote horizontally, there is often no response, unless I lift my arm high.

If I orient the remote vertically, with the buttons facing me, it responds more consistently.

That was unexpected, but it's easier to use vertically anyway, so I don't keep lifting it to find a button and going back horizontal to press it. :)

I found a page where somebody added a reflector behind their remote's IR LED to improve response. I might try that too. There is a curved recess around the Inteset's LED that should be perfect for a reflector.
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