Cables for URC-1280 / URC-7980

[kevjs1982]

My trusty URC-7556 and URC-7780s from about a decade ago are finally giving up the ghost (combination of unresponsive buttons and missing button text) so I'm looking to replace them

The two remotes which are available at a reasonable price are

URC 1280

URC-7980

Neither are in the Wiki, but the ones that are are all discontinued - it looks like these are both supported though - RMIR certainly lists them

If I've understood it correctly the URC-7980 has a micro usb port which I can use for programming? Hope so as I can't seem to find any other reference to it's "JP3.1" interface. The biggest downside I can see with this remote is that you have to press "DEVICES" to switch between the devices, the biggest annoyance of the 7780s - looking at the pictures of the remote the "Activities" bit is just as daft too - is that correct, or could I tap the TV and it controls the TV?

The 1280 looks more appealing though - cheaper, direct device access - and presumably I can setup a Macro on the "TV" / "DVB-T" buttons (etc) as with my URC-7556? The only thing with that is RM IR says it's interface is "Interface JP1, Samsung S3C8+" - all the references to the non-JP1.x JP1 cables refer to remotes from the 1990s (e.g. the URC-7560/URC-7562 I have lying about!) and expensive cables / adaptors - is this one really that backwards or is RM IR incorrect?

I have a JP1.2/1.3 cable I bought 10 years ago from someone on here who is in Markham, ON Canada - would that be compatible with the adaptors or does it just work?

Slightly annoying there's no SHIFT button any more

Is it possible nowadays to trigger a macro by device - e.g. if I was on the Blu Ray player and I tapped AV it would set the HDMI Switch to Input 2 and the TV to EXT 6 (it has discrete), but if I tapped AV when on DVB-T it would Switch to EXT7?[/url]

[mdavej]

Sorry, the chart in the wiki is a bit out of date.

Unless things have changed since we added the 7980 to RMIR, still has 6 pins and would use a JP1.3 cable. Even the picture in the MANUAL shows a 6-pin connector. Where are you seeing that it has micro-USB?

The 1280 also uses a JP1.3 cable. So your existing 10 y/o cable should work with both remotes.

Activities on the 7980 should be useful in that they will map your key groups to the appropriate devices (volume to AVR, playback to cable box, etc.) and perform macros for power and input switching.

As far as I can tell, on the 1280 at least, you should be able to put macros on the device keys and run the steps you described.

But, like you, I'm not a fan of the "Smart Control" style remote like the 7980. I don't like the device selection or the missing shift key. I'd much prefer the 1280 myself which has normal device selection and a shift (Setup) key.

Since the 90's we've added RMIR support for many interfaces, including mini and micro USB and even bluetooth. But your particular models are still 6-pins, actually JP1.4 (still uses JP1.3 cable).

[urcfan02]

I was confronted wit the same decision some weeks ago and had similar questions. I was using some URC-7555 for years (same as URC-7556 but silver) and some buttons did not work anymore.

I'm using a home-brew JP1.2 interface board based on Tommy Tyler's 3-transistor design from 2007. Because the URC-1280 seems to be a JP1.4N remote I was also not sure if this interface will work. During a special offer I decided to buy one and try. It works like a charm (with RemoteMaster v2.07 build 2).

The SHIFT button is present in the upper left corner, but labeled as SETUP on the URC-1280.

One additional hint: The 1280's RDF file in RMIR has wrong lines in the ButtonMaps section. See thread: "URC 1280 Countour 8 - Vol and Prog Keys interchanged ..."

Macros are still assigned to a physical buttons.

[urcfan02]

Mdavej's and my answer overlapped a bit (English is not my native language and it took some time to enter my answer).

I have one question related to mdavej's answer about macros. Does it address really what kevjs1982 asked for. I understood the question was related to "device specific macros". For my understanding this is only possible using extenders. Am I right?

[kevjs1982]

Thanks all - Micro USB must have been a misunderstanding then. Looks like the 1280 is the better option all round - 3 for £45 is a pretty good deal (but will need some Dymo labels )

RE: "URC 1280 Countour 8 - Vol and Prog Keys interchanged ... - I had the same issue with my URC-7556 many years ago - although IIRC it was only by clicking the image that was wrong, the text options were correct at least! Consistency is nice

@urcfan02 - are you able to assign macros to the TV/DVB-T etc buttons? If it can do that it looks like that remote is perfect then.

@mdavej - never needed activities TBH, volume punch through has been good enough. The kitchen TV on the URC-7556 actually works better than the URC-7780 as I can press the device button and it selects channel 8 and changes the input on my Matrix switch before ending up controlling the TV and STB . On the 7780 I ended up with Shift+Enter changing the TV Input and AV selecting the right input on the matrix switch!

[mdavej]

I have one question related to mdavej's answer about macros. Does it address really what kevjs1982 asked for. I understood the question was related to "device specific macros". For my understanding this is only possible using extenders. Am I right?

"Device specific macros", DSMs, are something different. A DSM simply allows you to reuse the same button for different macros in each device mode. For example, in TV mode, Red could run one macro, but in CBL mode, Red could run a different macro. This is different than "global" macros, where Red would run the same macro in ALL device modes.

All the OP wants is for the device mode buttons to run a global macro as well as change device modes.

[The Robman]

All the OP wants is for the device mode buttons to run a global macro as well as change device modes.

I think URC is right, here's the OP's original question...

Is it possible nowadays to trigger a macro by device - e.g. if I was on the Blu Ray player and I tapped AV it would set the HDMI Switch to Input 2 and the TV to EXT 6 (it has discrete), but if I tapped AV when on DVB-T it would Switch to EXT7?

[mdavej]

Ahh... you're right. I misread that. Will definitely need the extender for that.

But I like my idea better - just put those macros on the device buttons.

[kevjs1982]

All the OP wants is for the device mode buttons to run a global macro as well as change device modes.

I think URC is right, here's the OP's original question...

Is it possible nowadays to trigger a macro by device - e.g. if I was on the Blu Ray player and I tapped AV it would set the HDMI Switch to Input 2 and the TV to EXT 6 (it has discrete), but if I tapped AV when on DVB-T it would Switch to EXT7?

I was looking for both

The devices buttons on the 1280 would be Global Macros - e.g. Press DVB-T would TV, 8, DVB-T

However on the 7980 I'd be looking at device specific ones to get around the lack of device buttons

Have ordered a 1280 and will test before getting some more. It's a fair bit easier to import a device into RMIR that it was into Remote Control Programmer isn't it?

[urcfan02]

@kevjs1982: It's like a déjà-vu. I now own three URC-1280s. First one I bought for 9€ during a special offer and tried my interface. As it worked I bought two additional ones for backup and test purposes 8-).

I never assigned macros to a device buttons on my former remotes. I did not know that it is possible. Now I tried this on a URC-1280 using RMIR. Good news: In RMIR I can select the device buttons in the “Key Choser” list. Bad news: It does not seem to work! I don't know if this is another error in the RDF or if the remote does not support this. I re-assign the same macro to e.g. Shift-OK and it works.

For comparison only I tried the same on my old URC-7555. It works. OK, I knew it from your post but I would like to do a cross-check.

Based on my experience I would assign macros as you need on my URC-1280 to unused shifted buttons, e.g. Shift-Blue for Blu-Ray selecting HDMI Input 2 and TV Ext 6 and select the Blu-Ray device as the last action. But, I understand that the possibility to assign macros to a device buttons is more intuitive and convenient. If you’ll find different approach, please let us know.

Two another notes on the URC-1280 comparing to the URC-7555:
1) The device buttons do not flash when pressed. The only LED is inside the RED power button. It flashes when the remote sends an IR signal out or a device button is pressed. This is mainly a limitation during programming/debugging.
2) Fewer significant number of buttons. This is very hard to me because I own a Sony Android TV that has a beautiful display but a painful user interface. It needs a lot of buttons for different actions. The other device is a Pioneer amplifier. The challenge is to find the functions that are really needed by me (and my wife, and my children) very often and assign the remaining ones to Shifted buttons (and remember them). The alternative is to put batteries into the original remotes and use it ;-(

[kevjs1982]

I never assigned macros to a device buttons on my former remotes. I did not know that it is possible. Now I tried this on a URC-1280 using RMIR. Good news: In RMIR I can select the device buttons in the “Key Choser” list. Bad news: It does not seem to work! I don't know if this is another error in the RDF or if the remote does not support this. I re-assign the same macro to e.g. Shift-OK and it works.

Darn, I agree with that, doesn't work "Setup Setup Blue" is hardly user friendly either

2) Fewer significant number of buttons. This is very hard to me because I own a Sony Android TV that has a beautiful display but a painful user interface.

I did realise that, but it has all the essentials and most are named the same as the OEM remotes.

[urcfan02]

Only one hint: I found other errors in the RDF file. I'm working on this. See my other threads.

[kevjs1982]

https://www.oneforall.com/faq/59-remote ... utton.html
"Macros cannot be programmed onto the Device keys." Drat, doesn't say that on the 7555, only for shifted ones on that

Now to find if a remote does support that, looks like I missed the Nevo's being a sensible price!

[kevjs1982]

Only one hint: I found other errors in the RDF file. I'm working on this. See my other threads.

Yeah, saw that earlier and my volume and channel selection are working fine - thanks.

[urcfan02]

Not only the Volume and Channel buttons, but also (at least) numeric buttons ;-)