Easy way to test a remote?

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n8nagel
Posts: 232
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2018 3:23 pm

Easy way to test a remote?

Post by n8nagel »

Good evening everybody

I'm still using the heck out of my Xsight Colors over here, but I did buy a Sofabaton X2 a few months ago and I am getting close to getting it functional for my living room. The problem that I am finding with Sofabaton is that they only let you learn codes, not input them in protocol/device/subdevice/OBC format - so this is very tedious. Some of my devices (LaserDisc, S-VHS) they don't have in their code base at all, and others they have, but I need to fix them.

Even more unfortunately, Sofabaton will not let me take one of their code sets, learn what's wrong/missing, and submit it as "user contributed" - to make a user contrib code set I need to learn ALL the codes. This is, of course, a pain. It really makes me appreciate this community that much more because I've gone from zero to a working code set in a few hours on several different components that I've acquired without the original remote, even if nobody has documented that exact component before.

My current project, since I have to (well, I don't HAVE to, but there are some codes missing that I would actually use in normal operation) fix the code set for my Sony UBP-X800M2, is to just make a "Master Sony BDP_UDP" code set but here's the thing. There's going to be a good number of codes that I can only learn from my Xsight, and can't test because I don't have a device that uses those commands. In this case, I have the UDP and a couple recent blu-ray players, but I bet that covers maybe only 60-70% of the codes that we have in our master lists.

My first thought is, I could just learn those back to a new device on my Xsight and examine them and make sure that they are what I expect them to be. That's about the best I can do I think.

But... is there an easier way? Is there something that could be either bought or hacked together easily by someone who can solder but is kind of an idiot that would make this process faster?

In addition to having to do LOTS of work just to be happy with my liiving room system, I do, of course, being an audio nerd, have lots of gear laying around that I've documented more or less well for this site and now feel the need to transfer that over to Sofabaton as well. Yeah, I know, this is the price you pay for being an early adopter, you don't have to tell me this...

This is also of course why I haven't brute forced for discrete power codes yet for my NEC S-VHS deck as I posted about recently. I did learn what I had to the Sofabaton hub though even if that's not ready for prime time.
The Robman
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Re: Easy way to test a remote?

Post by The Robman »

So, I did some Googling, it turns out that the Sonabaton X2 is a new fancy universal remote that does IR, Bluetooth, and Home Assistant control:
https://www.sofabaton.com/product/x2/

And the Sony UBP-X800M2 is a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray™ Player:
https://electronics.sony.com/tv-video/b ... /ubpx800m2

Regarding build a master upgrade or code list for Sony Bluray players, you could use the data in this Sony spreadsheet to help:
https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/app. ... e_id=27268

If I understand the main question in this post, here's what I think you are asking. You want to use your Sonabaton remote as a source, you want to document what the codes that are present in that remote "look like" (ie, protocol, device code, OBC) and make a list. You are looking for a method that is easier than learning them from the Sonabaton into your Xsight and then downloading them. Do I have that right?

If so, yes, there is an easier way. You could make yourself an AIRWidget and then use IRScope to capture the signals. Here are the Operating Instructions.
Rob
www.hifi-remote.com
Please don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help!
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