JP1 Remotes

Silly Burrito · Joined: 31 Dec 2003 Posts: 22

I've just started messing with the JP1 remote, and so far this is very cool! Now, I have a problem and a question.

For the problem:
It seems as though my power button doesn't want to work. I have a Radio Shack 15-1994.

I press the power button, and nothing happens on the LED. I try other buttons, and they all light up. I can map a power off button to another button, but would anyone know why it's not working?

For the question:
When I began, I chose the plain Jane 15-1994 setup with no extenders. Was this a mistake? What I'd ultimately like to do is to make a macro that I can use for one of the device keys to turn the TV and receiver on at the same time, then set itself up for the Tivo input. Will I need an extender, and if so, will I just have to reload the protocols with a new remote?

P.S. Is there a FAQ about extenders? I've read Tommy's 1.1 guide and I don't remember reading much if anything about them.

Thanks!

Mark Pierson · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2003 5:06 pm Post subject: Re: Power Button Not Working?

Silly Burrito · Joined: 31 Dec 2003 Posts: 22

Silly Burrito · Joined: 31 Dec 2003 Posts: 22

Now, I just took apart my remote using the excellent instructions at http://www.hifi-remote.com/jp1/disassemble/

I found that the rattling noise in my remote was indeed the transformer. Since I'm really not sure how I would reattach a new one, I just took it out. Now, my question is, all of my buttons EXCEPT the backlight button and the power button respond with a flash of the red LED. Does this mean that the transformer controls both the backlight button and the power button? If so, I'll just have to make one of the 4 smart keys an on/off button.

Mark Pierson · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2003 5:25 pm Post subject:

There's only one RDF file that works with an unextended 1994 and it's named "RSL6RSL0 (RS 15-1994 6-in-1 Smart).rdf". All the other 1994 RDF's are for the various extenders available for it. You can't use any of them unless you're installing the corresponding extender.

If you happen to buy a new JP1 remote, and it's not a 1994 (likely since it's no longer available), you will need to reopen your upgrade files in KM and change them to the new remote before uploading the code. Upgrades are remote specific so you can't use the IR configuration file for the 1994 on any other model.
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Mark

Silly Burrito · Joined: 31 Dec 2003 Posts: 22

Ok, that makes sense.

Now, last newbie question, Mark. You say that I can set up that macro without an extender. Since I may have lost my power button, I'd like to set it up to when I press and hold the Satellite button, I start a macro that flips to Aux1, changes the input to Video one, flips to the TV, turns it on, and flips back to the Satellite input ready for me to go. I can do this with a long button press without an extender? I was hoping that a short button press would just flip to the device, while a long one would turn everything associated with it on. I plan to use the sleep button to turn everything off as a surrogate Power button now.

Mark Pierson · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2003 6:20 pm Post subject:

I think you need an extender to use the LDKP protocol. You can fake it on an unextended 1994 by using Shift-Sat to do the power-on-and-set-everything macro, and the regular Sat to just enable the Sat device.
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Mark

Mark Pierson · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2003 6:23 pm Post subject:

If you definitely lost the Power button, chances are it's either a bad trace on the PCB, or maybe even dirty or worn contacts. Maybe you might want to try opening up the remote and checking it. I had a 2104 quit on me this summer due to humidity oxidizing the exposed contact areas of the PCB. A little rubbing alcohol and a pencil eraser got it back in working order.
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Mark

Silly Burrito · Joined: 31 Dec 2003 Posts: 22

Yeah, I checked the button itself, and it looked fine. I'll see what I can do...

I like your Shift Idea. That might be what I need to do. Thanks!

ddsmith60 · Joined: 20 Dec 2003 Posts: 34

I would definately stick with the unextended version and write macros to the shifted version of the device key or the 1s through 4s buttons. I personally have the go into a mode set up on the 1s for instance and the come out mode set on the shifted 1s. It makes it easy to remember. My wife doesn't have any problems with it. I'm looking at an extender more from a learning perspective than a need thing. So far I haven't been able to determine it worth in my setup. Maybe after some more digging I'll figure out why I need an extender.