Apex DT250 Volume Buttons

Post by **The Robman** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:23 am

Here's a link to the file that Steve referred to:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=6305

I have updated it to remove the non-coded buttons, to combine the duplicate buttons (eg, arrow up and channel up) and to reflect that EXIT and OK also function as left/right arrow keys.

If you want to delete one of your own files, you can use the

button, but the prefered approach is to overlay the current file with the new version, which you can do using the

button. When you delete an old file and create a new replacement, any posted links to the old file will no longer function.

stevewahl · Post by **stevewahl** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 11:21 am

Thanks, Rob, esp. for the info on how to work the files section!

cougar97201 · Post by **cougar97201** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:15 pm

The Robman wrote: to reflect that EXIT and OK also function as left/right arrow keys.

Keep in mind I am using the DT502, not the DT250, but they are likely
the same regarding this:

I think you will find "Menu" is a better choice than "Exit" when navigating
the menus. "Menu" yields the behaviour you might expect from "left arrow",
ie. it pops up a level in a multi level menu. "Exit" on the other hand
completely exits the entire menu, regardless of what level you are at.

BTW: the DT502 factory remote really sucks...very low power. using 881x greatly
improves ability to use the box. Is DT250 just as bad?

stevewahl · Post by **stevewahl** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:21 am

Good point about the menu button. As it is, the stuff in the menus doesn't seem that important to day-to-day operations with a set top box. Sometimes, I don't WANT all the features mapped to the JP1 remote, I only want the things that the rest of the family can't mess up.

Then for the rare occasions I need to dig deep in the menus, I'll get the original remote. I didn't do that in this case yet, but I'm thinking about it.

As far as the factory remote goes, I haven't noticed much, but I do seem to recall having to point the remote right at it to make it work. If the DTV transition had happened on time, I might be telling you more; we don't use the box that much yet, I'm just trying to get ready. (My antenna system is good enough that we are perfectly happy with analog in the meantime.)

Post by **The Robman** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:00 pm

Steve, can you confirm that MENU works as a left arrow.

cougar97201 · Post by **cougar97201** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:06 pm

The Robman wrote:Steve, can you confirm that MENU works as a left arrow.

There is some confusion (and I am sure I contributed my share

)
The menu is poorly designed (ex. no way to navigate reliably with macros
since cursor does not reset (sometimes) and no direct access of items)
and just feels inconsistent.

The menu is navigated with "OK" to go forward and "MENU" to go back.
"RIGHT" and "LEFT" arrows also work for that. But in some places only
the REAL "RIGHT" and "LEFT" arrows will do, so you'll be hosed sometimes, sometimes not.

This is not worth fretting about. "OK" for "RIGHT" and "MENU" for "LEFT"
will get you further than if you had nothing at all on those buttons.
A poor bandaid til REAL "RIGHT" and "LEFT" issue is resolved, but
a sometimes useful bandaid nevertheless.

Steve may confirm...but that is what I see on mine.
I got what i paid for

stevewahl · Post by **stevewahl** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 10:26 am

Sorry, I've been busy. But I'll check on the menu / OK thing tonight when I get home.

Post by **The Robman** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:59 pm

Hopefully one of the experts can help me here. I've been trying to create an executor to replicate the volume buttons from the Apex DT250 remote but am having problems.

This is what the signals look like:
1 = +500 -1200
0 = +500 -600

vol+
+3700 -1800 11101010 10011010 00011010
+3700 -1800 01011010 00011010 +500 -53600
+3700 -3500 +500 -100700

vol-
+3700 -1800 11101010 10011010 00011010
+3700 -1800 01011010 01010010 +500 -53600
+3700 -3500 +500 -100700

mute
+3700 -1800 11101010 10011010 00011010
+3700 -1800 01011010 11101010 +500 -52300
+3700 -3500 +500 -100700

My approach is to call the IR engine 3 times, once for each part (as I've broken them apart above), however I have been unable to format the first part so that there's no leadout time, and I can't figure out why.

The following zip file contains the KM and PB files, along with an IR file with the original learns.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=6371

mr_d_p_gumby · Post by **mr_d_p_gumby** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 1:45 pm

One thing that I noticed at first glance was that you have the leadout time period defined as $0001. I don't know if you tried it or not, but in the HCS08 IR engine, $0000 would cause it to skip the leadout period. I'm not sure if the S3C8 IR engine reacts the same, though.

Post by **The Robman** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:15 pm

I originally has it as zeroes, but when that didn't work, I tried setting it to a very small value as that wouldn't cause a problem had it actually created a small leadout, but it didn't. I keep getting a leadout value in excess of 100,000 uS.

Post by **The Robman** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:03 pm

UEI has given me the official code for this, which does include the arrow/volume buttons.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=6420

I've also loaded a PB file for the new executor as there's some interesting stuff in it that I've never seen before.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=6421

cougar97201 · Post by **cougar97201** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 7:44 pm

The Robman wrote:UEI has given me the official code for this, which does include the arrow/volume buttons.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=6420

I've also loaded a PB file for the new executor as there's some interesting stuff in it that I've never seen before.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=6421

Thanks, Rob. Works Great. (I tested first download with dt502)
BTW: You left out "dash" function = EFC 150

Post by **The Robman** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 12:57 pm

The Robman wrote:I've also loaded a PB file for the new executor as there's some interesting stuff in it that I've never seen before.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=6421

I have just added comments for all of the code. This is an interesting executor. All the base times are for the volume buttons, so when they want to switch to the NEC1 times, they load the data from a stack coded at the end of the executor, which I think is pretty neat. It uses the "LDCI" command, that I had never seen before.

For the volume buttons, instead of breaking the signal into 3 parts where the first part doesn't have a leadout pair, they break it into 2 parts and then they split the first part into 2 using a mid-frame burst pair. They use the $015B vector (that I've never seen used before) to copy the leadin pair to the mid-frame pair location.

mr_d_p_gumby · Post by **mr_d_p_gumby** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 2:05 pm

The Robman wrote:...they load the data from a stack coded at the end of the executor, which I think is pretty neat. It uses the "LDCI" command, that I had never seen before.

I've seen LDCI used quite often lately in newer S3C8 executors. The only downside to this technique is that the code is not relocateable. Not a problem if you obtain the code as an upgrade protocol, but from other sources you have to identify and manually correct the source address for the LDCI.