Kameleon URC8060 & sky remote codes question

josh1e · Post by **josh1e** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:58 pm

Hi,

I'm new to JP1, both forum & programming principles, I've spent a couple of hours reading through tonight & it seems fascinating.

before i chuck myself in head first, i realise you guys have years headstart on me & this may already be resolved / known workaround.

I have
1 sky digibox in bedroom 1
1 sky+ box in bedroom 2
1 skyHD box in lounge
1 technomate 1500ci super in a spare room

These all connect to a global brand loftbox amplifier and global brand SPC4 (super combiner) which allows the 4 set top boxes to be connected & shared around the house on individual RF channels. I can even turn them all over from every room

now, onto my question

at the moment, i have to press select & blue, wait for 2 lights, then enter 0,1,2 or 3 followed by select. this tells the remote which box to control via the SPC4. it is inbuilt to all sky remotes.

then i have to press select & yellow, and choose wether to control sky / sky+ / skyHD depending on the version of the sky remote.

once i have done these, that remote then only controls the box i set it up for.

I want the URC8060 to be able to control them all, however i dont know how to replicate the select & yellow / select & blue functions to set it to a specific box. the URC does control whichever one i put the code in for & point it directly at.

I realise there are learning functions but does anyone understand what i mean (sorry if it's not very clear) I would like 1 remote for all the sky boxes, but it seems the codes change depending on how the select & blue function is setup....

thanks
josh1e

Post by **The Robman** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 8:11 pm

There are two possibilities:

a) the select + yellow type functions put the remote into a different mode where the signals are slightly different, or ...

b) the select + yellow type functions send a signal that puts the boxes into a different mode.

Either way, you can use a learning remote (like the URC-8060) to find out which it is and we can help you create upgrades to replicate it, but you will need a JP1 cable in order to download the info that you learned in order to proceed.

josh1e · Post by **josh1e** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 3:06 am

Hi Robman,

thanks for the info, that would be great.

I saw links on your forum to jp1 cables, i'll have a look & see how difficult they are to make or order one then, in the meantime, i'll carry on reading up & see what i can learn before i hit you all with 100's of questions

rofl

Robman, can i confirm that the URC8060 kameleon 6in1 aka 15-2133 is a JP1 only cable, not compatible with jp1.2 / jp1.3? just so i buy the right one

i also noticed on the spreadsheet of known remotes, the european version URC8060 has no in the extender column, but the US version 15-2133 has yes in the extender column...

before i shell out for a cable to build an extender for this remote, do you think this will cause me problems with what we are trying to?

thanks for your help,
josh1e

Post by **The Robman** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 8:52 am

Just FYI, even though the URC-8060 and the 15-2133 look similar, they are in fact completely different remotes. So don't try loading an upgrade created for one of them into the other.

The extender for the URC-8060 is here:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... &cat_id=71

And yes, you need a JP1 (EEPROM) cable for this remote, not a JP1 (Flash) cable.

Capn Trips · Post by **Capn Trips** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 5:51 am

Having been a Sky user during my time in the UK, I can tell you that all of the manipulation with the "select-yellow" business sets up your remote to transmit the different signals required by each of the boxes. Fortunately, you have three different boxes, and each (Sky, Sky+ and SkyHD) uses a different set of signals, so they will not interfere with one another. Upgrades for all three are available and you can certainly upload them to control your Sky box.

I am unfamiliar, however, with the SPC4. Is it basically a video switcher? Or is it a IR-RF extender since your boxes are all in different locations? I would think that if the SPC4 functions are required (they may not be if you can just set up the SPC4 to transmit in ALL locations all of the time - a luxury of NOT having any duplicate Sky boxes) then you can certainly set up a macro to put the SPC4 in the correct state or mode or whatever you call it.

Capn Trips · Post by **Capn Trips** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 6:05 am

Having read a bunch of ADs for the SPC4, it appears to connect the boxes to your Video ditribution system via RF Coaxial cable (usually, when we talk about RF in this forum, we mean RF remote control signals). I still don't completely understand how it works, however. Does this basically pass (in addition to TV signals) the IR remote control commands via the coax to whatever box you have selected? And does the SPC4 receive its commands directly from an IR remote? or does it receive its signals via the coax from one of the connected boxes' IR receivers?

In any event, any IR remote signal that your combination of presses on the Sky remotes can send, you can replicate with the 8060, and you can certainly set up macros that would do all of that with a single button press.

josh1e · Post by **josh1e** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:56 am

Hi Capn trips.

thanks for your help

I already have the SPC4 working correctly with sky remotes. each remote is told to be 0, 1, 2 or 3, this is an internal thing to the remote, and no changes are made to the box at this point.

once you tell the remote to control port 1, it will (should) ignore anything on the other ports. however i understand there are some people having issues with multiple boxes of the same type, ie 2x sky+ or 2x skyHD.. i haven't got that far yet...

my problem is more signal strength going through the loftbox. if i only have 1 box going through the RF2 socket then the output via the "living room" connection on the loftbox which as the manual says goes to my lounge is fine.

if i connect the SPC4 (exactly as the manual says) then the signal from the "living room" connection deteriorates. the manufacturer says that splitters / combiners should not be used prior to the uhf2 input although the manual for the SPC4 states that is exactly where it should go..

to confuse things, the manufacturer for both the loftbox & the SPC4 are the same lol....

the 4 amplified outputs are fine. with 1 or 4 devices connected to the uhf2 input. it is just the living room feed.

my confusion / problem is that the living room connection must be connected to triplex all the signals properly, but doing that leaves me with no useable signal in the lounge.

I might try supplying the lounge from output 4 & just looping the living room connection to uhf2 in the loft through a .5m cable (like satcure recommends for testing), if all the living room equipment comes up on its own cable into the spc4 anyway, then i shouldn't loose anything this way...

i wonder if you can have two spc4's both going into the uhf2 input...?

Capn Trips · Post by **Capn Trips** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:14 pm

I don't know what a loftbox is and you didn't really answer any of my questions, so I cannot picture what you have and what you're trying to accomplish. If you're happy with the Sky remotes controlling your SPC4, then what do you want the 8060 for?

You need to provide a more detailed explanation (at least for my tiny brain to comprehend) and probably provide a diagram of your hook-up and describe what is sending signals where (and via what path? through the air IR? through the coax converted IR to RF?) becasue I suspect that few on this forum can visualize what your intention is.

Regardless, if you want to program an 8060 for every location, you can do that. It can send ANY signal that ANY Sky remote sends.

josh1e · Post by **josh1e** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 5:28 pm

Hi, sorry, if i wasn't very clear. good idea with the diagram, i'll do it tomorrow & post one up,

a loftbox is an aerial amplifier & RF (coax signal not like ir / rf) signal combiner in one unit. it has inputs for FM / DAB & TV aerials, as well as sky's UHF2 & a modulated CCTV input. It then triplex's these onto 1 coax cable using different frequency ranges, it amplifies them & sends them (in my case) to 4 outputs. for the triplex function to work, a circuit has to be completed between the ouptut "living room" and the input "UHF2" using compatible faceplates which un-triplex the signal & provides the appropriate outputs.

the SPC4 recieves it's own power and "routes" commands through coax only. it does not have any IR transmitter / receiver.

Yes, the SPC4 and loftbox pass IR signals through the RF signal within the coax.

I would like to be able to control any sky box in our home from 3 rooms. We have 3 sky boxes & 1 technomate receiver. Currently each remote has to be programmed to only 1 sky box. therefore to control them all from 1 room, i would need 3 sky remotes in each & every room. then there is the confusion of which one controls which box & kids walking off with them etc

1 remote with 4 recievers programmed into it would be much simpler

thanks, hope this makes sense lol

Capn Trips · Post by **Capn Trips** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 6:33 am

So you have 4 rooms, and each has a different Satellite Set-Top Box (STB) (Sky, Sky+, Sky HD, and Technmate);

Each STB can "see" any IR signals that is received by any other because of the RF coax connection via the SPC4;

I presume that each room also has a unique TV (or Home theater or whatever viewing setup you may have);

You want your remote(s) in each room to control ALL 4 receivers as well as whatever unique AV gear you have at that particular viewing location.

Have I got that right?

The answer again is YES, your 8060 can do that. If you want an 8060 in each room, each with unique programming, you can do that. You can set up macros to switch all of your switches and SPC4's and loftboxes and inputs and whatever else you have with a single button press. The only problem I see is that you may not have enough devices on the remote if one or more of your locations has a receiver, Blu-ray player, other stuff, since the four satellite receivers witll take up four of the six available device slots on the remote. I assume the TV will take one and that leaves only one more for your receiver/DVD/VCR/whatever.

You may want to look into using the exctender and multiplex your STBs on a single device button.

I can't help you with your signals strength problem - I believe that is beyond the capability of a JP1 remote to solve.

P.S. Just out of curiosity, does the SPC4 pass HD signals from your Sky HD box to other TVs?

I thought that decoded HD can only be output via HDMI or component video and not over RF coax.

Post by **The Robman** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 6:36 am

You could use the Device Multiplexor to stack all for STBs onto the SAT button, leaving 5 other device buttons for all the other local gear.

josh1e · Post by **josh1e** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 7:43 am

Hi Capn Trips

yes you are correct, 1 in each room with a tv in each room.

for the purpose of programming the remote, for now assume that it is only a tv, 3 sky boxes & a technomate reciever. (which i need to buy a compatible ir blaster type thing)

the SPC4 only passes RF coax signals, not HD. the bedrooms can watch decoded HD signals as the SKYHD box downgrades it from HD for the RF outputs. It is possible to upgrade what i have to pass HD, although i don't have enough HD tv's or kids old enough to warrant that yet...

when you say multiplex onto one button, do you mean i press sat, then choose which of the 4 boxes to control giving me a page for each once i have selected them (like a sub menu) or 1 page of buttons with certain buttons for each remote?

is there a thread explaining this already, to save explaining it again rofl...

thanks

ps robman, tommy doesn't have any adaptors left, so once i get my head around this, i maybe after a remote / cable / ir widget or combination of lol...

thanks again for the help & replies, diagram coming, just a manic day !!!

Post by **The Robman** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 7:57 am

josh1e wrote:when you say multiplex onto one button, do you mean i press sat, then choose which of the 4 boxes to control giving me a page for each once i have selected them (like a sub menu) or 1 page of buttons with certain buttons for each remote?

Yup, that's pretty much it. If you were to load an upgrade for each of your 4 STBs into the remote, what the Multiplexor does is change the setup code assigned to the device button, just like if you were to manually re-program it yourself.

josh1e wrote:is there a thread explaining this already, to save explaining it again rofl...

I don't know if there's a thread, but the protocol itself resides in the Special Protocols spreadsheet, and once you select which protocol you want to use, it explains how to use it...
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=4921

josh1e wrote:ps robman, tommy doesn't have any adaptors left, so once i get my head around this, i maybe after a remote / cable / ir widget or combination of lol...

I don't think Tommy ever sold the Kameleon adapters, I think Richard Hovis was the only one to sell them, but he quit JP1 stuff a long time back. You can see pics of the adapter in the post below, all it did was hold the batteries in place and complete the circuit, so I don't imagine that it would be that hard to make one yourself.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewt ... 6636#46636

Capn Trips · Post by **Capn Trips** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:54 am

One of the questions you want to ask yourself is are you programming a SINGLE 8060 for the whole house? Or are you setting up FOUR universal remotes - one to work in each location?

If the latter, do you have FOUR 8060s? can you GET FOUR 8060s? IF not, before you go down the path of building battery adapters et al, maybe you want to look at a remote that you can get four of and program using the same cable for each. (The new OFA remotes will require a JP1.3 cable rather than the JP1 cable your 8060 calls for).

josh1e · Post by **josh1e** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:15 am

thanks guys,

some info here i need to read up on.

i have 3 rooms i want to be able to control everything from, but .... that's complicated in itself, as the rooms have different equipment... 2 are easy and a 4 device remote would suffice. the last room, no I would need a higher device remote, but I was holding off on that until i had an understanding of it all on an easier scale.

I only have 1x ofa remote... (at the moment...

)

as for the multiplexor... just to ensure i understand right. the device buttons are sat / tv / dvd etc...

if the upgrades for my devices are all loaded (and available) into the remote. pressing sat (once the unit is programmed) would allow me to control all 4 from the screen that then showed...

ok, so if i understand that right then....

pressing select & blue on the original sky remote puts it into a special mode whereby it only controls 1 of the sky boxes. i choose 0-3 & that then programs the remote to always control that box, unless i perform this function again. all corresponding IR codes from this remote are then routed by the SPC4 through the corresponding numbered outlet / receiver.

pressing select & yellow then tells it wether i am controlling a sky digibox, sky+ or skyHD box (depending on the age / version of the original remote) again the remote stores this programming, until i perform this function again.

so i could then using an ir widget collect those codes.... ok understand that....

but...

if the sky boxes are 1x digibox, 1x sky+ box & 1x skyHD box, then the device codes would / should be different...

so in this scenario, would the multiplexor still put all 3 sky device codes + 1 technomate receiver code onto the sat button? or if because they are all different device codes, would i need to keep them seperate?

I'm sorry if i am asking really noob / dumb questions. please bear with me lol... I am trying to get a clear understanding of it before i plan out what i need / need to do lol...

The reason for doing this (incase you wondered) was to ensure my kids are watching things that are suitable & have some control over it from the comfort of my workshop / lounge / bedroom... ie the 3 rooms which will have a jp1 compatible remote... eventually lol) also besides the kids, I work from home & while the wife watches soaps / chatshows & how to walk a dog, i can put something decent on from another reciever lol

The signal issue i have now resolved, I've taken a split from one of the outputs & run a new cable, working fine now

but hence no diagram yet .... cabling keeps changing / keeping me busy.....

oh, i have phone programming cables which convert usb to serial, a DKU=5 & CA-53 cable... i also have a generic USB to serial cable... do you think i could easily use on of these & just re-model the pin end?

oh, while i think of it... controlling all 3 sky boxes from the multiplexed device button.... say for example 2 of the boxes have record / playback... if the device codes are different, but i am only pressing 1 device button to get to that remote menu, how would it know which one to playback / record on? would i assign 2 buttons for playback & record? one for each box?

thanks & sorry again if i'm being overly thick lol