JP1 Remotes

[tnkrer]

So I borked my 2117 while trying to fix some of the buttons that had stopped working.
I went back to 2104 which I had never really set up with JP1.
So I installed extender. (15-2104ex1_8)
and I see that LKP is grayed out in the special protocols section.

I searched and found some old threads about being able to add LKP to the remote, but I couldn't figure out how.
Can this be done? how? Thanks

Also, I need to buy another JP1 remote. Looks like I have to move up to JP1.3 now .. what is the remote closest to 2117? I liked that one.

Other than price point, is JP1 better than harmony or pronto?

[mdavej]

I'd say the one with the size and layout closest to the old 2117 is the Vizio VUR8, but it has no extender, hence no LKP. If you want an extender, look at an Atlas.

Is JP1 better than harmony or pronto? Since you're asking us, of course it is. But seriously, taking price out of the equation, harmony and pronto trump JP1 in most aspects, unless you consider the Xsight line of remotes JP1. The essence of JP1 is making an incredibly cheap remote do everything (and more) that those expensive remotes can do. Take price away, and JP1 loses most of its advantage.

But also consider reliability. You've been using that 2117 for 10 years probably. I've never had a Harmony last more than 3 or 4 years before buttons start failing. And there's no way to refurbish the buttons on a harmony like you can a membrane keypad on a JP1 remote.

Now getting down to brass tacks, except for the $200 model, Harmony can't do LKP. No Harmony can do shifted/double-shifted/double-press functions, nested macros, device multiplexing, advanced codes, pronto hex import, or Toadtog bits. On the other hand, besides Xsight, no JP1 remote has softkeys on an LCD for additional functions or a programming wizard to help you write macros.

As for pronto, they were all discontinued a few years ago, so you'd have to buy used. I never played with them much, but they have some very powerful programming capabilities, much more than Harmony.

I can't answer your question about LKP. Could you use shift instead?

[tnkrer]

Thanks mdavej for your take on these "other" remotes. yes, 2117 lasted closer to 10 years, and if I had let the bad keys be, it would have lasted for few more years.

price is certainly important. hacking with the remote is fun too. (If everybody can do it easily where is the fun in that ) Don't really care about softkeys.

Now I am going to buy 2-3 of the same remote (most probably RCRP05BR), so when one of them dies, I just take out my spare.

Is the shift button on RCRP05BR recessed? and if so, is it reassignable (like on 2104)

As for LKP, I can use shift I suppose, but then I will need to move my shift functions to X-shift. Thanks for that idea. If LKP does not pan out, that is what I will do.

I had SKP device key -> to select the device
LKP device key -> power on all the necessary devices and select appropriate inputs for TV and receiver
shift device key -> select appropriate inputs and move to the selected device

So LKP will become shift + device and shift + device will become X shift device

[mdavej]

No it isn't recessed, so it's easy to press. I don't remember if it's reassignable. I think it probably is.

I like the RCA, but keep in mind it isn't backlit, and the buttons are rather small compared to the 2117. Did you see Edmund's post about them being $8 shipped on Amazon at the moment?

I do exactly what you do with SKP and LKP. That shift device function is a good idea too.

You'll have to get a new JP1.3 cable for your RCA too. But they are really cheap on ebay, $10 or so.

Sounds like you have a good plan.

[tnkrer]

I was looking at the extender of RCRP05B and the readme says, it has LDKP but no No long-press-setup functions other than deactivate

does that mean it has LKP like 2117?

Thats the only thing now holding me from buying this remote

[mdavej]

No, LDKP is fully functional on all keys. The note just means a long press of the setup button itself deactivates the extender. I don't think anyone ever puts a LKP just on the setup button anyway. That would interfere with all sorts of things. As I said, I use LDKP on the RCA just like you. Works fine.

[gfb107]

Don't forget the Insignia/Sanyo/Nexus, which has an extender with LKP, has backlit versions, and in my opinion has a much better size and layout that either the RCA or the Atlas. Currently available from Amazon Marketplace for $15 each, shipped.

Almost all extenders disable long-setup functions when activated. I personally don't see that as a problem, since we use the JP1 software to program out remotes and therefore don't need the long-setup functions.
_________________
-- Greg
Original RemoteMaster developer
JP1 How-To's and Software Tools
The #1 Code Search FAQ and it's answer (PLEASE READ FIRST)

[mdavej]

No, LDKP is fully functional on all keys. The note just means a long press of the setup button itself deactivates the extender. I don't think anyone ever puts a LKP just on the setup button anyway. That would interfere with all sorts of things. As I said, I use LDKP on the RCA just like you. Works fine.

[tnkrer]

Based on this information by tranx, I did like the insignia. The shape is nicer and will fit the hand more nicely. However its harder to find. So went with RCA (and that one was cheaper and from amazon directly)

the readme in extender says this about changing shift key

At the bottom of the "Other Settings" section of IR is a setting for "Shift
Button Keycode". The value is displayed as a decimal number. The default is
2, which is the Setup key. You can change it to any key you prefer. You can
type a hex value in the settings area by prefixing it with "$". IR will change
it to the decimal value

How do I find the button Keycode to change it to say the backlight button? (and then I would want to move the backlight button to P, would that be just a macro?

And found the first part with some search -> http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/jp1/conversations/topics/22913

[tnkrer]

Also found a thread that explains LKP. I think I get the gist of it.
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=9045&sid=27ac479028ede2d18daa51b0e58d4985

Its internally probably same as 2117 but I have to do some extra steps here
with extender calc.

[mdavej]

A lot has changed since then. LKP is very simple on the RCA. You don't have to worry about any codes or time calculations or any of the stuff in that thread. Just pick the buttons from lists. This is in Remote Master of course, not IR.

To change the setup button code, just look in the RDF. All the button codes are there (in hex). But I don't think you'll want to do that. It's very conveniently located at the top and not recessed, so it should work fine as is. The backlight button was probably just an example, but I just wanted to confirm that the RCA is not backlit.