JP1 Remotes

I just purchased a URC 4021B00, and I have an RCA F27442 tv with the guide plus feature (on-screen program guide). My original remote had a guide button that would activate the on-screen program guide, and my URC 4021 has a guide button as well. My problem is that the guide button on the URC won't activate the on-screen program guide. Everything else works fine, just not the guide button. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions that could help me get this working? I've tried all the codes for RCA tv's, but none will enable the guide button, or could it be that the guide button is completely inaccessible in the remote's TV mode? Will I just need to buy a more advanced remote to have this feature work?
Thanks in advance!
Brock

I don't think the URC-4021 supports the "key mover" function, which would have let you re-program the GUIDE button with an advanced code (I believe the advanced code that you need is 226), but I think it will let you at least test the code.

To test it, first put the remote in TV mode by pressing the TV device button, then press the SETUP button (but don't hold it), then type 226. That should activate the guide feature on your TV.

If you had a more advanced OFA remote, such as the URC-6131 or URC-8811, you could re-program the GUIDE button permanently using that advanced code.

Thank you for your reply. The test procedure did activate the guide menu on my tv. Cool! Now if only it could be programmed permanently. :/ I think I will purchase a more advanced remote with that capability. Which would you recommend? The URC-6131, or the URC-8811? What would be the benefit of one over the other?
Thank you once more!

The 8811 is larger than the 6131, so people with smaller hands tend to prefer the smaller remote. The 6131 is designed for DVD and PVR users as it has more buttons specific to those devices (eg, SUBTITLE, ANGLE, etc). The 8811 is a learning remote, the 6131 isn't.

Both remotes are JP1 compatible, with the difference being that the 8811 is JP1 ready out of the box whereas the 6131 needs a couple of parts to be soldered in to be JP1 compatible.

If you can't find either remote locally, I have some available for sale via mail order.

Thank you! Your info answers my questions perfectly!

Sorry, one more question. On the OFA website, I saw the URC-6131 and a URC-6131n. What would the difference be between the 6131 and the 6131n?
Thank you once more!

Internally, there's no difference as both remotes use the same chip, but externally they look different. So, the differences that you can see in the pics are the only differences.

Hi,

Sorry to hi-jack this post - I'm very new to JP1, Robman you seem to be quite an expert, I'm interested in purchasing a modded URC-6131n from you. The URC-6131n doesn't have a learning function on it so how would I get codes into in that it doesn't know and others haven't created etc?

Thanks

hagglelad wrote:The URC-6131n doesn't have a learning function on it so how would I get codes into in that it doesn't know and others haven't created etc?

In order to create an upgrade you need to know some ky pieces of information about the signal that needs to be generated. The easiest way to do this is to learn the signals with a learning remote, but as you say, the 6131 isn't a learning remote, therefore you would need some other source for the information. If there aren't any similar upgrades here in he file section, the next step would be to try the Pronto file section at Remote Central as we can extract the required info from those files. If we still can't find the code info, I can sometimes get it from UEI if they have already captured the device in question, but as you can see, the process is a whole lot easier if you have a learning remote at your disposal, even if it isn't your main remote. Getting a learning remote purely for the purposes of capturing signals is perfectly legitimate. I think most of us here couldn't imagine not being able to capture signals for the purpose of building upgrades.

Ok thanks for the reply, that has answered my question fully.

You don't NEED a learning OFA remote to capture remote signals to analyse, if you know what you are doing, and are willing to build a bit of hardware, however a learning OFA remote makes it easier to work with the vernacular of the JP1 tools.

Thanks again, can someone recomend a decent (and relatively cheap) remote that is the nuts are learning alone?

The URC-8910 is $20.