JP1 Remotes

Got the eeprom from Rob (thanks) and the cable parts from mouser yesterday and this afternoon I had my cable and JP1 modified 6131 (by the way, the credit card approach worked really good for opening the remote).

I had set up some manual keymoves prior to downloading. I assigned PIP in aud mode to place the receiver in tivo mode, likewise swap to select the dvd input, and move to select the vcr as input. I also manually set up the power macro to turn off the tv and the amp.

Anyway, I downloaded the remote into IR. I changed the code for a device I wasn't using and uploaded the remote. When I did this the aud selection keys that I had manually assigned stopped working and the power macro stoped working.

Is this expected?

Is this because of the new key move format that I have been reading about?

It sure seems to me that if I upload the same thing that I downloaded I should have no problem.

Thanks
Greg

No, it's not expected. Even though the current version of IR doesn't know how to display the keymoves correctly, it shouldn't do anything to corrupt them either.

I tried some fresh batteries in the remote and the problem seems to have gone away. Does this make sense? I though that the remote ran off the host computer when the JP1 cable is connected.

Also, the eeprom that I put in the remote was rated for operation down to 2.4 volts. The remote runs off of 2 AA cells. That means the the supply voltage ranges from about 3.2 to about 2 volts after the cells get a bit tired. Does this mean that I will have to keep fresh batteries in the remote?

Even though the spec on those chips says 2.5 volts, they probably can handle voltages lower than that, so my guess is that it won't be a problem, but keeping fresh batteries in your remote is always a good idea, especially when you're doing JP1 stuff. These are the same chips that I've put in all the remotes that I've modified, which probably accounts for 95% of the URC-6131s in this group, so I think the chips will work OK.

Also, don't leave your remote hooked up to the JP1 cable for extended periods of time with batteries in it. I don't know if this applies as much with the Simple Interface, as I'm using an old fashioned powered "Dan Classic" interface, but every so often I accidentally leave a remote hooked up with batteries in it and come back to find them leaking all over the place! I've done this TWICE now!

Thanks for the info on the eeprom. I think I was just being overly cautous. I have uploaded and downloaded several times with the new batteries in the remote and have had no problem.

Also, thanks for the tip on not leaving the remote hooked up. I am using the simple interface - but I wouldn't want battery juice all over my desk and remote. I will definatly not leave it hooked up - just in case.

Greg