Universal Remote Help!

The only commercial setup I'm aware is going to be costly. You will need a Pronto remote capable of sending RF (TSU3000 or TSU7000) and three of their RFX6000 extenders. The extenders each have their own address and will only relay codes addressed to their address. You would then have stick-on emitters from each extender to its associated TV.

You can save quite a bit if you can find a refurbished TSU3000 (BW) remote. The newer color TSU7000 remotes are pricey (again you can save a bit if you can find a refurb).

I'm not recommending any specific dealer but here's a link to a dealer so you can get an idea of costs. $900 for the TSU7000 and $120 each for the extenders.

I haven't followed this closely lately so I'm not familiar with the TSU7500. It looks like it might also work while costing a bit less than the TSU7000.

My first thought is to use an IR capable controller between a programmable remote and your 3 televisions.

Most low end universal remotes will only address one or possibly two tv's - the other devices must be a vcr, dvd, etc which don't use volume, channel, mute etc. I have a MX3000 which can easily handle many tv's. If you couple this remote with a controller like the Homevision you could easily control each tv separately via stick on IR emitters. There may be other controllers that don't cost as much as the Homevision and still do a good IR job, I don't know.

John,

I think the MX3000 could do it in more or less the same way as I suggested for the Pronto but with a single RF Extender. This is from the Universal Remote MX3000 web page...

"A single MRF-250 RF/MRF-300 RF Base Station can route the IR commands of up to six identical components. In houses with identical TVs or Satellite receivers spread around the house, you can install additional MRF-250 RF/MRF-300 RF Base Stations. Each MRF-250/MRF-300 RF is assigned one of 15 unique ID Numbers allowing up to 15 equipment locations in a single installation. Each MRF-250/MRF-300 RF Base Station can be controlled from any MX-3000. A system can be comprised of any number of MX-3000's, MRF-

250's/MRF-300's . If desired, each MRF-250/MRF-300 RF Base Station can have a dedicated MX-3000 programmed only for the components in that room. For instance, a single MX-3000 may be used to control three different locations, or each location can have its own MX-3000."

From the descripti>My first thought is to use an IR capable controller between a

You're right Dave - it could be done with the MX3000 equipment alone. You can pick up an MX3000 for right around $525 (+/-) new on eBay. I bought mine (used) for $450 with 2 MRF250 receivers, but never tried using the receivers yet.

Sean could likely get everything for well under $1,000. I still can't get my wife to use ours, but the favorite channels and convenience are great in my opinion and it sure is cute.

John

John,

Sean can maybe save even more. Some of the online blurbs I found indicate that individual control of the outputs on the MRF250 will work with some of Universal's less expensive remotes (e.g. MX350) so it might be done for $300-400.

Why would you need the homevision?

The MX3000 (I also have one) can control which signals are sent out which port on it's IR emitter block. It can also control which signals are sent out it's built-in IR port. This would let you have identical TVs controlled from the same remote. You just have to arrange the IR emitters such that the signals go to just that TV (and don't let any other IR in either).

Granted, the MX3000 ain't cheap. But Universal's other remotes (the stick type instead of touchscreen) are less expensive (still not cheap though) and can also do the same sort of thing. You may want to ask the question over at

-Bill Kearney

Got a pc in there? If so see

Obviously I'm not familiar with my own remote Bill ;-)

Yes, you could add a USB-UIRT to the PC (to get both IR input AND output) and then use the girder software to handle translating the IR commands. Actually, I'm not sure how well the USB-UIRT would work in this case, as he'd need more than one IR zone. I can't recall how many the USB-UIRT supports, nor can I think of any alternatives at the moment...

But you'd be talking about having the PC receiving commands from an existing remote and then sending appropriate ones out to the destination devices. This way you could use different IR device commands for sending (to handle uniqueness) and then sending the correct ones to the desired device. You could use TV brand X to represent one TV, brand Y for the second and brand Z for the third one. The girder on the PC would see the commands for brand X and be programmed to send out commands to the first TV, and so on. It'd be a bit tedious learning and programming the IR codes, but not all that difficult.

But by the time you get all this cobbled together and working (reliably) you might want reconsider investing in an MX3000 or other RF remote than has IR emitters that support routing.

-Bill Kearney

Heh, it's not like they're simple. Simple to use, but getting them programmed right is an adventure.

You may want to avoid ebay for those units. Support and service is questionable from ebay sources. Do this, find your best prices online and then go to a local retailer authorized for it. Ask for a better price. I talked my local Myer-Emco into meeting me halfway; both the MX3000 and the MRF250 for around $700.

Stick type remotes are a must for anyone that channel surfs. Touch screens are great for folks that don't. We have both here. The wife likes the touchscreen for it's ability to 'guide' her. I like the stick-type because I can use them by feel alone without having to look at the buttons.

We tried the Logitech 890 but it's build quality was shit and the web-based programming horrendously slow. I shudder to think what they're equivalent touchscreen unit is going to be like...

I'm guessing with advent of things like Vista and it's sideshow and media center features there's going to be a number of new remotes released this Fall. Isn't that always the case? Just when you have something that works, something new comes along...

-Bill Kearney

I've only touched on the capabilities. I have mine programmed for 3 tv's, dvd, vcr and dvr. I wanted to add in home automation via the Homevision controller, but I've picked up a Fujitsu 3500 that I'm going to use for that.

The wife actually hates my MX3000 and refuses to use it. Perhaps one day I'll get back to programming the MX.

Incidentally, is UR still limiting who can DL upgrades to the software?

John

Probably because of the way it's programmed. I've seen many really bad templates but few good ones.

I just get mine from my retailer.

-Bill

Sean,

If you're willing to control from a PC you could use the following setup:

-- USB-UIRT

-- is an IR dongle capable of controlling up to 3 zones. The unit emits the first zone from the front and the other two are on a stereo jack to which you can connect emitters.

-- IRCommand2

-- this is relatively simple to set up software that basically acts as a Windows-based universal remote control. You can also set up "triggers" with this software so that you can send a command from a universal remote that triggers the software to send one or more commands.

I use this setup myself and it works well. The only tricky part may be in connecting emitters to the stereo jack on the UIRT. Total cost is < $100.

Joe