HELP: All-in-One Control of All Equipment using USB-UIRT

[ShiftyPowers]

I've finally gotten into a new apartment and have been able to start tweaking HTPC setup. Here's what I have and what I'd like to do but need some serious help.

Have:
- Optoma H30 PJ Ceiling Mounted onto a white wall
- HTPC, Shuttle SN41GB using onboard video out to a KVM switch
- Panasonic receiver
- Zonet KVM switch (connects to HTPC and to component out of TWC STB box)
- USB-UIRT blaster
- PVR-250 in the Shuttle, together with the remote

Right now i'm able to control the STB through SageTV and get it to change channels and all that jazz. Very cool feature but I still have the problem that I'd like to centralize all these bloody remotes I have. Whenever I want to change the volume I need to pick up the Panasonic receiver remote and also use that to change inputs from where the sound is coming.

Next I have the projector remote to change aspect ratios and source if I need to.

Whenever I want to change the channel without using the HTPC I need to use the Time Warner STB remote.

This is all very frustrating.

I'm wondering if there is a way to use the USB-UIRT to blast not only the STB thru SageTV but to also control all my other equipment.

Ideally there is a front-end (maybe xlobby or something) that can let me teach remote commands and assign them to a particular screen or something and then record macros to setup all these different scenarios (ie: normal TV viewing, DVD viewing through HTPC, etc).

I'm a complete newb when it comes to this stuff and I'm flabbergasted as to how to even start configuring this. Any and all help will be quite helpful.

Thanks in advance,
Shifty

[stanger89]

For the really simple version (I've never actually done this):

What you need is Girder. In girder you'll create a command for each action you can do on every one of your components (power on, input x on reciever, etc.), and configure it to emit the correct IR signal. Then you pick your favorite remote and learn it's buttons to actions in Girder.

I'd strongly advise you look through the Girder documentation to see how it all works, then start small. For example, start by getting Girder to control the cable box instead of Sage. Sage will instead control girder via the Exetunerplug I think.

A little more complicated, how I would start:[list=1][*]First make a group for each component (Pany, Optima, Cable Box, etc)[*]Fill each group with all the commands for each device[*]Create a "Control" group, where you will learn the buttons on the remote you'll be using[*]Link the various commands in "Control" to the appropriate commands for the various devices.[/list=1]

For example, you'd have a Power On command in the Control group, when you hit power on your remote, the UIRT would recieve it, trigger the Power On command, which would in turn trigger the power commands for all your devices.

It's probably more complicated than it sounds, but that should give you an idea of where to start and/or what to research.

[ShiftyPowers]

Actually that makes a lot of sense. So these Control Groups could be kind of like macros no? So I could have some user defined button called Digital TV, when I click it it turns on the cable box, switches the receiver to the correct setting and turns on the projector? All this would be received by the UIRT and then resent out by the UIRT to the correct devices right?

I'm going to try controlling the cable through Girder first, seems like a good baby step

[stanger89]

Yeah, pretty much, basically multigroups work like macros, you put a bunch of actions/commands in a multigroup and when you trigger it, they'll all get executed.

The biggest thing you'll have to watch out for is devices without discrete IR codes. For example my Pioneer DVD player doesn't have discrete IR codes (or I can't find them) for power on/off so you have to be careful not to accidently turn it off when trying to turn it on.

[ShiftyPowers]

now what happens if a device is already on and then I press one of these groups that supposedly has a command to turn it on. Do things get screwed up? I imagine that's what you mean by discrete IR codes no?

[stanger89]

Yeah, that's what I mean. For example my Yamaha Reciever has discrete On and Off commands, so if you press On while it's on it stays that way. In contrast my DVD Player doesn't, so if you press Power while it's on, it goes Off.

[ShiftyPowers]

ok, but that would apply to any remote that has an on/off switch no? Unless you have a button for ON and a seperate button for OFF that means it sends the same IR signal whether the device is indeed on or off no?

[Opus4]

Some devices have commands that are not on any of the remote's buttons, so you can sometimes control more of the device than the original remote allows. You may want to also spend some time at Remote Central.

Edit: You could also consider getting a learning/programmable remote to control all the devices from one remote. A programmable one is much better than a simple learning remote, in my opinion, since you can save the info you programmed it with so that you can more easily make changes.

- Andy

[ShiftyPowers]

Opus, do you have an example of a good programmable remote that's not too expensive?

[Opus4]

The only inexpensive programmable remotes I am familiar with are the ones that are JP1 capable. You can go to that link for more info, or see the JP1 Remotes Forum. These remotes are sold under the Radio Shack and One For All brand names. Among other places, both BlueDo and Surf Remote Control sell the remotes along with the cables.

The software is free, but can take a bit of reading to get used to. The nice thing is the fact, as I said before, that you can program them however you want on the computer before downloading it all to the remote.

There are several others around, but they start to get out of the 'inexpensive' range. ... Home Theater Master, Philips Pronto, etc. (I have the HTM MX-700.)

- Andy

[ShiftyPowers]

so something like this is what you're talking about right?

http://www.remotecentral.com/av2500/index.html

[Opus4]

Don't know... never looked at that one. Does it connect to the computer & come with software so you can configure everything on your PC instead of fidlling with the remote & then losing everything when the batteries go dead for too long? PC software is _really_ nice - you get to make backups of your configuration files and even try something new w/o throwing away your old configuration, thus the previous one is easy to restore.

My only problem with controling all your devices through Girder is... what do you do for a remote that can separately control everything through Girder? If everything is controlled through macros & such in Girder, you may not need a remote that can separately control everything.... so it depends on your goals.

- Andy

[stanger89]

Actually I've got the RM-AV3000, and it's nice although somewhat disappointing. It controls all my devices fine, but the biggest issues I have with it are:

The LCD is configurable, but not fully customizeable, each button has 3 titles I think and you have to choose from them, and the layout isn't adjustable so that can limit you also.

Learned remote buttons are slower than known ones. For example my Streamzap remote isn't known to the 3000 (no surprise) so I had to learn the buttons, but they take much longer to execute (close to .5sec) so it makes navigating Sage, and fast forwarding more... time-consuming lets say. For that reason I still use my Streamzap for Sage, and the 3000 for my components.

Of course if that didn't scare you away, you can get one from buy.com for under $100.

Personally my goal is to get a small touchscreen LCD and then setup a frontend/Crestron type thing. I imagine a small LCD sitting on the coffee table, with the Sage UI displayed and you just press what you want to do. But that's down the road a bit