Remotes

[mlcarson]

What are people using as a remote control in SageTV?

I've tried the following so far:

Remotes
Tivo Roamio Remote - $40
Logitech harmony 650 - $50
Inteset 422-3 - $26

My TV's are connected to Nvidia Shields as clients so only have the Android Miniclient. The above are IR remotes and since the Shield only supports a small number of IR codes, I'm primarily using a FLIRC. The only command that doesn't seem to be covered by the FLIRC is the Select which is grabbed by the Nvidia Shield IR sensor.

I love the Tivo Roamio Remote. To me the size and button layout are perfect but it's flawed in that it's not a learning remote. It's got a nice database of TV Codes so that you can get power/vol/mute/input mapped to a TV IR sensor but there's no way to get that Select IR code for the Nvidia Shield or to get the Zoom button to map to the TV Aspect Ratio function.

The Logitech Harmony 650 is a remote that I should like because it can do about anything and is programmable online but I don't like it for some reason. It's considerably larger than the Tivo or the Inteset but it uses a lot of this space for the LCD and soft buttons. Logging in online to program it is kind of a pain -- especially when their login doesn't use a browser so I can't use lastpass to just send the password. The activity paradigm is something I'm not used to. It seems to make things overly complicated for a simple setup and likes to pester me about whether activities completed successfully. The overall feeling in programming it is that I'm using a wizard when I really want to just tell it what I want it to do. I think bottomline is that you can do anything that SageTV would require with it but it might require a softbutton or two.

The Inteset remote is probably the one that I'm keeping. It's bigger than the Tivo Remote but not as large as the Logitech Harmony. The buttons appear to be logically laid out and there are more physical buttons on this one than on the other remotes. They are mushier than the other two remotes though. There are only a couple of buttons that can't be mapped via the learning function and they are Device, SET, and Record. I didn't do a lot of programming though. I used the code 02443 for a device since almost all of the buttons were mapped. This is kind of what the Logitech Harmony 650 does by selecting the FLIRC device. These were the buttons that I learned:

Learned Keys
TV Power
TV Vol+
TV Vol-
TV Mute
TV Input
TV Zoom/aspect ratio
Nvidia Shield Select -> OK
Nvidia Shield Main -> Eject - could also use Flirc Win key + Enter

I then mapped these buttons via FLIRC:

Media Keys
Play - Play
Skip Fwd - Fast Fwd
Skip Back - Rewind
Stop - Stop

Fire TV
Back icon - Back
Numeric Enter - Enter - remap via Multilanguage Kemap Redefer to Dpad Center for Amazon Prime
Display - Menu

Full Keyboard
Left - Command 2 (Left)
Right - Command 3 (Right)
Up - Command 4 (Up)
Down - Command 5 (Down)
Pause - Time Scroll - Command 10 (T)
Chan Up - Command 11 (PgUp)
Chan Dwn - Command 12 (PgDwn)
Guide - Command 18 (E)
Info - Command 24 (I)
Record - Command 25 (Y)
Home - Command 28 (Home)
0-9 Command 30-39 (0-9)
Last - Command 60 (B)
End - Command 61 (F) - Skip Fwd2
Front - Command 62 (R) - Skip Back2

I didn't originally map commands 61 and 62 but am now glad that I did. They also skip forward in the guide 1 day at a time in addition to be another fast forward/backward setting.

The Inteset appears to be a JP1.3 remote so it can be programmed to do about anything through the JP1 software but probably isn't necessary for my needs. It's about half the cost of the Logitech so it's the cheapest option of the three.

I was tempted to just go with a DirecTV RC66RX at $7.25 for a bundle of two but it has the same limitation as the Tivo Remote in that it's not a learning remote so no extended keypress on the Select/OK button to bring up a softmenu and no TV aspect ratio select. The button count and layout look decent enough though.

So what's everybody else using? I've seen the Logitech Harmony Hub + remote mentioned but it's kind of pricey

[KarylFStein]

I started with a Firefly then moved to a Harmony and that's what I stick with these days, (currently an 890, but probably moving to the Elite soon). It does what I want including controlling the SHIELD. They are pricy, though.

[Fuzzy]

I've been using a MX-500 for about 15 years now. It's pretty beat up, has become a puppy chew toy a few times, has a piece broken loose inside somewhere, so it doubles as a maraca, blows through batteries continuously, but it still works great, and has an awesome button layout, including the all-important-to-sage 2 levels of skip. Also, it's huge - so it won't get lost in the couch.

[alfi33]

The remotes that I use are pretty old too. I bought a number of the URC-8820 remotes many years ago for $5-10. Since I had young kids, I wanted a remote that was cheap (disposable) but still highly flexible. Because these remotes are programmable via JP1, they have fit the bill nicely (even if they do look like something from the 80s).



My stockpile of 8820s is starting to dwindle, so I've started to keep my eyes open for a replacement. The Inteset 422 looks like it might be a decent contender.

[mlcarson]

LOL. I have that MX-500 remote and was considering using it. My parents had another but now they can't find it. If I had two, I might have stuck with them. Figured it was probably time for something new though. The MX-500 does work on AAA rechargeable batteries so you might try that to avoid using too many batteries.

I even have the IRClone-MX to go with the MX-500.

[mlcarson]

Here are my other URC remotes:
URC-6885
URC-8811B00

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by mlcarson

I even have the IRClone-MX to go with the MX-500.

Yeah, I have the IRClone-MX around here too - but if I remember right, it only works in winxp, and I'm not sure I even have an XP disc anywhere anymore. Haven't needed to do anything with it in a long time (I recall the only reason I ever needed it was for adding discrete codes that weren't on an actual remote).

[tvmaster2]

Logitech Harmony 700. Think it's being discontinued, but you can grab one at Best Buy this weekend for $50. Think I'll grab a back up. Eight devices, rechargeable batteries and multi-unit scenes, setup online thru reasonably smart software. Not necessarily the 'best' Sage remote, but due to its massive library of devices, the best remote i've found for many units from many manufacturers made over many years

[Stu Gare]

Harmony Ultimate Remote. Very handy as comes with iPhone software + ir hub
Cool software, just changed main tv and took 10 mins for all my activities to be updated.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Stu Gare

Harmony Ultimate Remote. Very handy as comes with iPhone software + ir hub
Cool software, just changed main tv and took 10 mins for all my activities to be updated.

wow - $350 for a remote - is it really that good?

[KarylFStein]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

wow - $350 for a remote - is it really that good?

This was my daughter last night when she and some of her friends decided to rent a movie: "Hey, dad how do I...Oh, watch blu-ray...Nevermind!" (This was an 850 Pro, but same idea.)

It's pricy (the Elite and Hub are at $285 on Amazon now which is probably around what I paid for the 890), but worth it to me. I have activities like "Listen to Pandora" that turn things on and navigate menus, etc. Plus the soft buttons mean I can still access things for which no hard buttons exist, (e.g. the game controller buttons for the SHIELD). And the RF means I can stick everything behind closed doors with an IR blaster, (except I have an emitter for the display).

[SHS]

I just wondering what all using for IR input

[Zogg]

A while back I bought several Mediagate MCE remotes with IR receivers, similar to this one. I don't use the remotes much anymore, but the receivers work great and I use them with EventGhost and Harmony 650 remotes.

[mlcarson]

It'll still work in Windows 10. If I remember correctly, the trick was finding the right driver and FTDI had one that worked.

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Yeah, I have the IRClone-MX around here too - but if I remember right, it only works in winxp, and I'm not sure I even have an XP disc anywhere anymore. Haven't needed to do anything with it in a long time (I recall the only reason I ever needed it was for adding discrete codes that weren't on an actual remote).

[mlcarson]

If you're using an Android TV client, I think the FLIRC is the best choice for IR input since it doesn't require drivers or another program on the client. The air mice all use their own receiver and I think the Harmony is pairing via bluetooth. Even if you're using a PC, I think I'd still use the FLIRC rather than play with Eventghost or other such programs.

Originally Posted by SHS

I just wondering what all using for IR input

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Stu Gare

Harmony Ultimate Remote. Very handy as comes with iPhone software + ir hub
Cool software, just changed main tv and took 10 mins for all my activities to be updated.

Ditto and the other good thing is that the Harmony remotes that have hubs use RF to communicate from remote to hub. That means you don't have to point the remote at the TV which seems to be an issue for some people. And/or you can hide away some of your devices or put them in cabinets as the hub is an IR blaster and they also come with external blasters.

I have been using Harmony Remotes for about 15 years and I think they are well worth it. We currently are running a mixture of Harmony Ultimate, Smart Control and One - these are the 3rd or 4th gen of Harmonys in our house.

The Harmony Smart Control also uses a hub and is much cheaper at around $120. It has a smaller remote without a screen but it is good ergonomically.

The other advantage of the Hub remotes is that they are on your LAN so they can be used now by stuff like the Harmony Echo "Alexa turn on SageTV". And the higher end Harmonys also can control other home devices like Hue lights, etc.

[SDeGonge]

Just got the INT-422-3 Remote. Was able to set up everything that I needed to control my system (TV, AMP, Sage). Haven't been able to use it yet but so far it looks good. Prior to that I was using the URC-WR7 which has been discontinued for a while (I loved that remote).

[mlcarson]

I ended up standardizing on the Inteset 422 remotes. I ordered two more but mistakenly got the 422v2 remotes this time rather than the 422v3. It doesn't make much difference for my purposes but kind of annoying. One thing that the Inteset did right that the Logitech didn't was the Select key. The Inteset properly mapped it to Dpad Center so that the Multilanguage Kemap Redefiner wasn't necessary for Amazon Prime to work properly. Maybe this has been fixed on the Logitech or I did something wrong before but the Inteset had this so that I could just teach it to another remote. I've got everything working now that I want to with this remote and the FLIRC combination. The combo goes for less than $50 so the only thing cheaper would probably be an air mouse.

[SDeGonge]

Do you know if the INT supports JP1 programming? I see there are ports available but there is no mention of it on their website.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by wayner

Ditto and the other good thing is that the Harmony remotes that have hubs use RF to communicate from remote to hub. That means you don't have to point the remote at the TV which seems to be an issue for some people. And/or you can hide away some of your devices or put them in cabinets as the hub is an IR blaster and they also come with external blasters.

I have been using Harmony Remotes for about 15 years and I think they are well worth it. We currently are running a mixture of Harmony Ultimate, Smart Control and One - these are the 3rd or 4th gen of Harmonys in our house.

The Harmony Smart Control also uses a hub and is much cheaper at around $120. It has a smaller remote without a screen but it is good ergonomically.

The other advantage of the Hub remotes is that they are on your LAN so they can be used now by stuff like the Harmony Echo "Alexa turn on SageTV". And the higher end Harmonys also can control other home devices like Hue lights, etc.

With the Harmony Smart Control, for that price you get the remote AND the hub? Also, I have semi-complex activities programmed for my Harmony 700, aka one button turns on TV, receiver and selects the correct receiver input. Do these Smart Control's do similar? And with an Amazon Dot, you could activate this kind of event from voice?