8811 won't learn

[jason-wein]

I am trying to get my 8811 to learn keys from my OEM remotes. I am following the directions in the remote manual and all seems to be going fine up to the point of actually 'learning the button'. I get the radid blinks when I select which button I want to save it to (L1) but when I place the remotes head to head an press the button on the OEM remote the 8811 refuses to blink.
I know this isn't really JP1 but the reason I got the 8811 is soley for JP1 and the 8811 has learning so that makes this topic a JP1 topic to me.
Please help!
Thanks in advance.

[The Robman]

When the rapid blinking starts, start pressing the OEM remote button and continue holding it. The rapid blinking will stop as soon as you start pressing the OEM button, but don't let this distract you, the learning process is working. Keep holding the OEM button until the 8811 flashes twice, then proceed to the next button.

When you're done, press and hold SET and wait for 2 flashes to complete the process.

[johnsfine]

but when I place the remotes head to head an press the button on the OEM remote the 8811 refuses to blink.

Maybe Rob guessed right and you read the directions about learning and misunderstood in the usual way, so his explanation is enough to clarify the bad instructions from the OFA documentation.

But your statement looks to me like you didn't read the learning instructions at all. Those instructions are unclear (but worth reading) in the manual that came with the 8811. Rob has also posted better instructions various places such as:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/manuals/rs-l ... 1994#learn

[jason-wein]

I did read the manual but nowhere does it say that you need to press the button to be learned on the OEM remote while the 8811 is in the 'rapid blink' phase of the learning. Those 2 steps are actually separated by another step (actually placing the remotes head to head) so I don't see how anyone could possibly read into that what you actually need to do to get the remote to learn.

Rob's directions did help and it now works great.

Sorry if my questions seem stupid - I am just learning (that is why I am posting on the JP1 Beginners Forum). I do appreciate the help from the 'experts'

Jason

[johnsfine]

Sorry if my questions seem stupid

Not at all.

Maybe Rob guessed right and you read the directions about learning and misunderstood in the usual way

Rob understood your question correctly and I read something that wasn't there into the way you asked.

The problem is in the way UEI wrote that documentation. Otherwise it wouldn't be so common for people to (mis)understand the directions exactly the way you did, rather than somehow guess the right proceedure as you need to in order to make it work.

I don't see how anyone could possibly read into that what you actually need to do to get the remote to learn.

I did that myself so long ago I can't recall how I interpreted those instructions in order to deduce the correct method. Many people have managed, maybe by doing that middle step so fast it didn't matter (I couldn't), maybe by experimenting until it worked, maybe by understanding from previous knowledge what learning an IR signal needs to involve and filtering the bad instructions through that knowledge. All of that makes the writing of those instructions stupid, not your reading of the instructions.

[The Robman]

I think the 8811 manual is more poorly written (with regards to the learning procedure) than the ones for the URC-6800 and 15-1994, which are the remotes that John and I started out with.