URC-6131 Philips DVD750VR DVD/VCR Combo

unclemiltie · Post by **unclemiltie** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 12:12 pm

Rob

if I remember correctly, the device appeared to be two separate devices bolted together and the remote was no different. Thus, all of the codes from the VCR were one protocol and all of the codes for the DVD were the other. I did have to do a few keymoves from one to the other to get some common stuff down (the output select was one of them) but making two seprate upgrades seemed to be the right thing. Making a combined upgrade would have taken just as much space and would have been a lot more complicated.

Not only that, but having the VCR functions on the VCR button and DVD functions on the DVD button seemed to make sense as well.

Post by **The Robman** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 2:42 pm

I've always been an advocate of creating seperate upgrades for the virtual components in combo devices, even though people are often tempted to try and create a single upgrade as it's physically one device.

Doppleganger · Post by **Doppleganger** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 10:50 pm

Yay, I finally finished it.

VCR code 0081 and 1181 are close enough for me to use on the VCR side. I created 1267 for the DVD side. It allows me to control the DVD/VCR selection buttons with the Red No Go, and Green Go buttons. (corresponds to the red and greed LEDs for DVD and VCR mode on the unit).

I also picked up a couple of those Atlas 5 device remotes from a yard sale for $1 each, one's a JP1, the other is a JP1.2. Gotta wait for my JP1.2 interface cable to show up before I can use the other one (and my 8820).

Anyhoo, I programmed the Page Up and Page Down buttons on the atlas for the same functions.

And, it works.

Took me a little to figure out all the little doo-dads in Remote Master 173, but I like it for mapping buttons better than Keymap Master. The drag & drop thing is nice.

Thanks for the RC5/6 tip, Rob! That's what clued me in to what to do.

But, yea, the factory remote DOES remap some buttons depending on whether you hit VCR or DVD on the remote, mainly the transport buttons (play/stop, etc...). I guess I'll have to do a mass-learning session to see exactly which ones change, but I figured I'd keep them as two separate devices, and I don't miss not having the VCR/DVD function on the VCR device, no big deal, really.

I think in the future, I'll stick to separate devices, manufacturers are not in business of making their remotes easy to decode.

irs009 · Post by **irs009** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 12:39 pm

Doppleganger, I have a DVD1642 combo which I think is about the same. This is how I select DVD/VCR. Both of the commands are RC5 so you have to build them into the VCR upgrade. The VCR is EFC 018, Device 5, and the DVD is EFC 034, Device 4.

I mapped the VCR to last channel, and the DVD to Shift-Last channel. Then you just need to key move the DVD to your DVD upgrade (which is RC6), and map it to last channel for consistency.

Jack

Doppleganger · Post by **Doppleganger** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 8:29 am

Or that's another way to do it.

I find myself making custom upgrades for lots of my components, as I'm not happy with the factory setup. I made a whole new upgrade for my Go Video Dual-Deck VCR, too. I'd rather do an upgrade than just learn a bunch of commands on my 8910.

I think I'm going to relearn the buttons on that DVD750 remote, and make a nice map of exactly what the commands are. I know some of the buttons change depending on whether you've hit DVD or VCR on the remote. Some stay the same. Once I have a chart of all the functions I'll rebuild the upgrade for the DVD and VCR side, as I'm still using the 0081 (or was is 1181, they're pretty much the same) device for the VCR, which is only about 90% of what i'd like.

rhm5757 · Post by **rhm5757** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 1:17 pm

I had a similar Philips combo unit, the DVD740VR, for a short period of time (it died very quickly). It too had separate commands for the VCR and DVD modes, VCR using RC5, and DVD using RC6. Apparently all the Philips combos work this way.

I never really got to use the two upgrades I made for it since it died so quickly. I still have its original remote though. There are already files for this unit in the file section.

Interestingly, if you used the RC6:4 power command, the DVD section would toggle power but the VCR section would do nothing, so you could get it into a mode where only half of it was on.