Radio Shack 15-100s on Clearance at My Radio Shack

[jmrexhau]

If anyone wants me to pick one up and mail it, I will do it. I think they are on clearance for $15 with tax, you pick the shipping method and pay for it. PM me. (Off Princeton Road near Bypass 4 in Fairfield Township Ohio)

[dinomight]

I'll take two if they are still there.

[unclemiltie]

was in the local 'Shack yesterday picking something else up (not a remote) and noticced that they had

3 15-100's
4 15-134's
3 15-133's
1 15-135

Think that the 15-13x's were $5.99 and the 15-100 was something like $12.00.

If anyone wants them let me know, I'll charge you what I pay plus whatever it costs to ship them.

(If you want to go get them yourself, Radio Shack is in Crow Canyon commons on Crow Canyon Road at the corner of CaminoRamon), San Ramon California

[mdavej]

15-133's are $5 now in my neck of the woods. I picked up a couple more. This is a really a pretty decent remote. It's got 8 device buttons, 4 colored buttons, backlighting, learning and an extender thanks to unclemiltie. Can't beat that with a stick.

[kupton]

Got two for $5.97 each at my local RS in central Virginia. The guy had to go in back to get them but I suspect there were more.

[jchiso]

Checked online and the remaining 15-100, 15-133 and 15-134s are on extreme closeout. I sped to my local store last night and picked up the last one in the store for $0.97. The tag at the store said $5.97, but the online price said $0.97. There does not seem to be any more in my area.

Unfortunately, I did not know the JP1 standard has changed, and this model apparently has a JP1.3 connection. On further digging, I've found that "new" cables are $25 or more, which kind of defeats the purpose of buying low-cost, hackable devices. Are the new cables considerably more difficult to make than the old ones? I made an old cable ten years ago, and purchased a pre-made one several years back for a small sum and would like to do the same with a JP1.3.

Any other options?

[vickyg2003]

Unfortunately, I did not know the JP1 standard has changed, and this model apparently has a JP1.3 connection. On further digging, I've found that "new" cables are $25 or more, which kind of defeats the purpose of buying low-cost, hackable devices. Are the new cables considerably more difficult to make than the old ones?

I'm under the impression that the new cables are that much more expensive to make because the parts are pricey.

I even found the "simple" interface pricey when I was only dealing with 1 remote. I dealt that by collecting lots of remotes. I have also bought some really nice equipment at really deep discounts simply because they had no remotes!

[The Robman]

Unfortunately, I did not know the JP1 standard has changed, and this model apparently has a JP1.3 connection. On further digging, I've found that "new" cables are $25 or more, which kind of defeats the purpose of buying low-cost, hackable devices. Are the new cables considerably more difficult to make than the old ones? I made an old cable ten years ago, and purchased a pre-made one several years back for a small sum and would like to do the same with a JP1.3.

Look at it another way. You got a remote for $1, so even if the cable costs you $34 shipped, that means you got a PC programmable remote for just $35. Can you get one for that price from anywhere else? Furthermore, if you buy any more JP1.2 or JP1.3 remotes, you won't need to buy another cable, you can keep using the same one.

The reason the newer cables are more expensive is because they're USB which means they need an IC chip inside them.

If you're OK with a regular serial cable, you could build one yourself using the following design:
https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=5958

[jchiso]

... Look at it another way. You got a remote for $1, so even if the cable costs you $34 shipped, that means you got a PC programmable remote for just $35. Can you get one for that price from anywhere else? Furthermore, if you buy any more JP1.2 or JP1.3 remotes, you won't need to buy another cable, you can keep using the same one.

The reason the newer cables are more expensive is because they're USB which means they need an IC chip inside them ...

I know, I know. I already have four (old school) JP1 remotes in use, so I don't really need to buy a whole lot more, at any price. Likewise, I would not even spend $35 for such a remote. I just did not know (or think) a suitable cable would cost as much. I have a couple of USB-based infrared remotes, a couple of USB IR blasters, a USB-to-Guitar interface cable, a USB-to-midi interface and a bunch of USB-to-serial adapters, all of which presumably have IC chips in them and each cost less than $35 ...

[mdavej]

Sure, when you make tens of thousands of those on a Chinese assembly line, you can do it for less than $30. But take a look at the schematics and tell us you'd be willing to build each one by hand and sell it for less than $30. If that's too much, get an $18 serial version to use with a USB-serial adapter or build your own for less.

There are essentially 2 people in the world who hand build and sell JP1 cables, 1 in the US and 1 in Canada. That's 2 individuals. They have no factories or economies of scale. On top of that, the results of the countless of hours put into design, testing and software are yours for free.

You can't touch the functionality of a JP1 remote / cable combo for anywhere near that. The cheapest harmony is $35, but it can only do 1 macro. That's it. The next model up is $80, and that one can only do 5 step macros (besides activity macros). UEI's own computer programmable remote is over $80 and is less flexible than JP1.

So a few bucks for a hand-made, beautifully designed, elegant, high quality cable and a small donation of a few more bucks for RMIR development is a small price to pay for the enormous benifits you get from the JP1 community.