JP1 Remotes

I wanted to post this great news as well. I stopped by at RadioShack in hope that I can show her Harmony 1100 I ordered during black friday from Fry's (they promised to honor the deal). They didn't cary any Harmony's but 650 and then I came across this remote. As previous poster mentioned it was on clearance for $2.97. Well I bought one. The packaging was previously open but remote is in pristine condition. Playing for 30 minute with this thing I realized it is useless without JP1 programming. My old trusty 8910 is wearing out. Two of the screw threads that hold PCB and front panel are busted so I have to press really hard on TV and SAT buttons. I added some paper and tried to apply pressure with the back cover but have very limited success. 8910 was selling on ebay for $18.99 with free shipping and now they want almost $30...

tpaxadpom wrote:...Playing for 30 minute with this thing I realized it is useless without JP1 programming... My old trusty 8910 is wearing out...

Beware the 15-100 is a JP1.3 remote and the JP1 cable you may have been using with your 8910, will not work with the 15-100. The other difficulty is that there are no JP1 header pins on the 15-100, nor is it particularly easy to add them. If you have a JP1.3 cable and are sufficiently skilled, these difficulties can be overcome.

A.A.

tpaxadpom wrote: Playing for 30 minute with this thing I realized it is useless without JP1 programming.

I feel that way about ANY remote that I can't program via the JP1 tools. I hate manually programming a remote.

tpaxadpom wrote:My old trusty 8910 is wearing out. Two of the screw threads that hold PCB and front panel are busted so I have to press really hard on TV and SAT buttons. I added some paper and tried to apply pressure with the back cover but have very limited success.

Have you tried using screws that are very slightly larger than the original screws? Given that the casing is plastic, even if the original threads have worn out, it's sometimes possible to force new ones by using a larger screw. Just don't use screws that are so large that the casing will split.

cauer29 wrote:

tpaxadpom wrote:...Playing for 30 minute with this thing I realized it is useless without JP1 programming... My old trusty 8910 is wearing out...

Beware the 15-100 is a JP1.3 remote and the JP1 cable you may have been using with your 8910, will not work with the 15-100. The other difficulty is that there are no JP1 header pins on the 15-100, nor is it particularly easy to add them. If you have a JP1.3 cable and are sufficiently skilled, these difficulties can be overcome.

A.A.

Thanks for the warning. After I picked the first remote I decided to call other RadioShack stores in town. The guy that worked in the second store was nice enough to check stock in other stores in my area. There was another store with 1 left. I called them and ask to put it on hold but the girl who answered the phone said no reason to as it's been sitting there for months.
Well I was going to pick it up the same day but decided to read the best remote control forum in world first. I quickly discovered that it's a challenging project to get jp1 inside this remote but doable. So I picked another remote from the other store. I found 2 schematics to build JP1.2/JP1.3 cables. I may have the parts at work, so this may not be a big deal for me. If anything I can just buy the cable.
If I get Harmony 1100 as Fry's promised I may keep it for my wife. I personally hate touch screen remotes. 15-100 is very similar to 8910 but has extra buttons for PVR (worked very well already tested at my mom's place).
I put in so much work to get all components working, from FTA receivers to controlling PCs. Perhaps I should have ordered another 8910, but I don't like to pay more when the same item from the same seller was $10 cheaper couple of weeks ago. Assuming I can get 15-100 jp1 ready I should be half way there as I saved files for all components.

The Robman wrote:

tpaxadpom wrote:My old trusty 8910 is wearing out. Two of the screw threads that hold PCB and front panel are busted so I have to press really hard on TV and SAT buttons. I added some paper and tried to apply pressure with the back cover but have very limited success.

Have you tried using screws that are very slightly larger than the original screws? Given that the casing is plastic, even if the original threads have worn out, it's sometimes possible to force new ones by using a larger screw. Just don't use screws that are so large that the casing will split.

Robman, this is an excellent idea. I think what happened is when I was assembling the remote I inserted the wrong screw. There are 4 screws that secure PCB to the front panel and two longer screws that secure the back panel. I probably used the longer one when I was securing the PCB to the front panel. I have some 5 minute epoxy at home, perhaps I should try using it. I really like 8910 but the paint on the donut ring came off. It's been serving me for 6-8 years.

tpaxadpom wrote:If I get Harmony 1100 as Fry's promised I may keep it for my wife. I personally hate touch screen remotes. 15-100 is very similar to 8910 but has extra buttons for PVR (worked very well already tested at my mom's place).
I put in so much work to get all components working, from FTA receivers to controlling PCs. Perhaps I should have ordered another 8910, but I don't like to pay more when the same item from the same seller was $10 cheaper couple of weeks ago. Assuming I can get 15-100 jp1 ready I should be half way there as I saved files for all components.

I have 2 8910s and 2 15-100s and there are major plus' and minus' to each. The biggest downside of the 8910s is that being so old, there are numerous protocols that are not built-in. You can of course, add most anything via protocol upgrade, but there isn't all that much upgrade memory available in the 8910. The 15-100 being a flash based design, has a very generous supply of upgrade memory, though you typically you won't need to use much for protocol upgrades, since the 15-100 has a much more modern repertoire of protocols built-in. One thing I miss with the 15-100 is the 8910's phantom device support.

A.A.

I tried to program the remote and discovered that despite having quite a bit more memory learning is not going to work for me as I can not program "left arrow" and "exit" keys. I have all the parts with the exception of ribbon cable.
I have some plastic pry tools that came with ipod case, I hope I can pry the back cover off without causing any damage.

Which button do you recommend to use for open/close the DVD tray?

Most universal remotes (including UEIC/JP1(.X) remotes) do not have a dedicated eject or Open/Close buttons. I have traditionally set up my JP1 remotes so that a SHORT press of "Stop" sends the "Stop" function while a LONG press of "Stop" sends the "Eject" or "Open/Close" function. Of course to do so, you must have a remote that has an extender written for it and you must be using that extender to get LKP (Long KeyPress) functionality.

I have sometimes used the "Page Up" button because it looks similar to the standard eject icon and often isn't used for the activity that needs the eject.

I use the record button for eject.

I also use LKP stop

On 7800 I use Exit
On 6131 I use Exit
On 8910 I use Exit
On Atlas -- I haven't decided yet considering what a nice and difficult remote it is at the same time. Maybe I'll have to get up and push the open/close button

Exit can conflict if a Menu or something like that needs Exit or Return. Often Menu again will return to nothing. If not, I can do shift-Prev.

That said, I think I like the LKP STOP idea the best now that I read this thread.

Thanks for all of the great ideas! The LKP Stop sounds quite logical and I will probably use it.