JP1 Remotes

Best Buy recently had a sale on these remotes and you might have picked one up. If you didn't, they seem to mess around with the price quite a bit. Usually, they try to get $59.99 for them, but they're down to $29.99 just now. In any case, when you get it there are a couple of things you might run into. I've worked out a couple of solutions that work for me. I've uploaded some pictures that you might want to download here.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=25579

First, the battery cover can be very difficult to get off, especially if there batteries in the remote. To get it off, you have to push quite hard on a spot on the battery cover. Then use the other hand to shift the cover to the bottom end of the remote. "cover spot.jpg" is a picture with a white spot of where you have to push.

To make this easier, I've sanded the hook on the battery cover slightly. The picture "cover hook.jpg" shows the problem part. The picture "sanding hook.jpg" shows how I sanded the hook to make it easier to take off. You need to be careful not to go too far, of course. Sand a little and test it. Stop when you're happy. If yours seems to come off easy enough, don't even bother with this.

The other issue that I found is the transport buttons. This remote puts them on the lower end of the remote. Since I use these buttons quite a bit, the fact that the remote is very unstable on a flat surface when these buttons are pushed is a problem. So I added some feet to stabilize that portion of the remote. I've taken two pictures of the result, "extra feet.jpg" and "extra feet2.jpg". For me, that improves things considerably.

Actually, I like this remote. The button feel is very good. And the bluetooth programming capability that Graham has worked out is very nice. An extender would improve it, but I've been able to use it without one. So, hopefully this helps someone with this remote.

I came across one of these today at Walmart for $30. I like the look of it and almost bought one, but then I had a look at this thread (while at Walmart) and noted that there is no extender for it. There's just so much I take for granted anymore in an extended remote that if a remote doesn't have one, it's a nonstarter for me.

I read somewhere where this remote has been discontinued. I wonder if that's still the case given that Walmart is carrying them.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/One-For-All- ... /200373030

The ir emitters on the 7880 is crazy. i have a receiver on the table and the remote under the table, and still able to transmit.

the activity button in the center of the remote is also a plus, instead of reaching up to choose devices. but I do see the con of a single device toggle vs dedicated device buttons. I even ordered a 1280 to compare, but received another 7880 instead. oh well

I was curious about the new Bluetooth functionality that Graham has developed and wanted to try it out, so when my daughter needed a new remote, I bought two of these from WalMart for just under $30 apiece, even though my preference is for a remote with a "traditional" extender. I thought I'd share my experience here in case others who are contemplating this remote might find it useful.

The first thing I did was sand the hook on the battery covers as @StephenR0 recommends. Then I began working with the remotes to set them up for my daughter.

Right out of the box, the Bluetooth functionality did not work. Graham promptly resolved that problem (see here: http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewt ... p?t=102626 ) and now the upload and download functionality via Bluetooth works fine -- no cable necessary. It's very convenient to use.

I had two issues with this remote that I think are noteworthy: First, since it doesn't have a traditional extender, putting macros on device keys in the tried and true way to form "activities" (watch cable TV, watch a Blu-ray movie, etc.) to set up key groups and assign device inputs and outputs is really not possible -- you really need to put them on shifted device keys. If you use unshifted keys for macros, then device switching within a macro becomes problematic -- at least as far as my understanding goes. I wanted to avoid shifted keys because I don't think my daughter -- or my granddaughter -- would be able to use them.

Second, the power button functionality gets messed up when you use an "activity".

This remote supports "activities", which theoretically overcomes the inability to put macros on device keys by allowing you to set up any of five pre-defined activities to assign key groups to pre-defined devices. Moreover, you can put macros on these activity keys to configure inputs and outputs on the various devices used for the activity. This would have worked well for my daughter's application except the "power" button on the remote does not function "normally" when you've selected an activity.

A short press of power while in an activity does nothing; e.g., a macro bound to power will not execute, while a long press of power (two seconds) sends whatever functions are assigned to the power button for the "active" devices to those devices. The assumption is that you assign a power toggle function to the power button on all active devices. When you press and hold the power button for two seconds after selecting the "WatchTV" activity, for example, the TV and the STB (and any other devices assigned to WatchTV) are turned on (or shut off). The implication is that you press an activity button, then press and hold "Power" to turn the devices on and then press and hold power to turn them off when you're finished.

I found that sometimes a long press of the power button would correctly turn devices on or off and sometimes it wouldn't, depending on which activity you last used and how long it takes your devices to respond to IR commands. One of my daughter's TVs is a Vizio and it takes forever to turn on and off via a power command. The result was that if I pressed power and didn't hold it long enough, all devices would not turn on or off, or if I pressed and held it too long, some devices would turn on and then back off (or vice-versa) when I wanted them to turn on. The fallback was to show my daughter how to switch manually to devices and issue power commands for them separately. The problem with this is once you press a device key, it takes the remote out of the activity, so you have to press the activity again to reassign the correct keys to devices.

My initial instinct was to build a macro on the power key that simply toggled all devices on or off, independent of any activity. This didn't work because that macro wouldn't execute when power is pressed while in an activity.

The activity concept implemented on this remote is otherwise quite adequate for my daughter's setups. Hers are very simple: Cable TV and Apple TV in one room and Cable TV and Firestick in another. I'm guessing that it would get unwieldy if you have a setup with lots of devices. For example, my living room setup includes a TV, Blu-ray player, satellite dish, AV receiver, and a Raspberry Pi. I shudder to think how I would use this remote for that setup.

This is actually a pretty good remote and the Bluetooth functionality is really useful and convenient, but the lack of extender makes it a inflexible. I realize developing an extender is a big effort. In this case, there may not be sufficient demand to warrant one in the first place, and, also, it may actually be discontinued. So, it is what it is.

Although I did read somewhere here these remotes may be discontinued, Walmart does seem to have them available.

A while back I got an extra urc7880, so I decided to experiment. Here's what I'm currently using.



Essentially, I swapped two sections of buttons. I use the 1, 2, and 3 keys as A, Youtube, and Netflix keys, which I use as macro keys. The A, Youtube, and Netflix keys I use as the 1, 2, and 3 keys. I don't have much need for the number keys and I use the transport keys quite a bit.

I don't want to minimize what it takes to get this done. This remote is quite difficult to get apart. Then it's quite a challenge to separate the two sections to swap. I used a sharp scissors to cut the sections. Then there's a lot of little nubs that locate the sections in the original position that need to be cut off to fit. the button holes in the top plastic seem to locate the buttons quite well. There's also some plastic to remove so the play and pause buttons work in their new position. The button feel is the same as it was before.

I don't pretend that everyone will like this. Maybe nobody will. But there it is.

I do like your design! Well done!

One of the things I don't particularly like about the 7880 is the position of the transport keys in relation to the up/down and OK keys. I can't reach the transport buttons with my thumb if I hold the remote in my hand so I can press the OK button with my thumb, yet these are the two button groups I use most often. Your design overcomes that problem.

You've done way more work than I'd even want to try. I'd end up with a pile of junk if I tried to do what you've done!

The jury is still out for me on the 7880. I like the controlled macros. They work well and overcome the slow macro problem on my OAR, but the OAR fits so nicely in my hand that I always reach for it instead of the 7880.

I have one of those OAR remotes, too. I think it's a well made remote, but I've never been able to get into it. It's missing two transport keys that I use. I may try to use it some day. The buttons feel good, too.

Same here. I got one when it first came out to mess around with. Ended up returning it.

I've gotten used to the long press to access the missing transport buttons on the OAR. I don't like that the buttons are missing, but I still like the remote overall.

On the OAR, the long press was sometimes error prone for me. I've mapped the record and stop to be the skip fwd/bck. Not sure why I'd need record or stop for any of my devices.

The OAR is my favorite remote, small size, ergo, click buttons, and the "native" usb integration to RMIR is great.

Hi.
I have just purchased one of these too, and am happy with it layout wise etc.
I need to use key moves on the shifted number buttons for each device.
For some reason I can't get ANY 'Shift' (I'm assuming magic +) functions to output IR regardless of if the assignment is in a device layout, or as a key move.

Is there a problem with this remote and 'Shift' functions? .. or is there another way with this one?

I have a 7980 and a couple OARI06G. The shifted keys won't work in any Activity. Several remotes of similar design all have this shortcoming. They work in device modes. The number keys may require Magic to be pressed twice; I don't remember for sure.

Can this not be prohibited in the RDF with bindings?

No, shifted keys work in device modes, so you need to be able to enter them.

MrMoody wrote:No, shifted keys work in device modes, so you need to be able to enter them.

But you can prohibit shifted bindings for macros only, I think.