RF Capabiities of URC2125

[mathdon]

I hope shortly to post a development version of RMIR that supports this remote and enables its 4-device capabilities to be used.

That development version is now available in the RMIR Development folder on SourceForge, as RMIR v2.13.6, but at present with support for the URC2135BC0 only for Windows OS as it needs jp12serial v0.32beta2 which has only been compiled for Windows.

I have now also investigated the Cox URC3220, the other remote kindly obtained for me by DDE12. This has yet another processor that is new to us, the Texas Instruments CC2533. This is similar to the CC2530 used in the URC2125BC0 but just sufficiently different that I have needed to add it to RMIR as a separate processor.

The URC3220 is another remote with RF4CE support, but this one really is a basic remote. The URC2135BC0 appeared to be fairly basic but turned out to be a 4-device remote in disguise. No such luck with the URC3220. It is a simple 2-device remote for Cable and TV. It does have a Setup button but no colour buttons or transport buttons and it does not support either macros or keymoves. Essentially it has just menu, channel and volume buttons with the menu and channel buttons hard coded to send Cable signals. The volume buttons send TV if a TV code has been set up, else Cable. The Setup button allows a TV code to be entered that is about all.

Despite all that, it has definitely been worth investigating as the only remote seen so far with the CC2533 processor. I have not yet looked into its RF capabilities but suspect that it will not pair with the RF dongle, as its pairing instructions require a 3-digit code to be entered that displays on the TV screen during the pairing orocess. However, I will look into this to see what I can do.

[mathdon]

Despite all that, it has definitely been worth investigating as the only remote seen so far with the CC2533 processor. I have not yet looked into its RF capabilities but suspect that it will not pair with the RF dongle, as its pairing instructions require a 3-digit code to be entered that displays on the TV screen during the pairing orocess. However, I will look into this to see what I can do.

Unfortunately I have now confirmed that the URC3220 will not pair with the RF dongle. I have read the RF discovery request sent by the URC3220 and compared it with the discovery response sent by the dongle on a successful pairing. These signals show that the URC3220 only supports a vendor-specific RF4CE profile and the dongle only supports the generic ZRC (ZigBee Remote Control) profile, so the two are not interoperable regardless of any other settings.

[mathdon]

Have you experimented with the other remotes and maybe gained any further insight on what the "C" is?

I have reported above on the other remotes, but the new exciting news now is that I HAVE discovered what "C" is . I have only done this on the URC2135BC0 but since the RF signals sent by digit keys are the same for all remotes, it should work on any remote that will pair with the dongle.

What I have found is that C is the digit 0, but the 5-digit code must be entered as the first buttons pressed after pairing is complete. In my case I entered 01877 and got the two flashes, as the instructions say. I set a different remote (my URC7880) to Cable/1877 on its STB device and compared the signals sent by the dongle with those sent by the URC7880. They are the same, and the protocol is a completely different one from that of the default Cable/1998 that the dongle was sending before the change.

The clue was that the instructions say to enter a 5-digit code. I was puzzled by this, as you could enter a valid code by accident while changing channel, for instance. The safeguard that prevents this is that the code must be entered as the first key presses after pairing is complete. I then remembered that some remotes use 5-digit setup codes in which the first digit is the device type. As the dongle is intended for cable boxes, I guessed that Cable is its device type 0, and it worked. But why the instructions say "C" and not "0" is a mystery and to me is just plain weird.

[DDE12]

...the new exciting news now is that I HAVE discovered what "C" is .

That's awesome! Mark Pierson was on the right track. It was just the URC 5 digit setup code instead of the remote button.

Could the "C" mean the Cable button? Cable-#p-#p-#p-#p

I gave myself a good slap on the back of the head for not thinking of that. Maybe the instructions are for a specific remote where there is a "C" involved. I tried some other 5 digit cable codes not on the list in the instructions and could not get a confirmation double blink.

Mathdon, have you been able to get any of your learning remotes to learn the IR signal from the dongle? I have not, but I have a FLIRC, and through it's debugging, it can pick up IR signals from the dongle. Those can then be scrutinized in IRscrutinizer. I have no idea what to do with them from there but I think that will be needed to make an rdf. Here is my post for help modding the 6251 remote and 6252 dongle.

[mathdon]

Mathdon, have you been able to get any of your learning remotes to learn the IR signal from the dongle? I have not, but I have a FLIRC, and through it's debugging, it can pick up IR signals from the dongle.

I haven't tried to learn IR signals from the dongle yet, as I use IRScope with a Widget to decode them which is quicker and easier. As that works, I see no reason why they should not be learnable with a learning remote, but I will try and will let you know how I get on. I suspect the problem is that the IR signals from the dongle are very weak. The way the dongle is used, its IR sender is almost in contact with the IR receiver of the cable box, while a remote is sending signals over 10 feet or more. I need to put the dongle very close to the Widget, and it may be that the IR receiver in a learning remote is not sensitive enough to read the dongle signals even if they are almost touching.

[DDE12]

Is it possible to make this Device Upgrade work with the Champion Plus 2125? It is giving the Manual Settings not compatible error.