Which universal remote?

Sorry for totally just hijacking this thread but since you have actually ordered it you might also want to get more IR emitters. The hub comes with one emitter that works well but if you want something that you can directly attach to your devices I've got a pair of 4 attachable IR emitters (8 total, 2 I don't use) stuck to the front of my devices.

On "the bay" search for:
"IR Infrared Remote Extender 4 Emitter Emitters 1 Receiver Repeater System Kit"
That will get you what you want for the best price.

You're paying for the receiver part which you don't need but from the images you'll see that the emitters are separate and attach via a 3.5mm MONO plug. This is the cheapest way I found to get the emitters on their own (with 4 at a time).

However, the smart hub however expects a 2.5mm jack so you need to buy a:
"3.5mm female (jack) to 2.5mm male (plug) MONO adapter"

Should be no more than £20 for all of that allowing you to directly stick up to 8 emitters on your devices.
 
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RoyMi6 said:
Sorry for totally just hijacking this thread but since you have actually ordered it you might also want to get more IR emitters. The hub comes with one emitter that works well but if you want something that you can directly attach to your devices I've got a pair of 4 attachable IR emitters (8 total, 2 I don't use) stuck to the front of my devices.

On "the bay" search for:
"IR Infrared Remote Extender 4 Emitter Emitters 1 Receiver Repeater System Kit"
That will get you what you want for the best price.

You're paying for the receiver part which you don't need but from the images you'll see that the emitters are separate and attach via a 3.5mm MONO plug. This is the cheapest way I found to get the emitters on their own (with 4 at a time).

However, the smart hub however expects a 2.5mm jack so you need to buy a:
"3.5mm female (jack) to 2.5mm male (plug) MONO adapter"

Should be no more than £20 for all of that allowing you to directly stick up to 8 emitters on your devices.
Click to expand...

Forgive me for possibly asking a stupid question, but what do the emitters do? Is an emitter required for each device I wish to control using the ultimate?

Device List: Panasonic 42'' TX-P42G10, Onkyo TX-SR607, PS3 Super Slim, Sky HD & Acer Revo R3600 (running OpenELEC).

The i purchased a cheap remote & USB IR set off eBay, so I hope the Harmony ultimate can play well with it & OpenElec!
 
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TheDean said:
Forgive me for possibly asking a stupid question, but what do the emitters do? Is an emitter required for each device I wish to control using the ultimate?
Click to expand...

The Harmony Smart Control and Hamrony Ultimate remotes are RF only and talk to the smart hub (that both are supplied with) via RF.

The hub itself sits next to your AV equipment and sends the required IR signals to all your devices.

As you don't want to have to put the hub on your coffee table to get the best line of sight it comes with a single IR emitter on a 2m cable. This allows you to place the hub next to some devices (say you TV) but then run the emitter down next to your AV equipment to control them.

The disadvantage with this default setup is that sometimes it's hard to catch all your IR controlled devices from just these two locations.

The good thing about the Hub is that it actually has TWO IR outs. This allow you to either buy a second Logitech IR emitter OR you can get 3rd party emitters like the ones I'm talking about.

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Hopefully you can see that this product is supplied with 4 mico IR emitters. They aren't designed to be placed near your devices but physically stuck on to the IR receivers of your devices.

This completely negates the concern of anything interupting line of sight between the IR transmitter and any of your devices.

The hub has two IR outs so you can buy two sets of four (along with two 3.5mm to 2.5mm converters)

TheDean said:
Device List: Panasonic 42'' TX-P42G10, Onkyo TX-SR607, PS3 Super Slim, Sky HD & Acer Revo R3600 (running OpenELEC).

The i purchased a cheap remote & USB IR set off eBay, so I hope the Harmony ultimate can play well with it & OpenElec!
Click to expand...

All of these will be fine. Even if your device isn't listed as supported any harmony remote can "learn" any command from any other IR remote.

Roy
 
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I've only plugged in the hub, it sits directly under the power button on my TV, half the hub is actually behind the screen of the TV. Yet I can still use it to control all my things, it just bounces the wall, I've not had to use any additional emitter.

Give the hub a go first.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I've only plugged in the hub, it sits directly under the power button on my TV, half the hub is actually behind the screen of the TV. Yet I can still use it to control all my things, it just bounces the wall, I've not had to use any additional emitter.

Give the hub a go first.
Click to expand...

Oooops. The idiot has just ordered it! *runs to cancel*
 
TheDean said:
Oooops. The idiot has just ordered it! *runs to cancel*
Click to expand...

I would say the only thing that is in direct sight of the IR emitter is the TV, why it's half sticking out.

Everything else in the room is not in direct line to the hub is not only behind every other component, it sits higher than the rest of the stuff it controls.
 
covenantuk said:
The Ultimate hub comes with two additional emitters, plus the hub itself is an emitter.

I have the hub in one side of my AV cabinet, an emitter in the other side and an emitter on top to send to TV.
Click to expand...

Ah, cool, didn't realise the ultimate came with two emitters in addition to the hub.

Regardless it wouldn't have helped someone like me that has 4 separate compartments for his AV and even getting an IR signal to my TV can be a problem when the cat likes to perch directly in front of the sensor! :)
 
You only need an emitter for each compartment if you have doors on each and want them all closed. Else just stick an emitter somewhere in the room in front of the unit.
 
RoyMi6 said:
Afraid they don't work as the first thing they do is look for a hub on the local WiFi network. If they don't find one you can't do anything.
Click to expand...

You dont have , or use, wifi at all? fair enough

I have a Sony Z, where it actually has infra-red inbuilt so for this purpose doesnt use wifi. However it would be stupidly expensive just to get the rc functionality lol
 
covenantuk said:
You only need an emitter for each compartment if you have doors on each and want them all closed.
Click to expand...

Yup, which I do.

covenantuk said:
Else just stick an emitter somewhere in the room in front of the unit.
Click to expand...

Putting the emitter in the room just causes problems in my opinion. The activities/sequences can sometimes take up to 10 seconds to complete so if someone walks past the sensor (or my frickin' cat gets in the way) then you're left with some devices out of sync.

It's not a problem that everyone has but myself and two other people I know personally have gone down the "sticky" emitters route to avoid these kind of problems.

FrankJH said:
You dont have , or use, wifi at all? fair enough

I have a Sony Z, where it actually has infra-red inbuilt so for this purpose doesnt use wifi. However it would be stupidly expensive just to get the rc functionality lol
Click to expand...

No, I mean you can't "try before you buy" because when you download the app to your phone the first thing it does is search on your network for a Harmony Hub. If it can't find one you can't do anything with the app. No buttons to press, just "rescan for hub".
 
So I installed the Harmony Ultimate over the weekend and am absolutely loving it, but I'm unsure how to make it work with my Acer Revo 3600. It is running OpenELEC and I previously bought this remote: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221292059191?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 . I have placed the USB infared next to the hub, but as of yet it isn't responding to commands from the remote.

If one of you guys could help me configure it, I'd really appreciate it!!!
 
RoyMi6 said:
No, I mean you can't "try before you buy" because when you download the app to your phone the first thing it does is search on your network for a Harmony Hub. If it can't find one you can't do anything with the app. No buttons to press, just "rescan for hub".
Click to expand...

You completely missed my point.

I was talking about Pioneer amp app , Sony Tv app etc etc all on a tablet

(Im sure there are going to be some that are programmable for other manufacturers devices under the same app)
 
TheDean said:
So I installed the Harmony Ultimate over the weekend and am absolutely loving it, but I'm unsure how to make it work with my Acer Revo 3600. It is running OpenELEC and I previously bought this remote: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221292059191?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 . I have placed the USB infared next to the hub, but as of yet it isn't responding to commands from the remote.

If one of you guys could help me configure it, I'd really appreciate it!!!
Click to expand...

Did you learn the commands that you want to use for the remote and assgin them to buttons?

Or have you added a "Rasbery Pi Remote" device? If you've added a device and it isn't working then I'd assume it's the wrong one.

Add a custom device (just search for something random) and that manually learn each button you want to use.

EDIT: Actually, it looks like you might be able to add a "Microsoft" "MCE" (should find it as Microsoft Windows Media Center) as a device and that might work with it - try that.
 
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