Let's make a remote: USB-UIRT vs. Tira-2.1 vs. Irman

[jdiff]

I've done something similar to this. I am having my Harmony emulate the Hauppauge 45-button remote, and using Hauppauge's IR software to map buttons to keypresses. My Harmony (the 680) has 40 buttons, so I can map any Harmony button to one of the Hauppauge's 45 buttons, then customize irremote.ini to send a specific keypress. Having just bought a USB-UIRT to control my cable box, I am now in the process of doing exactly what you are trying to do - basically use girder and the USB-UIRT instead of irremote.ini and the PVR-250's IR receiver. My current plan is to have the Harmony mimic the MCE remote (which the 680 is preset to do) and then use Girder to map those commands to whatever I want. I suppose I could also leave the Harmony in its present status of emulating the Hauppauge 45-button remote and map those if emulating the MCE remote doesn't work.

[ejb]

OK - I have used Girder, the USB-UIRT and the Firefly remote to control BTV, Meedio and all my IR audio components (cable box, DVD player, audio receiver, VCR and TV). I can also bring up other apps - I have used an Girder Menu plug-in to bring up a menu in Girder that let's me select other external apps (e.g., Internet Explorer). When I am not controlling an external component, when I press a button, Girder looks to see which program has the focus and interprets the command accordingly - this way I can "re-use" the remote buttons depending on which program has focus. I think you are looking to do something similar.

ejb

[btvfreak]

I'm looking to do exactly what softnerd is trying to do (if he hasn't already done it by now).

I'm getting a Harmony 880. I have a USB-UIRT. I want to:
1. Setup my Harmony to use remote codes from any given IR remote (maybe the Hauppauge silver remote) when I select an activity like "Use BTV".
2. Create a Girder file by mapping IR commands to BTV/BM keyboard commands. The IR commands are sent from the Harmony (acting as an IR remote of my choice) to Girder via the USB-UIRT.

I then want to repeat this for any other PC software I may use like Theatertek, Meedio, etc. I can setup the Harmony to control all my other home theater components.

This will give me one remote for everything based on specific activities.

I'll post back later with my results. I'm sure others have already done this. Any success stories, pointers, etc to share?

[btvbuddy]

The Harmony makes the one remote a possibility but I also want mouse moving and clicking capability. How can this also be integrated into a solution?

[softnerd]

Originally Posted by btvbuddy

The Harmony makes the one remote a possibility but I also want mouse moving and clicking capability. How can this also be integrated into a solution?

You can achieve that by making the Harmony emulate a remote with mousing functionality. You can also program that functionality using Girder.

Personally, I'm trying to create a remote setup that allows me to do just about anything with my Harmony (short of typing). In the meantime, I bought a Streamzap remote to use its receiver and have my Harmony emulating that. It gives me most of the functionality I need -- including mouse cursor movement/clicking.

[shalamigri]

I am currently using a USB-UIRT to send ir signals to emitters to control my 2 digital set top boxes. I am not using the reciver on the USB-UIRT at the moment. Is there any ir reciever that works better than another? I was thinking about getting the irman receiver, but if the USB-UIRT's receiver is just as good, I won't bother buying the irman. I like the firefly remote, but I am tired of juggling remotes for all of my A/V equipment. I'm thinking about getting the Harmony 688. Do ir remotes mimic long key presses like the firefly? Like when you change the volume by holding the volume button down. I would like to know of any issues like this before I get a new remote.

[mtfred99]

I have been using tivo for awhile now, and have been setting up btv to replace it. There are a lot of discussions on this forum on remotes and witch is best for this and that. I have a firefly remote with sucks unless you sit a few feet in front of your computer. Also I have tried the ati remote. Same thing I couldn’t get any range and also hade to switch back and forth from my IR to the RF remote. Ok back to the tivo thing I have been using a universal remote from ONE FOR ALL called urc 6131. It has dedicated buttons on it like you want like jump forward and back (very handy) and thumbs up and down buttons.

It is a multifunction remote that works with all of your gear. You’ll need an usb-virt



Ok the other thing has anyone tried the ultimate TV remote it also comes with an IR keyboard? Cheep on eBay

[tesla]

Hi, I have a Harmony remote that works pretty ok with my Windows MCE and other applications. But I'd like to add some functions, such as "My TV, My Pictures, My Videos and so on. I have the Hauppauge 34 button remote, so that one does not have those buttons. Does anyone have the mapping for irremote.ini to be able to use these functions?


Mike