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Logitech Harmony One - Part Six

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Old 04-01-2012, 12:31 PM   #181
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Incredible View Post
I'd really need to get my nose in the manual to understand the nuances of "activity" based control rather than device based control.
Activities are the way that Harmonys work. That's quite different from the standard one-device-at-a-time remotes. They're perfectly easy to set up. You just specify which combination of devices you want for each one, then they do the basic settings automatically, and give you the commands for the appropriate device on each group of buttons. As shotokan101 says they don't do manuals, and you don't need one. The activity setup procedure simply takes you through the options that are available for each of the many types.

That's right about radio - I wasn't referring to getting it through a receiver, and you can only get favourite channels in activities that include a TV.
 
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Old 05-01-2012, 11:55 AM   #182
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Well, I finally had enough time to setup the One to do most of the stuff I want. And after a few days of being able to fully use it, all I have to say is WOW! I mean, even my wife, who was proper p1ssed at me spending nigh on £60 is singing it's praise :smashing:

There are a couple of minor niggling issues, but I'm going to try and fix those later today.

PS The control is going straight on the charger now when not in use.
 
Old 05-01-2012, 1:39 PM   #183
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wl1 View Post
I got my "Varilight" from Screwfix, which is a conventional light dimmer / replacing the original switch. 57285 is one example.

I can toggle On/Off, ramp up/down, with low/medium/high presets too. I didn't buy the RC, the codes were in the Harmony database. <£20
Just ordered mine. Thank you so much for this info wl1.

Loving my H1. Except I'm constantly thinking of new commands to add to my activities and always playing around with it!
 
Old 05-01-2012, 2:07 PM   #184
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Alps: You did very well to get it at that price, and well done also on the way you're charging it.

ptmb: One of the things that many people like about Harmonys is just that - fixing the details the way you want.
 
Old 05-01-2012, 6:16 PM   #185
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I've been a big Harmony 525 fan for many years now - but our second one is starting to look a little tired, so I decided to upgrade to the One. I just ordered one from Amazon and it should be here tomorrow. I did wobble a bit over the loss of hard colour buttons, but as life is increasingly becoming touch-screen biased with the devices we use, I felt it was worth a punt at the new low price (although unfortunately that seems to have risen again since others here ordered theirs, to £85. And it's no longer available direct from Logitech UK). The One looks more stylish than the 525 and it sounds like it's better built and responds to inputs more immediately too. I really like the idea of a recharging cradle, as the batteries in the 525 always seemed to run out when I'd forgotten to charge another set of AAAs!

I'm hoping the transition from 525 to One will go reasonably painlessly using the Harmony app to specify the new remote and transfer settings...
 
Old 05-01-2012, 7:06 PM   #186
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Yes, the One is the natural next stage up from a 525, and it IS totally different in construction.
 
Old 05-01-2012, 11:18 PM   #187
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I hope this is possible...

Have changed my set up slightly... the Sky HDMI goes straight into the TV... no problems, the activity selects the correct input on the TV and the correct input on the receiver for the digital audio...

Problem is, sound comes from the TV and also the receiver. Can I add something to my activity that will mute the TV so I just hear the sound from the receiver when I start the activity and then unmute when another is selected?

Any help will be much appreciated!

EDIT: Ok, sorted that. Found a new problem though... stupid tv displays mute in the corner and won't go away!

Last edited by a l e x; 05-01-2012 at 11:33 PM.
 
Old 05-01-2012, 11:38 PM   #188
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Quote:
Originally Posted by a l e x
I hope this is possible...

Have changed my set up slightly... the Sky HDMI goes straight into the TV... no problems, the activity selects the correct input on the TV and the correct input on the receiver for the digital audio...

Problem is, sound comes from the TV and also the receiver. Can I add something to my activity that will mute the TV so I just hear the sound from the receiver when I start the activity and then unmute when another is selected?

Any help will be much appreciated!
You can add extra commands to activity start and end. Go to review the settings and click next until you get to the question where you can choose to add more control.

The main problem people have posted with muting the TV in this way is that a mite symbol stays on the screen.

On some tvs you can press the display button to remove it, on my panasonic the mute symbol disappears after a couple of mins.

What does your TV do? If you can't get rid of the symbol it may be a non starter
 
Old 06-01-2012, 12:09 AM   #189
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It looks like you anticipated monksy's post, and included the mute command as Additional When Activity Starts.
If there's a command that clears the mute symbol then you add that as well. If there isn't, and if the symbol doesn't clear itself, you could try my method. The TV's speakers are set in its audio menu to be off. For the activity that needs them to be on a sequence of menu, direction, select, and exit commands, to turn them on, are included as Additional, and the reverse sequence When Ends.
 
Old 06-01-2012, 1:20 AM   #190
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Sorry guys, another quick question. I was bought a Boxee Box for Christmas, and like the PS3 Slim that it replaced, it has an RF remote. How would the H1 be used in this instance?
 
Old 06-01-2012, 7:55 AM   #191
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Incredible
Sorry guys, another quick question. I was bought a Boxee Box for Christmas, and like the PS3 Slim that it replaced, it has an RF remote. How would the H1 be used in this instance?
Unfortunately, it can't. All Harmony remotes can only control IR devices.

The PS3 is the only exception but to control that you need to buy the Logitech PS3 device that converts IR to the PS3 bluetooth or an IR dongle that plugs into the USB port.

Even the Harmony remotes that use RF (900 & 1100) only use RF to send the commands to an IR extender.
 
Old 06-01-2012, 9:27 AM   #192
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OK. Thanks for that.
 
Old 06-01-2012, 4:15 PM   #193
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Right, some weird things going on with the remote now!

On the odd occasion, when I turn the TV and Sky HD on the TV sets itself to the TV's Channel 1 rather than the TV's HDMI1. I then have to reset the TV to HDMI1. What could be causing this?

Also, if I'm watching TV and Sky HD then realise theirs a top film on, which is in need to be watched with the amp on, I'll go to the amp settings on the remote (whilst the TV and Sky are still on) and turn the amp on. Then at the end of the film I turn everything off as per normal with the press of the Off button.

But when I next turn the TV and Sky HD on, the amp will also come on. Is this normal?
 
Old 06-01-2012, 4:47 PM   #194
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Which of the four input methods is selected for the TV?
What are the "the amp settings on the remote"?
If you sometimes want to use the TV's speakers and at other times to use the amplifier's then you are meant to have a separate activity for each combination.
The Off button turns off only those devices that have been turned on by the selection of an activity and left on when changing activities, so if you turn on the amp by some other means then the Off button should leave it on, and the next time you use the Harmony it should still be on, not to be turned on by Harmony!
 
Old 06-01-2012, 4:48 PM   #195
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alps View Post
Right, some weird things going on with the remote now!

On the odd occasion, when I turn the TV and Sky HD on the TV sets itself to the TV's Channel 1 rather than the TV's HDMI1. I then have to reset the TV to HDMI1. What could be causing this?

Also, if I'm watching TV and Sky HD then realise theirs a top film on, which is in need to be watched with the amp on, I'll go to the amp settings on the remote (whilst the TV and Sky are still on) and turn the amp on. Then at the end of the film I turn everything off as per normal with the press of the Off button.

But when I next turn the TV and Sky HD on, the amp will also come on. Is this normal?
What TV have you got? It could be that the power on delay isn't quite long enough so the command to change to HDMI1 is being sent just at the point where the TV is ready to accept a command and sometimes it gets it, sometimes it doesn't. Would the TV default to TV Channel 1 if you weren't using the Harmony?

A lot of amps work in the way you decribe - if both the TV and the amp are on and you switch the TV off it will power the amp off too, then when you switch the TV on, it knows the amp was also on so it switches it back on.

You say that you go into the amp settings in the remote and switch the amp on - I take it you mean device mode (Logiciel will be vomitting as I type this EDIT: He must have finished vomitting and posted while I was typing), this would mean that the Harmony doesn't know that the amp is powered on, so it isn't powering it off and it's then powering off with the TV.

The better approach would be to have a "Watch Sky with Amp" activity as well as watch sky. If you're on normal "Watch Sky" and you put a film on and want the amp then you choose the "Watch Sky with Amp" activity and the Harmony will power on the amp, set the correct input (if neccessary) and the map the volume keys / mute to control the amp rather than the TV (although you may be relying on the TV passing these to the amp anyway).

This way, when you're finished and change to another activity or power off, the amp will be powered off by the Harmony.

It is a bit of a pain setting up 2 almost identical activities though as there is no copy function.
 
Old 06-01-2012, 4:50 PM   #196
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Yes, I did have a sickly feeling as I asked what "the amp settings on the remote" are.
 
Old 06-01-2012, 5:38 PM   #197
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You guys crack me up :smashing:

Right, back to business. I'm using a Philips 21:9 TV. The default setting on the TV is the HDMI1 setting so I can't understand why it's going into the TV's channel setting. I haven't even programmed that in for any of my Activities.

But just to play it safe, I believe there is a method where I can adjust the times each item takes to turn on. If so, I'll have to set the delay so it takes longer for the TV to come on, right?

As for the amp and TV; taking the One out of the equation; using just the Philips TV remote, if I turn my TV off the amp won't turn off as well. I have to turn the TV and amp off individually.

I do have 3 Activities (Watch TV, Watch TV with amp, Watch DVD). But I was trying if I could turn the amp on during the Watch TV Activity, rather than turning off the TV and Sky HD and then using the TV with amp Activity.

I hope that all makes sense

Last edited by logiciel; 06-01-2012 at 7:36 PM.
 
Old 06-01-2012, 7:46 PM   #198
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Thanks for that appreciation, though there was no need to quote all of monksy's.
To begin at the end of yours, "rather than turning off the TV and Sky HD and then using the TV with amp Activity" shows there's something seriously wrong with the activities. When you change from one to the other the amplifier gets turned either on or off as the case may be, but the TV and Sky machine are still needed so of course they stay on. Could it be that you're using the Off button between activities? It's meant to be used only at the end of a viewing session. With the original remote you do of course have to turn off the TV and the amplifier separately, but the Harmony does that with the single press of the Off button, together with any other device that is still on after it's been turned on by an activity and left on. When you start an activity all its devices get turned on - if they're not already on - in rapid succession separated only by the Inter-Device delays, so there's not much you can do about that. The answer to the problem of the TV going to the wrong input setting depends on the answer to my first question in post #194 - and that answer is?
 
Old 08-01-2012, 12:46 PM   #199
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Problems with Harmony One

I am having all sorts of issues with my Harmony One. I have a Sony 3D TV, a Pioneer VSX920 Amp, a Sony Blu-Ray Player and a Nintendo Wii. I have three activities set up
1) Watch TV -that switches the TV on and sets the input to HDMI1 and sets the VSX920 to SKY. This works as expected.
2) Watch DVD - this switches the TV on and sets the input to HDMI1 and is supposed to set the VSX920 to BD - this doesn't work as the amp stubbornly stays on the Sky input
3) Play Game - this is supposed to put the TV on to AV2 input (component in)
set the VSX920 to video. This doesn't work either - the TV stays on the HDMI input and the amp stays on SKY input.

I have tried the learning method with the Pioneer and TV remotes and nothing seems to make any difference . The TV won't switch modes and the AMP always selects the SKY input regardless .

The activities all work if I use the Help .

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as I don't have much hair left
 
Old 08-01-2012, 2:31 PM   #200
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It could be that your power on delays for the TV and amp aren't long enough so the Harmony is sending the input command before the device is ready.

Check the device settings to see what they are set to.

On a lot of amps sending an input command would power the amp on as well so if this is the case you could tell it there is no power on command and set the power on delay to 0.
 
Old 08-01-2012, 2:59 PM   #201
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When the Help button gives a temporary fix you're supposed to run the Troubleshoot to get a permanent one.
The same question applies as in previous posts - which input method is selected for each device?
 
Old 08-01-2012, 2:59 PM   #202
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Quote:
Originally Posted by monksy74 View Post
It could be that your power on delays for the TV and amp aren't long enough so the Harmony is sending the input command before the device is ready.

Check the device settings to see what they are set to.

On a lot of amps sending an input command would power the amp on as well so if this is the case you could tell it there is no power on command and set the power on delay to 0.

Thanks for that - I'll give it a try
 
Old 08-01-2012, 3:02 PM   #203
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Originally Posted by logiciel View Post
When the Help button gives a temporary fix you're supposed to run the Troubleshoot to get a permanent one.
The same question applies as in previous posts - which input method is selected for each device?
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by input method . I have run the software and done the troubleshoot but it makes no difference . The settings appear to be what I would expect for it all to work
 
Old 08-01-2012, 4:48 PM   #204
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Devices> Settings> Adjust Inputs - which of the methods?
 
Old 08-01-2012, 5:32 PM   #205
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Originally Posted by logiciel View Post
Devices> Settings> Adjust Inputs - which of the methods?
Troubleshoot - I then try to adjust the settings but any changes I make don't seem to make any difference
 
Old 08-01-2012, 5:38 PM   #206
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Devices> Settings> Adjust Inputs - which of the methods?
There are four - which is selected?
 
Old 08-01-2012, 6:42 PM   #207
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Quote:
Originally Posted by logiciel View Post
Devices> Settings> Adjust Inputs - which of the methods?
There are four - which is selected?
I use different ones - for the TV I used method one as there is no option on the Sony Remote to select component video in one button.

For the AV receiver I am using method two and selecting BD for Bluray, TV for SKY and video for the Wii .

Whatever I do the TV always selects HDMI 1 for input and the AV receiver always selects SKY for input whatever activity I select
 
Old 08-01-2012, 7:06 PM   #208
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It doesn't matter about the way the original remote sets the inputs.
If Method 2 is available in the Harmony you should use that.
As the amplifier is already using Method 2 that shouldn't be giving any problems.
Test the input commands by going to the Device area of the One and sending them manually from there.
 
Old 08-01-2012, 7:12 PM   #209
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Firstly thanks for taking the time to help.

It is the amp that is mainly the problem . In my Activities Watch TV works a treat AMP is set to SKY and TV is set to HDMI 1. It's the other two that are causing the problems because the AMP always comes on with the SKY input set and the TV comes on with HDMI1 set.

If I test the commands from the Device area of the ONE how to I relate the buttons selected there to the ones I need in the Activities ?

Last edited by logiciel; 08-01-2012 at 11:17 PM.
 
Old 08-01-2012, 11:21 PM   #210
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No problem, and I'm sure we can sort out the problem.
At the device entries check, for each of the input names that you use, what the name of the command is.
Then go to the device area of the One, find each command name and send it manually to find out whether it works.
It might involve some changes to Delay settings but we need to know first whether the commands work.

Last edited by logiciel; 08-01-2012 at 11:25 PM.
 
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