erichess Posted March 12, 2009 Posted March 12, 2009 Folks, Would really appreciate some feedback on your experience with universal remotes and home automation. I have been looking at Logitech, URC, Philips, etc trying to find the best remote to control the usual home entertainment electronics but also my ISY and ELKM1G. Unfortunately, all the manufacturer websites list home automation as an “oh, by the way†comment and do not actually show how the device would operate. All help appreciated. -Eric
MikeB Posted March 13, 2009 Posted March 13, 2009 Hi Eric - Could you give some specifics on what you're trying to accomplish?
erichess Posted March 13, 2009 Author Posted March 13, 2009 Would like to control a Sony TV, Sony theater components, Nuvo Grand concerto, and a sizable Insteon installation using an ISY26 and IRLinc. The automation system seems to grow monthly so some expansion would be helpful but I do understand there is a tipping point where benefit/convenience may not justify the expense.
MikeB Posted March 13, 2009 Posted March 13, 2009 Hi Eric - I think the majority of the remotes out there will do what you need. The Harmony line of remotes is known for their ease-of-setup. If you haven't, consider checking out www.remotecentral.com which has a lot of information on universal remote controls.
oberkc Posted March 13, 2009 Posted March 13, 2009 I have both URC and harmony remotes. Both are relatively low-end within the range of products from these companies. The URC is the combo RF-20 / RF base station. The Harmony is the 550. Both have their advantages. I have NOT tried lighting with the harmony, yet, but I believe it could be easily adapted with a little creativity. I don't see where it directly supports insteon or X-10 as does the URC, but I am not sure that this matters. I prefer the URC for form factor (better feel with the buttons) and the fact that it is RF-based, as well as IR. I prefer the computer-based programming of the harmony. I like the soft keys of the URC. The URC directly controls X-10, but requires one of those -543 IR converters to introduce the X-10 signal into the powerline. The insteon IR reciever looks like it might be a better option, but I have not upgraded to that yet. One problem with the URC is that the pre-programmed soft key labels for the X-10 commands are complete nonesense, and you must figure out which of the keys does what. I found the phone support for URC in this matter to be marginal. In the end, I have learned that the URC directly outputs X-10 house codes A1 - A8, on, off, dim, and bright. The best solution for you is going to depend heavily on the locations of your various devices, including sound equipment, TV, ISY. Are all within IR line-of-site? Do you mind having to point the remote to different devices? Do you have IR repeaters? Do you need RF because your devices are at different locations throughout the house? Because my sound equipment is remotely stored, I use the RF base station near that equipment. This is also where the -543 IR converter is located as well. My ISY is in a different room from the TV and sound equipment. I have thought that it would be a great to get a second RF base station to relay the signals into the IR port of the ISY-99. Regardless, the X-10 communication path I currently have seems to work well. Having briefly looked over the manual for the insteon IR converter, it appears that this unit cares not that the signal from the remote is intended to be X-10 or insteon or anything at all related to home automation. Apparently, one simply has to select an unused function on the remote and program the insteon recieve to assign that signal to have a certain meaning. This being the case, one could theoretically use ANY remote to control your lighting. I have yet to take advantage of the IR input to the ISY, but I understand it works in similar fasion to the insteon IR converter. Someday, I will try that out.
MikeB Posted March 13, 2009 Posted March 13, 2009 The ISY-99 (with integrated IR) is now listed as a device on Harmony's online database. So, if you're running ISY firmware 2.7.1 or higher, IR setup is now a snap with the Harmony or any remote able to import a CCF file. See this post for more details: http://forum.universal-devices.com/viewtopic.php?t=2438
erichess Posted March 13, 2009 Author Posted March 13, 2009 Mike, Have you or anyone you know used a harmony remote to tightly integrate with the ISY? Really would like menuing hierachy to follow device groups and scenes. The new 1100 seems promising but a lot of money if not. Thank you for your help. - e
MikeB Posted March 13, 2009 Posted March 13, 2009 Hi Eric - It's tightly integrated in that the IR codes listed in the Harmony software match the ISY's default IR codes by name. So, for example, when configuring the Harmony you choose the ISY as the device and map, say, IR code IR_005 to a particular button on your remote (through their easy-to-use web-based interface). In the ISY, you simply create a program saying, for example, if IR code IR_005 is pressed, turn on the "Movie Scene". If 40 codes is sufficient for your install, there is no longer a need to learn/teach codes to and from your ISY and Harmony remote. It's all drag/drop/pulldown.
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