Hi again,

OK, three more questions about this discrete code stuff and my struggle to change the tape speed on this silly old 1995 GE VCR.

1) The thing about the codes being numbered 000 to 256 and then repeating through the same cycle -- does this mean that 000 will have exactly the same effect on the target device as 256 and 512, and 001 will be the same as 257 and 513, etc.? Is this then the meaning of the cross-referenced codes on the hifi-remote.com page here?

[Link: hifi-remote.com]

2) Would an alternative to a Radio Shack or One For All programmable remote be to take a cheap univeral remote and set it up with the 4-digit device code for a different VCR that happens to assign the desired discrete code to a common button that *is* on the cheap remote?

For example, let's say that my GE VCR does correspond with the 0060 VCR device code, which lists 512 as the discrete code for changing tape speed. The cheap RCA universal remote I had yesterday (and have since returned) had no "Speed" button, so even after setting it up with the 060 device code (dropping the leading zero since that remote takes only 3-digit device codes), I still couldn't send the "change tape speed" discrete code because there was no speed button.

But if I had punched in a device code for a different VCR that happened to use 512 as the discrete code for a button that *is* on the universal remote, like say the Stop button or some other common one, then if I pressed that button would it send 512 to my VCR and actually change the tape speed? This is a quick, dirty, and awkward solution, but would it work?

3) Finally, putting the two questions together, if the above trick would work, and if 512 is equivalent to 256 and 000, then it seems that all I'd have to do is find a VCR device code that assigns any of those three equivalent discrete codes (512, 256, 000) to a common button that *is* on the cheap universal remote, punch that VCR device code into the universal remote, press the corresponding button, and then voila, change the tape speed!

Would this work?

Thx!
- Derrick