I know this been raised before but my non-programmers brain seizes up once it sees lines of Prontoscript.

I’m Trying to get my head around programming power on and off commands for a 5-component setup on the TSU9600 and TSU9800. My Harmony Smart Control intelligently turns devices on and off individually depending on the selected activity, with a simple ‘Off’ button to power everything down. I want if possible to replicate this on the Prontos. Some components have specific On and Off commands, others just an On/Off toggle.

I last programmed a configuration 9 years ago, on a Nevo, and went for a simple approach: an On button to turn everything on, and an Off button to turn everything off. Activity buttons merely selected inputs. I could just about cope with that on Pronto but creating a smart set up like the Harmony is beyond me.

I know I need something to track the power status of each component but wouldn’t know where to begin, much less execute such a thing in PEP.

Any advice most welcome please.

It's rather simple really, no need for Pronto Script for what you want to do.

First you need to find out if all of your components can work with discrete on and off codes. Most do, however most of those don't publicly announce it. They just provide a remote that does the toggle on/off codes.

You can find discrete codes here [Link: remotecentral.com] and here [Link: files.remotecentral.com]

You can use the ON codes in the Activity Properties.

For example, I have a Cable Box activity. In that Activity Properties, I have Pioneer AVR power on with HDMI input selection (which happens to be just one code. Yes some manufactures has the discrete power on and input selection in one IR code.) Panasonic TV Power On (since I use an AVR for input selection, I did not put one for the TV.) And finally a Jump command to the Digits pages of the Cable Box activity.

Any questions, just reply here.

KOT

I have a Pioneer SC-09TX receiver that also toggles on/off with an IR remote. Using discrete codes alone would often result in the receiver loosing its on/off state when switching across different media devices.

My solution was to use an RFX9600 and a power sense input to read the Pioneer's power state before sending a code. This did require a few lines of scripting (which I don't like writing) but resulted in trouble free operation.

gtwibell,

If you dig around, you can usually find ON and OFF commands for receivers. I include an ON command in every device selection button and have a "Room OFF" button that shuts everything down.

DVD and Blue-ray players often do not include ON and OFF commands, but PLAY will turn ON the power if necessary. For these devices I'll synthesize an OFF command with PLAY-(wait a second or two)-POWER. This will always leave the player powered down.

Cable boxes are surly and rarely offer ON or OFF commands. I do not include any power commands for cable boxes in my programs and I instruct customers to leave the cable box ON at all times. This will initially annoy many customers because it seems like a loose end that is wasting power. I counter this by pointing out that the cable box is never completely OFF -- otherwise it could not respond to remote commands. The cable box's power command simply turns off the lights. This works well until a house guest manually forces the cable box OFF. Several times during my presentation to the customer I mention that this glitch will happen and how to handle it. (force the cable box ON) Sometimes (a year or two later) I'll get a call about "can't see cable", but it is a one or two minute call while I remind them about the cable box power drill.

As others have said, it is possible to sense the cable box status, but this requires additional "boxes" and some ProntoScript. After I explain the drill, virtually all of my customers skip the expense of cable box power sensing. For some of the hard core "I can't deal with tech" types, I don't have this discussion and I simply include the sensing.

What do you mean it loses its on/off state? Whenever I switch from Dish to AppleTV to Blue Ray to Cable. My AVR switches to the correct input. No matter if the previous state of the AVR was on or off.

The IR codes that I used when switching Activities, is to power ON the AVR and switch to the correct input. All of which has just a single IR code, power ON and input. Except for one, for that I have to do a power on then an input selection. The selection needs the TV on, so I inserted a AVR power ON, 0.5 second pause, TV power ON, 0.5 pause and finally AVR input to HDMI (whatever number it is).

If you like, send me a PM and I'll send you my email. So you can send me your configuration. I'll look at it to see what can be done.

KOT

Thank you very much for your offer to help. It was my primitive coding that caused the problem, having to work with the SC-09TX with its power toggle. I have half a dozen sources that are launched from a main menu, some used with the receiver, and some only with the TV. I also use a common all off button.

If the receiver was already on but another device was selected from the home page, I needed a means to identify the receiver's current state so I wouldn't send another "on/standby" command to the receiver turning it off. I also liked using an all off button on the remote where all devices would receive a power off command.

The only bullet proof method I could quickly implement was using the extender to read the power state of the receiver to determine if a "on/standby" command should be sent. It wouldn't surprise me if I took an unnecessary path to accomplish my goal, but it has been 100 percent reliable (i.e., no complaints from my wife), so I'm happy.

Oh ok. With Pioneer, you have a boat load of codes. I know, because I am a Pioneer fan for 20 plus years.

On my home page. I have 8 buttons that require the AVR to turn on and to select the correct input. 7 of the 8 has just one IR sent to the AVR. Because as I mentioned before, some of these codes do a power on and an input selection in the same IR code.

Do yourself a favor... Go to Pioneer's website and download the Pronto Hex IR codes. When I tell you they have a boat load, I wasn't kidding. I don't know if they have your exact model on there, but 99% of the codes shall work with in the same family, example AVR, Blue Ray, DVD and so on. It's just some codes are model specific, but for the most part they are not. Here's the website... [Link: pioneerelectronics.com]

KOT