This is my first Harmony remote, so I'm not sure what to expect with the purchase. After my initial setup, the remote seems to be able to control the system fine. However, I'm noticing more recently that every once in a while certain components/commands are not properly executed. It is not always the same problem - ie, say I want to switch to PVR, the receiver wouldn't turn to the right input, or if I want to switch to Xbox, the TV wouldn't turn to the right input. It doesn't happen everytime, just every once in a while. Wierd thing is, as soon as I press the 'help' key, whatever command wan't executed would do so immediately and fix the problem. Is this normal?

Also, as a newbie, can someone tell me what's the difference between inter-key delay, inter-device delay, and input delay?

Thanks

This is both normal and not normal.

Its pretty unusual for most setups to require the use of the help key on a regular basis. We might get out of sync (where the remote thinks the A/V system is in another state than it truly is) once every six weeks or so.

When you do press the help key all of the "discrete" commands (Like Power On and Power Off as opposed to just a power toggle) are resent. It looks like most of your components support discrete commands and they are set up correctly, which is a good thing.

Given what you're saying, I'd go ahead and try a fresh set of batteries in the remote. Also - how is line of sight between the remote and the components?

If there are any patterns in your out-of-sync situations, come back here with a description and we'll have some recommendations, but until then I can't offer any better advice.

when I first got my first Harmony I kept on using it with the Pronto and because of all the switching around from one remote to the other it happened all the time. But if it is the only remote, you don't touch the equipment and you have it properly set up the answer is you should not need it often.


inter-device delay: time between sending a command between two devices, i.e. between power for TV and power for receiver

inter-key delay: delay between two keys for the same device: for instance when sending channel 12

input delay: not sure, but might be to override the input key delay in case it needs to be longer

Input delay is the "dead" time of a device after changing inputs before it is ready to receive further commands.

In terms of the original poster's issue - if a new set of batteries and/or better line of sight between the remote and the components doesn't fix the problem, increasing the Inter-Device delay by 100ms for each of the affected devices would be prudent.