I have the Harmony 880. Is it possible to do this? My problem is that I would like to toggle on and off the closed captioning feature of my settop cable box (scientific atlanta 8300HD) with one button assigned to the lcd screen of the remote. To do this with the remote that came with the device I have to press "settings":"down":"down":"right":"select". This will turn the teletext (or CC) on or off. I tried to create that keystroke combination as an activity but it it turns off the settop box. The TV and settop box is obviously on to start or the activity wouldn't be called on anyway.

My thinking is that if there is a way to stop the automatic turning on and off of devices automatically created by the activities wizard, the step by step instructions that I have programed will work. Is it a possibility?

A really ideal situation for me would be that when I hit the mute button (controlled by the TV) that it would mute AND turn on the CC. My old TV did this and we really got used to this feature (which is why I am trying to do this in the first place).

Overall, I have found this remote capable and the programability "relatively common sense". If you like tweaking everything you own for the pure satisfaction of amusement and/or furthering your superiority over all things electronic, then this remote is for you. I should also say that the standard setup wizard, possibly a little help from tech support and TIME will allow this remote to perform very well (at least for me).

You don't want to "turn off" the power control (even if you could, which you can't). Your problem is the CC activity doesn't include the set top box so it turns it off. Just add the set top box to the CC activity and it will stay on. In fact you should make the CC activity look just like the watch Tv activity.

The other option is to set the "leave unused devices on" option for the CC activity.

Regarding sending multiple commands from one button - that used to be possible but that functionality was removed in the last website update a few weeks ago. The only option is to teach the sequence to another harmony as an activity start sequence or use another macro capable remote to generate the sequence, then learn that as a single command on the harmony in raw mode.

Also, it may help to set up the CC Activity as a Utility Activity.

I don't think that would make any difference.

Thanks, I'll try it and write back.

Keledole, The SA8300HD may already have the feature your are looking for if you are using its analog audio output. First you need to set its "Audio Volume Ctrl" to "Variable" (press Settings twice and scroll down 4 times). This will enable the Caption "On with Mute" option. Its Caption Settings will now have 3 options. Choose the option "On with Mute". Press "Settings" only once, then scroll up twice. Note: The SA8300HD Mute function works only on its analog audio output. If you use its digital audio output, then its "Mute" button will only toggle the CC (with option "On with Mute").

Thanks! That sounds exactly what I'm looking for. I'll give it a try. You sound like you know the SA 8300HD pretty well so I wonder if you can kindly answer this. The SATA port on the back should allow you to connect an external hard drive to add more recording time to the dvr. My local cable company (Time Warner of Central New York) says that the port is disabled with no plans to support this feature. They "can't" (won't seems closer to the truth) even tell you how to enable this feature by yourself and at your own peril. I have been told by others not to waste my time contacting SA as they say it is up to the cable company to decide what you can and cannot have. Does your unit support this feature? Thanks in advance for any light you can shine on this.

Yes my SA8300HD unit support an external drive and I use the following:
* Seagate Barracuda 320GB (7200.10) (ST3320620AS) SATA NCQ 3Gb/s 16MB Cache HDD
* Penguin PG-380SATA Combo (SATA+USB 2.0) 3.5" Aluminium External Enclosure
The Penguin Enclosure comes with the appropriate Sata cable so no need to buy a separate Sata cable.
There are other brand/combo that also work. You will have to do a search.
I don't know if the external drive support is dependant on the provider. If it does not support it, then you can always use it with your PC.
Note 1: The SA data on the external drive is encrypted, so you can't swap the drive between your SA and your PC. Both will want to reformat it.
Note 2: The program index (pointers) is stored only on the internal drive. So when the external drive is full, you can't replace it by another one like you would with a VCR tape.