Is there any way to make discrete power on and off codes from the toggle commands using the pronto hex codes ? I need to independantly control the on and off of a LCD TV and I'm having a problem finding a make with discrete codes available.

Philips Pronto ones are here

[Link: remotecentral.com]

If you have already looked here then it is likely that your device just doesn't support it (like my Pace Satellite box).

Cheers,

Nigel

Thanks Nigel, I have looked but I'll go through all the makes and ckeck against the TVs.

What discretes are you looking for and what sat box is it?

The original poster is asking for an LCD TV.

My comment was against my failure to find discrete ON and OFF codes for a Pace Sky+ V2 box.

Cheers,

Nigel

If there are no discretes, the only work around is to find a signal that takes the device to a known state, then use a combination of power toggles for on/off.

For first instance, some DVD players turn on when they receive "play". In this case you can signal "play" then "stop" to turn on the DVD player and "play" then "power toggle" to turn the DVD player off. If "play" doesn't work, "eject" often will. You may have to "eject" to turn it on/open, "eject" again to close, then power toggles as appropriate.

For second instance, my Motorola DCT6200 cable box turns itself on and goes into a service menu mode when "menu" is pressed. A trick to turn it discretely on is to send "menu" (to bring up the service menu if off, and regular menu if on), "power toggle" (to turn it off), "power toggle" (to turn it back on) while to turn it off you send "menu" (to b ring up the service menu if off and regular menu if on) then "power toggle" (to turn it off).

So, my suggestion is to figure out if there are any signals that take your TV to a "known state" from which you can then turn it on/off by using a series of power toggle commands.

Later

Joe

with any sky box you use the "SKY" button as ON and a macro of "SKY" and the power button as OFF. The SKY button does exactly as DrJoe says puts the box in a Known state.

Wow,

Got my Sky box switching on and off - didn't think it was possible.

Thanks,

Nigel

Excellent advice but you will run into a detail:


Some DVD players will not respond to any other command for as long as six seconds after the PLAY command, so the OFF macro would take that much time. When I program a remote, I don't turn on the DVD player until the person chooses to watch DVD (except for the one customer who wanted to see the lights come on for all components when the system was on), and this OFF is only in the master OFF macro.

The dumbest-looking thing I ever did with a Pronto was with a DVD player that opens and shuts its drawer every time you turn the system off, because EJECT is the only button that would ALWAYS turn the player on.


THAT took some pretty good investigation skills!

Yeah, I wouldn't be able to use the eject button for on/off macros because my player is behind a glass door.

I actually have one other trick I have used to create discrete ons -- I have two components with nothing but toggle ons. I purchased an IR543 and two X10 outlet plugs. They have discrete on/off capability. This is not an easy fix: you have to disable "local control"/"current sensing" so that the switches don't turn on by themselves under normal, "off but not unplugged" power draw. You can do this by adding a low-draw item in series (I have my Kenwood VR-407 receiver in series with a powered FM antenna and the powered subwoofer), or by modifying the outlets (instructions are availible on the web). The you have to deal with the vagaries of X10.

I havn't had any problems with my electronics (a DVD player, a Kenwood jukebox, and a Kenwood receiver) -- you leave it toggled on and then switch the power. For some things with RAM, it might not be a good solution.

Later

Joe