I've been forced by Charter Cable to move to digital cable, and forced to use a Motorola digital box that has one tuner, thus making all of my cable-ready equipment all but useless for time-shift recording.

My question is: does anybody make a remote control or other device that will allow me to change cable box channels at specific times (ie, HBO at 8, SciFi at 9, etc) for VCR recording when I'm not there to do it manually?

I'm investigating satellite (sight lines are a problem for me) but, for now, I'm looking for a workaround.
Thx

The Philips Pronto has Timers. It can do what you want (and it is a great remote) there are also some cheaper ones too.

But.. It is my understanding that the timer in the Pronto's are not based on "real time", i.e. a specific time of day as compared to a countdown from when started.... If this is not correct I want to know as I would like a specific macro run at 2 AM every morning!

Kenny: you are incorrect. It is the opposite, most people are complaining for the lack of relational timers.

Here is how you do it in PPE
1) Add a button WHAT that does what you want at 2 AM

2) Add a second button When and on the action page click timer

3) click the start action and pick WHAT from the alias tree and then OK

4) Enter the start time (it uses a 24 hour clock so 2 AM is 2:00, and 2 PM would be 14:00)

5) click the days you want (Mon, Tue...) and wkly (if it should happen every week)

6) click OK

If you want to be able to edit WHAT or When on the Pronto latter then put the button on the macro side


You can also have an unlimited number of timers (look in the file section where George created a clock that chimes every half hour) and it can take care of everything (VCR and Cable) so you are not limited to the 8 or so VCR time slots

I appreciate all the info, but, really, my needs are simple (tho I suspect the solution may not be). The Pronto sounds great, but I have no real need for complicated macros.
All I need to do is tell my cable box to switch to Channel xx at X p.m. !! Then change to Channel yy at y p.m.
I really don't understand why the cable box itself (it's a Motorola) doesn't have that feature. The very first analog cable box I had back in the Cable Stone Age could do that....

elgibby: sorry for high jacking your thread, I went into full detail for Kenny. You should try reposting in the Universal remote forum, I know there are some less expensive remotes with timers, but not which ones. I also agree that the Pronto is overkill if you will only use it for timers, but if you are thinking of a new universal or you want to get rid of all your other remotes, it is worth getting. But whatever remote you have, you will need macros with your timer to change the channel on your box.

You might want to look for a VCR tha will control your cable box.

What about using a VCR With VCR plus? You can program it to record at any time you want and it will also change the channel on the cable box.