Hi, everybody --

I have a JVC RX-880V receiver whose remote has gone belly-up. The LED (at least I'm assuming it's an LED) is always on, and the electronics wiz that checked it for me says that it's gone to meet its maker. Replacements occasionally surface on eBay and other places, but I'm thinking that they're as old as mine, and if I bought one it would probably be just a (relatively short) matter of time before some component failed, and I'd be back where I started from.

So, I'm thinking that a universal remote would be a better choice, since I don't want to replace an otherwise very serviceable receiver. I've been looking at the different Harmony versions and the URC R40. I'm assuming that the Harmony series will be able to control the receiver along with all of my other, newer equipment (since it's all in the online listing of supported hardware), but some of the reviews and forum posts that I've read about the Harmony remotes aren't very complimentary. On the other hand, just about everything I can find about the R40 (after the firmware fixes, etc.) are pretty enthusiastic.

Since my remote for the receiver is dead, I can't use it for the R40's learning mode; I can't, however, find any kind of info as to whether that particular receiver is included in the R40 database.

My questions:

(1) Is the JVC RX-880V included in the R40's database of supported hardware?

(2) If the 880V is included in the database, how much functionality would it have with respect to the receiver? I'm not asking for a complete listing of active buttons (!), but would things like source selection, AM/FM tuning, and basic functions like them be supported?

(3) If the receiver isn't included in the database, is there a way to figure out how to program the R40 that wouldn't be a random walk through button assignments?

Thanks a million for reading this!

Mark