Control a selected cable control box

[PaulD]

I want to have more than one TV and cable control box in a single area using a Harmony One remote. Cable boxes are from Cox Cable using Scientific Atlantic equipment. Since they can both see the IR signal, they both will respond the same way. Boxes do not have any IR or RF input jack on back side. Is there any way I can control each of them independently? My local Cox store says no...they all respond to the same IR signal.

 

[IVB]

If it doesn't have to be a Harmony One remote, you could get something like the MX850 with the MRF300 base station that has 6 emitters on it. Then put one emitter on each box, and setup the MX850 command to only send the given command to one box.

I know that's a little fuzzy, i can explain more if spending $400+ is something you're willing to do.

 

[nov0798]

Yes you can. Thats the same problem I had with all my Sony equipment. I called Logitech and they were able to change addresses or something in the remote, over the internet. Is all I know is that I can now control multiple pieces od Sony equip with no problem. Give them a call.

 

[PaulD]

IVB - I am familiar with what the MX series can do but I already have a Harmony One so I am trying to see if I can get the job done with it first.

nov0798 - I don't see how changing something in the remote can fix my problem. The problem is that the cable receivers all respond to the same IR signal. I was hoping that Cox could give me a different cable box that responded to a different code.

 

[CollinR]

You could do it with an ocelot and a SECU16-IR but it's kinda overkill for that situation.


Or you could get SageTV and a USBUIRT which can control 3 same code boxes.

I honestly thought the SA boxes had a dip switch to change IR codes, I know through Cox here in Tulsa we use Motorola and cannot. Further the boxes have RS232 ports but Cox disables them network wide.


BTW each and every time I talk to them I mention these issues and why I reccomend DirectTV to others (they don't care so much about equipment and RS232 is a go!).

 

[opie]

I have never used Harmony products but it seems their RF extender will do routing as well. There is a discussion about this over at AVS.

If that won't work, I second IVB's suggestion as the most practical next step.

Edit: With URC you can tell a particular device to be RF only but I can't say for Harmony so you may need to "Hide" the boxes so they don't see the IR from the remote itself.

 

[DavidL]

Yes, the issue is that some hardware supports changing what IR it responds to. If your hardware does not support that (like the prior poster's Sony does), then you need to go to a multizone IR setup.

This could be the USB_UIRT for a simple system, or the USBIR6 for six discrete zones of coverage for larger systems. I am working on a driver to make the USBIR6 compatible with more HA systems than MainLobby.

 

[PaulD]

I have several SA cable boxes and none have a IR switch. However, one of them (model 3250HD) has an IR port on the back side. I may be able to feed that IR port from a received that is located such that it cannot see the signal sent to the other box.

Note...I am familiar with what the Ocelot and other units can do to route signals to a specific box. That will be my next step if I cannot find a simple solution with the Harmony One arrangement.

 

[nov0798]

Logitech changed something in the remote itself. I had a similar problem with all my Sony equipment. When I hit channel up well it would change the channle up on the TV, the AV receiver etc. I called Logitech, and the girls was able to connect to my remote (remotely) and change some things in it. I think she called it addressing, not sure what that does, but it worked. I dont know if they can do the same for you, but its worth a call to their tech support.

 

[SteveQ]

Maybe this is a dumb idea, but what if you used a power mid or similar repeater device. Attach a stick on emitter to one of the cable boxes. Place the other power mid on the other side of the room 180 degrees from the other cable box. Point the remote in one direction or the other depending on which box you want to control.

Steve Q