Logitech harmony remotes

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#2151737 29-Dec-2018 07:48

Turn CEC off.
Or find out if your equipment has discrete on/off codes rather than just a power toggle.
The Harmony remotes have a 'fix it myself' option which takes the user through each power on and input selection to set things right.
The cloud requirement is a pain, and breaks down occasionally, but I have a slightly older Harmony IR remote in each room that can fulfill the basic control functions as well.
The biggest limitation with the latest gen of Harmonys is no voice input or accelerometers. With many of the latest TVs having voice integration in their OEM remotes, Logitech need to move to this as well.
And if they could incorporate movement sensing I would be able to put my LG 'Magic Remote' away in the drawer as well (it's much quicker for text input and some menu selections on my TV).

The Harmony system isn't perfect by any means, but it fills an important middle ground above simple learning remotes and below fully integrated, professionally installed HA systems. And gets a pile of remotes off the coffee table.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

kiwiharry

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#2151771 29-Dec-2018 10:18

Dingbatt: And if they could incorporate movement sensing I would be able to put my LG 'Magic Remote' away in the drawer as well (it's much quicker for text input and some menu selections on my TV)..

@Dingbatt Hi just wanted to know if you also have this issue?

I have the 650 model and I'm unable to get the activities set up properly to turn on my LG tv to the correct input. Seems tv takes too long to power up so input commands are sent too early. Have tried the maximum delay setting it'll allow me to put in but it is still not quite enough.

Cheers

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#2151797 29-Dec-2018 11:25

Yeah will be for controlling the HT, TV, Freeview box, just gets rid of all those remotes :D Will look at the basic model, it'll fit my needs, then have some fun getting it all to work ;)

Thanks for the info all :)

XPD / Gavin

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Jaxson

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#2151923 29-Dec-2018 16:07

What’s the cheapest way to get a harmony home hub for use with Alexa etc?

Talkiet

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#2151925 29-Dec-2018 16:10

Jaxson: What’s the cheapest way to get a harmony home hub for use with Alexa etc?

For me, it was off Amazon a while ago. But that was on special, refurbed and free shipping. Not sure now.

https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-Control-Entertainment-Devices/dp/B00N3RFC4Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1546052982&sr=8-3&keywords=harmony+hub

There you go... (Not an affil link)

That's the item I bought (Amazon tells me I bought it in Sep 2016)

edit: This seems reasonable too - https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/JOYLOG3066282/Logitech-Harmony-Companion

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

fearandloathing

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#2151943 29-Dec-2018 17:21

After reading this thread I went and brought the harmony Elite from pb. Liking the touch screen on the remote.

I now have for sale my original Harmony Companion.

New power supply and repeater.

The serial number sticker on the bottom has been ripped off from a failed attempt to vertical mount.

$95 located in Wellington if anyone is interested.

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#2151944 29-Dec-2018 17:25

Is the above a hub compatible with Alexa?

@fearandloathing @Talkiet

Dunnersfella

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#2151954 29-Dec-2018 17:49

Talkiet:

Put it this way - I would _NEVER_ recommend one to a friend or family member if there's any chance I would be called on to help set it up or fix an issue.... But for a faceless geek on the Internet - YEAH, go for it. Good luck :-) It's great if you can make it work.

Cheers - N

I agree... and disagree.

If they have a hub and it's always powered on, it will be sweet.

However, as it's reliant on WiFi the issues can arise where someone changes the WiFi credentials (fiddles with a router or they upgrade to fibre etc).

I have actually had success in logging into someone else's account over the web, making a few changes and getting them to click through the update procedure on their remote control. It's particularly handy when Freeview or Sky changes all their channel numbers / logos etc.

This is no different to what a professional installer would face with Control 4 / RTI / URC etc... for them, truck rolls cost money, whereas a cloud based update / troubleshooting saves time and money. In a 'tech support for friends and family' type roll, it's a time saver too.

Having said that, my parents no longer even use their DVD recorder now they have an Android based TV, so they're down to one remote control anyway.

Dingbatt

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#2151966 29-Dec-2018 18:06

kiwiharry:
Dingbatt: And if they could incorporate movement sensing I would be able to put my LG 'Magic Remote' away in the drawer as well (it's much quicker for text input and some menu selections on my TV)..

@Dingbatt Hi just wanted to know if you also have this issue?

I have the 650 model and I'm unable to get the activities set up properly to turn on my LG tv to the correct input. Seems tv takes too long to power up so input commands are sent too early. Have tried the maximum delay setting it'll allow me to put in but it is still not quite enough.

Cheers

In the particular activity add a delay and then repeat the input command.

Eg The activity string may be;
LG TV On
Bluray Player On
LG TV Input HDMI 1

add after this
Delay 5 Seconds
LG TV Input HDMI 1

You may find that the software won't let you select HDMI Input in the editing mode (that is one of the idiosyncracies I mentioned earlier) in which case you must use the 'learn' function and call it something different. From memory though, my LG TV didn't need me to do this, more often it was my Onkyo Receivers that took ages to start up.
If all else fails put a dummy device in the sequence.

Edit: Just checked my LG TV setup in the Harmony App. It has a 15 second start-up delay programmed under the device settings. Does the 650 use MyHarmony or the older Harmony Remote software?

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fearandloathing

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#2151994 29-Dec-2018 20:02

Jaxson: Is the above a hub compatible with Alexa?

@fearandloathing @Talkiet

Yes, I use Alexa to mainly switch on and off. But can change activity, channel and volume.

Jase2985

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#2151995 29-Dec-2018 20:21

Dingbatt:
kiwiharry:
Dingbatt: And if they could incorporate movement sensing I would be able to put my LG 'Magic Remote' away in the drawer as well (it's much quicker for text input and some menu selections on my TV)..

@Dingbatt Hi just wanted to know if you also have this issue?

I have the 650 model and I'm unable to get the activities set up properly to turn on my LG tv to the correct input. Seems tv takes too long to power up so input commands are sent too early. Have tried the maximum delay setting it'll allow me to put in but it is still not quite enough.

Cheers

In the particular activity add a delay and then repeat the input command.

Eg The activity string may be;
LG TV On
Bluray Player On
LG TV Input HDMI 1

add after this
Delay 5 Seconds
LG TV Input HDMI 1

You may find that the software won't let you select HDMI Input in the editing mode (that is one of the idiosyncracies I mentioned earlier) in which case you must use the 'learn' function and call it something different. From memory though, my LG TV didn't need me to do this, more often it was my Onkyo Receivers that took ages to start up.
If all else fails put a dummy device in the sequence.

Edit: Just checked my LG TV setup in the Harmony App. It has a 15 second start-up delay programmed under the device settings. Does the 650 use MyHarmony or the older Harmony Remote software?

my harmony, and yea you need to add a special delay as you cant add something to the default on sequence.

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danepak

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#2286875 31-Jul-2019 23:04

Just got the Logitech Harmony Companion.
This is without doubt one of the hardest things I've ever tried to set up.
Tempted to give up.
App keeps crashing as well.
So anyone else who uses this, who found it easy to set up?

fearandloathing

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#2286896 1-Aug-2019 06:39

danepak: Just got the Logitech Harmony Companion.
This is without doubt one of the hardest things I've ever tried to set up.
Tempted to give up.
App keeps crashing as well.
So anyone else who uses this, who found it easy to set up?

It should be relatively easy to setup, are you using a PC to setup?

danepak

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#2286897 1-Aug-2019 06:45

fearandloathing:
danepak: Just got the Logitech Harmony Companion.
This is without doubt one of the hardest things I've ever tried to set up.
Tempted to give up.
App keeps crashing as well.
So anyone else who uses this, who found it easy to set up?

It should be relatively easy to setup, are you using a PC to setup?

No, using the app.
When I had the Logitech Harmony 350, it was super easy to set up.
The Harmony Companion is complicated.
And to try and make it work with Alexa???
Oh well, will give it another go shortly, but it's certainly not easy.
I can set the TV up with no issues.
But when I then try to add my Android TV box, it all becomes complicated.

trig42

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#2286943 1-Aug-2019 09:11

Jase2985:

Dingbatt:
kiwiharry:
Dingbatt: And if they could incorporate movement sensing I would be able to put my LG 'Magic Remote' away in the drawer as well (it's much quicker for text input and some menu selections on my TV)..

@Dingbatt Hi just wanted to know if you also have this issue?

I have the 650 model and I'm unable to get the activities set up properly to turn on my LG tv to the correct input. Seems tv takes too long to power up so input commands are sent too early. Have tried the maximum delay setting it'll allow me to put in but it is still not quite enough.

Cheers

In the particular activity add a delay and then repeat the input command.

Eg The activity string may be;
LG TV On
Bluray Player On
LG TV Input HDMI 1

add after this
Delay 5 Seconds
LG TV Input HDMI 1

You may find that the software won't let you select HDMI Input in the editing mode (that is one of the idiosyncracies I mentioned earlier) in which case you must use the 'learn' function and call it something different. From memory though, my LG TV didn't need me to do this, more often it was my Onkyo Receivers that took ages to start up.
If all else fails put a dummy device in the sequence.

Edit: Just checked my LG TV setup in the Harmony App. It has a 15 second start-up delay programmed under the device settings. Does the 650 use MyHarmony or the older Harmony Remote software?

my harmony, and yea you need to add a special delay as you cant add something to the default on sequence.

To drag this one back up.

I have an LG TV, and Harmony Hub.

I cannot for the life of me get the Harmony to change the TV to the 'TV' input. I can get it to change HDMI inputs, or to Component, but I cannot get it to change to 'TV' to just use the TVs internal tuner. The TV remote does not have discrete input buttons, but MyHarmony does obviously have codes for discrete inputs (it goes straight to whichever HDMI input I want it to) and in MyHarmony setup there are options for Input:TV (and I think Input: DTV), they do not do anything.

Has anyone had this issue? Any ideas for fixing it? I could call Logitech support, but as I'm at work all day, I'm guessing they'll need me infront of the TV.

Other than that, the device works perfectly. Works with Alexa, and is very Wife Friendly (we have a DVR, so using the internal tuner isn't a high priority).

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