Harmony Remotes

[bpc]

any idea how to control volume thru cable box not thru tv.it only allows me to control tv volume.i am using harmony 720.thanks for any help,bpc

[WannabeActuary · Accepted solution]

during the wizard, the harmony remote will only prompt you with devices that actually have speakers as choices for sound.  you have two choices.

1. most typically, people turn their cable box volume up all the way (to have full potential of their sound), and then control the volume via the device with the speakers...i.e. the tv or the receiver.

2. after you're done with the wizard, in the setup, activities tab, customize buttons for the activity, then on the standard buttons tab, change the volume +, volume -, and mute buttons so that the volume controls are mapped from the cable box and not the choice you made during the activity wizard.

I do have to ask people why they choose to control the volume from the cable box instead of the actual device with speakers...it's completely unintuitive to think about adjusting volume on a device with no speakers outputting sound.

[bpc]

Thanks,Wannabe-When Comcast installed cable,they programmed remote to control tv volume control.So rather than going back and forth from cable to tv to use functions,I reprogrammed remote to control cable box volume.This eliminated the need to go back and forth.I didn't realize this wouldn't be the case with Harmony 720.Thanks for your help.Your reputation preceeds you!Thanks again,bpc

[tragle]

I've run into the same issue and am looking forward to remapping the volume control like you describe. However, I want to address your question as to why someone would want to use the cable box to control the volume.

In my case, controlling the volume of the receiver via a remote is unfortunately fairly awkward, which I think has more to do with the receiver than the remote, as I had the same issue with my old cable remote. Tapping the volume button once will fine-tune the volume by an almost imperceptible amount (1/2 dB). Holding the volume button down rockets the volume up or down very quickly, so it's very hard to land where you want. For me, the volume control on the cable box has a much smoother and predictable response, even if it is much less granular.

This is my first day with the remote, so maybe it provides a solution to controlling the receiver volume in a satisfactory way that I'm not aware of.

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Message Edited by tragle on 02-04-2009 07:14 PM

[bpc]

You could try increasing inter key delay of your receiver.Go to devices,choose more options under receiver.choose "adjust the delays.then increase the interkey delay.Now update remote and test.You may need to play around with increase until you get the control you desire.Good Luck 

[jsndgrss]

Reasons to control volume with cable box rather than tv:

1) TV vc range is very narrow, slow to change, or non-linear (ie accelerates longer hold the button down).  Cable box may be smoother, more linear, or have more dynamic range in same time holding the button down (granularity).

2) TV vc provides "extra" features (such as tap) that are undesirable

In my case, since I change the channels using the cable box, it is not un-intuitive at all to have the cable box also control the volume and mute functions.  In this case I think of the TV as a "monitor".