Hello Pros

Recently I came to realize about the existence of pro-remotes. My Harmony One died and looking for a replacement on amazon.com lead me to URC R40 and searching on URC remotes lead me to this place. Then I found about URC's pro MX line and several other pro brands like RTI and Philips Pronto TSUxxx and others.

My immediate needs have been met by getting another Harmony One, which I had been perfectly happy with, but wanted an upgrade interms of more tweakability/customizations, a better screen, and a generally better built remote.

I live in Hong Kong and I looked into the dealers in for URC and RTI and found that the custom installers weren't interested in dealing with me unless I was buying a whole setup from them. The distinct feeling I got was that, unless I was buying a McIntosh/Classe/Krell based system, they didn't even properly acknowledge the remote programming issue and so I had to give up that line.

I have gone a bit over board. Having 3 independent TV/Audio systems at home I also bought a URC R40 and started looking into the MX line. The first thing that I noticed was that all the Pro brands are fiercely protective of their dealers and have strict policies regarding distribution of the tools to end users.

Being a computer programmers woke up the inner geek in me. More on this later. So to find out what is possible I was able to get the URC CCP software. After I got over the initial intimidation factor I started creating my system and then realized the remote that had everything I wanted was an MX1200 and I have to say programming it, had been a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

I concluded on the MX1200 (which I have since bought) because I wanted a completely customization touchscreen (not hard buttons like with the mx 980). The MX5000 looks interesting and I my buy that one later and give it a go.


I couldn't easily get a hold of RTI remotes or s/w and for Pronto, the tools are there, but couldn't find the remotes themselves.

I do understand the reason for guarding the tools. They don't want the end user to deal with the s/w which is clearly designed for professionals who programs remotes for a living.

FYI, I program user interfaces for complex trading systems. To give an idea of how complex the systems were, I have myself written UIs far more complex than the URC CCP tool in .net and Java (over a million lines of code).

To me this is a hobby--something to tinker with :)

So on to my question for the PROs--what are the major difference is programming effort? Quality? Are any brands more DIY'er friendly? Other than pronto s/w from this site, are there (legal) ways to get pro remotes & software anywhere?

The simple answer is none of the major brands offer end users the software suites.
One to protect their dealer's lively-hood
Two to protect their tech support efforts

These companies are not built for supporting end users extreme volume of calls.

I can tell you your programming knowledge is more extensive than most users but we have heard your story a million times over.

You might be able to look at Bitwise for their mobile control products.

On the other hand, Pronto type remotes are obsolete yet still very useful. The more modern NG remotes have brighter displays, some in color, than the oldest original generation remotes, and can often be found on ebay. The software is free and can be found on this site.

Many of my clients still use the Marantz RC5200. It's my favorite remote, but most of the displays are pretty dull these days. An RC5400 would be better.

Each remote vendor has different terms.  None of them recommend a dealer to give out the SW but some do not forbid it.  URC is one of these companys.  The dealer that supplies the SW is your tech support (Not URC).

Been in your shoes.  If you want some contacts let me know via PM.

None of the companies produce hardware or software that would live up to the expectation of the majority of consumers. They would be a nightmare in the retail channel due mostly to their inferior level of quality when compared to the top retail products of today.

That said, I'm a long time non-custom installer professional/hobby user of URC and Philips lines. Currently using URC line for personal use.

There are a number of URC authorized dealers, including some reading'posting here on Remote Central, that will provide you with both good prices on hardware and absolutely provide you with the required software (I can recommend at least one personally). URC probably makes the best hardware of all the "pro" remote products covered here. The others have too many additional failing attributes in their design for the most part. Although it seems that RTI is trying to address that recently.

Any recommendations for URC in Singapore... I will need the software as well and if any special cables are needed then that as well. Been asking on the ccp thread as well but no dice yet...

If you're a programmer, forget what's on the market and get Flash CS6 with the Adobe AIR SDK.

You won't find much support because, well, it would appear that at the moment I am the only one in the world trying this.

Take a look at an interface I'm building for a restaurant with 16 TVs.

[Link: cantrellsmediasystems.com]

That is the browser version available on their PC.

[Link: cantrellsmediasystems.com]

That is the software on an iPad.

I'm working with independent programmers to establish a communication protocol for iTach devices.

I'll be posting info as I build it in another thread.

And this is just half a duplicte post from another thread you started.