# Universal remote for 622



## SHADO 1 (Jun 4, 2006)

I'm looking for some input from the experts here on getting a universal remote that will work with Dish Vip 622 HD-PVR. It must have discrete features and it must be upgradable. I'm looking at Logitech's Harmony line of remotes and I can get the 680 for about $50.00 online. I don't know enough about these to make an informed decision, so any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## pcnetwrx (Jun 6, 2006)

I love my Harmony 688 and it works great with the Vip622. I don't think you would like the 680 quite as well since it does not have the discrete buttons for jumping forward and jumping back and appears geared for controlling a Windows Media Edition PC instead.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Definitely look at getting a Universal remote that was deigned with a DVR in mind. Not sure what models of Logitech support it. The 680 does come to mind. I am a happy 880 user, but those are pricer than 50 bucks.


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## MarkoC (Apr 5, 2004)

I have a Harmony 880. It works great with my 622 and I love it.


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## Surveyor98 (Dec 12, 2003)

I have an HTM MX-700 that I am using on my Dish 721 and I love it! Hopefully I can use it on my soon-to-arrive 622 next week.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

pcnetwrx said:


> I love my Harmony 688 and it works great with the Vip622. I don't think you would like the 680 quite as well since it does not have the discrete buttons for jumping forward and jumping back and appears geared for controlling a Windows Media Edition PC instead.


My 680 works fine. You simply map the Skip ahead and Skip Back to the appropiate buttons. Not a problem. I paid like $129 1 1/2 years ago and have absolutely no regrets.!!!!


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## jdagreek (Jun 14, 2006)

SHADO 1 said:


> I'm looking for some input from the experts here on getting a universal remote that will work with Dish Vip 622 HD-PVR. It must have discrete features and it must be upgradable. I'm looking at Logitech's Harmony line of remotes and I can get the 680 for about $50.00 online. I don't know enough about these to make an informed decision, so any help would be greatly appreciated.


Have you thought about the Kameleon ... The URC-9960 is GREAT you can get it at Buy.com for less than $45 free shipping. It works great ... so easy and if the codes is not in the unit you can use the IR learn feature or you can call the company and they will download the codes into the remote ... this remote has a modem built into it you simply hold it to the phone when they download ... Don't let people scare you about it's battries ...

John


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## SHADO 1 (Jun 4, 2006)

I've been looking around at Remote Central and I'm going with the Harmony 676. The price is not to bad at just over $100.00 on line and it's geared more for the home theater.


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## ssmith10pn (Jul 6, 2005)

I personally use a 880 and have sold about 30 of them. Only had 1 problem and it was a black line down the middle of the LCD display.


Works great on the 622/211/311/811


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## mikeyinokc (Jan 11, 2006)

MarkoC said:


> I have a Harmony 880. It works great with my 622 and I love it.


Glad to hear that. I received a Harmony 880 for Christmas last year, and I have a 622 coming in two weeks. I love the Harmony remote.


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## motts (Apr 11, 2006)

Any thoughts on the Harmony 520 remote? A friend of mine recently bought it and is now trying to sell it because he is never satisfied with what he has. He wants an 880, but I would be happy with a 520, provided that it works well with the vip622. Anyone out there using this remote?


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## zer0cool (Nov 24, 2004)

I've got the Harmony Remote that is geared toward the XBOX 360, and it works great. I used it with a 921 and now use it with my 622. The A, B, X and Y buttons on it come in handy for DVR, Guide, Aspect, etc. It controls my Toshiba TV, Pioneer Sound system, LG DVD player/ HD receiver, the 622, and of course the XBox 360 all flawlessly.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

Is the Harmony 880 able to control all of the functions of the IR 622 remote? In other words, I use the "Browse" (right arrow) a lot on my remote, can you program the Harmony to do that. Also, I use the "System Info" button a lot, can you program the Harmony to do that function as well. I've never had a universal remote so I don't know all that it can do. And let's not forget the DVR button.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

lujan said:


> Is the Harmony 880 able to control all of the functions of the IR 622 remote? In other words, I use the "Browse" (right arrow) a lot on my remote, can you program the Harmony to do that. Also, I use the "System Info" button a lot, can you program the Harmony to do that function as well. I've never had a universal remote so I don't know all that it can do. And let's not forget the DVR button.


Yes to all your questions as far as using buttons for those functions. Basically all of the Harmonys are similar as far as programming. The physical construction of the buttons and the layout of the buttons vary from model to model. The only thing that makes one superior to another is the nature of the devices that you are controlling.

For a DVR you'd possibly like some grouping of keys with a right arrow left arrow set below a select central button. You can visit Logitech's www site and see the various layouts. For a DVR I like my Harmony 680. Got two DVRs? No problem, it will be "taught" which IR Channel to use on each DVR.


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## sleeplessInSunnyvale (Jan 16, 2005)

I have a 520, and if you just take their default button settings for 622 after creating the activity, right arrow will work (mapped to browse), left arrow will work (mapped to Theme Search), as well as other standard buttons like Menu, Guide, Prev (mapped to Recall), Rec, Fwd, Rewind. The most impressive thing is that the 30sec skip forward/backwards works automatically too. You will need to map SystemInfo into one of the buttons, but it is easy and the button already exist in the online database. Here are the buttons that I have to manually map: DVR, Swap, PIP, LiveTV, PIP position, SysInfo.

522 has less buttons than the XBox version, so I map the page up/page down buttons to * and # keys. It works. The only complaint I have with the 522-line of Harmony is that the feel of button clicking is not very good. It is more tiring than clicking on the original 622 remote.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

sleeplessInSunnyvale said:


> ... The only complaint I have with the 522-line of Harmony is that the feel of button clicking is not very good. It is more tiring than clicking on the original 622 remote.


This is what I was saying when I alluded to the "physical construction" of the buttons on the various Harmony models - on some models the buttons are "hard" - on some they are "soft" - and sizes varies somehwat from model to model.

That said, I love my 680, but I have not tried the others.


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## Steve H (May 15, 2006)

I have the Harmony 880 and it works very well with just one problem. If you have large fingers it's pretty easy to push two buttons at once.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

sleeplessInSunnyvale said:


> ... Here are the buttons that I have to manually map: DVR, Swap, PIP, LiveTV, PIP position, SysInfo.
> 
> ...


Thanks to all who responded! I will have to order one soon. Is it hard to do the manual mapping? The DVR, Swap, and PIP are others that I use quite a lot.


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## sleeplessInSunnyvale (Jan 16, 2005)

lujan said:


> Thanks to all who responded! I will have to order one soon. Is it hard to do the manual mapping? The DVR, Swap, and PIP are others that I use quite a lot.


It's very easy, but you will need to get online everytime you want to reprogram your harmony. Keep in mind that you will most likely need several iterations of programming to get the harmony buttons just the way you like it.


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## motts (Apr 11, 2006)

sleeplessInSunnyvale said:


> I have a 520, and if you just take their default button settings for 622 after creating the activity, right arrow will work (mapped to browse), left arrow will work (mapped to Theme Search), as well as other standard buttons like Menu, Guide, Prev (mapped to Recall), Rec, Fwd, Rewind. The most impressive thing is that the 30sec skip forward/backwards works automatically too. You will need to map SystemInfo into one of the buttons, but it is easy and the button already exist in the online database. Here are the buttons that I have to manually map: DVR, Swap, PIP, LiveTV, PIP position, SysInfo.
> 
> 522 has less buttons than the XBox version, so I map the page up/page down buttons to * and # keys. It works. The only complaint I have with the 522-line of Harmony is that the feel of button clicking is not very good. It is more tiring than clicking on the original 622 remote.


I also appreciate the info. A question about the 520: Did you have to map the format buttons as well or were those in its database for the 622? I think I will go ahead and buy this remote.


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## sleeplessInSunnyvale (Jan 16, 2005)

motts said:


> I also appreciate the info. A question about the 520: Did you have to map the format buttons as well or were those in its database for the 622? I think I will go ahead and buy this remote.


The database has a button called Aspect which maps to the format button on the 622 remote, if this is what you're referring to.


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## sgt940 (Jan 9, 2004)

SHADO 1 said:


> I'm looking for some input from the experts here on getting a universal remote that will work with Dish Vip 622 HD-PVR. It must have discrete features and it must be upgradable. I'm looking at Logitech's Harmony line of remotes and I can get the 680 for about $50.00 online. I don't know enough about these to make an informed decision, so any help would be greatly appreciated.


You simply can't go wrong with the mx 700! Pc programing does everything


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## electr0n (May 11, 2005)

I use the Harmony 880 and I love it!


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## rdopso (Jan 26, 2004)

I have been using a Harmony 659 to control all the components in my Dish-based home theater system for over three years with the Dish 721, 942, and now the 622 (don't think the 659 is still available though). The Harmony remote concept of down loading setups from their website is to me a very good one.


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## bheil (Feb 24, 2006)

rdopso said:


> I have been using a Harmony 659 to control all the components in my Dish-based home theater system for over three years with the Dish 721, 942, and now the 622 (don't think the 659 is still available though). The Harmony remote concept of down loading setups from their website is to me a very good one.


So for the second remote do you need to learn the codes for remote ID 2? I just got my 622 last night and have also have a 510. I left the 622 are ID1, and set the 510 for ID2. The remote now controls the 622 just fine - no changes needed at all. Now I need the to add control of the 510. I haven't seen anything in the Harmony database that idicates a 'driver' for non ID1 dish remotes.


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## bill-e (Apr 14, 2006)

How about the URC 6131, a JP1 enabled remote, for 25 bucks. I'm pretty happy with mine. Has all the PVR and PIP buttons.


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## gweempose (Jun 11, 2006)

If you're looking for a computer programmable remote, URC's MX-900 is one of the best, most DVR friendly you'll find. It also has built-in RF capability which can really come in handy.


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## Rommel (Aug 28, 2006)

I was looking into the harmony and i'm glad to see a lot of people are liking it. I was thinking of buying a harmony and something cheaper but has the same capabilities.

Is there anything on the vip622 remote that you can't do on the harmony or other remotes?


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

Rommel said:


> I was looking into the harmony and i'm glad to see a lot of people are liking it. I was thinking of buying a harmony and something cheaper but has the same capabilities.
> 
> Is there anything on the vip622 remote that you can't do on the harmony or other remotes?


I'm likeing my Harmony 880 I got about a week ago except for one thing. I can't get it to work the way I want when switching activities or moving from one room to the next. I typically will move from the bedroom to the living room using the same 622 but different TVs. I will turn off the TV in the bedroom then click on the "Watch TV" activity in the living room, but the Harmony is not smart enough to know that the 622 is already on (usually on a buffer) and will turn the 622 off while turning the TV on. I wish there was a way to tell the Harmony to ignore all of the other devices instead of turning off all of the devices which seems to be the default.

I went from about 5 or 6 remotes to just the Harmony which I will just have to get used to.


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## Rommel (Aug 28, 2006)

thanks for your input. I'm not sure what the button is called but i think it's called skip. Are you able to skip or fastforward 10+ seconds a time like the 622 remote?


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

Rommel said:


> thanks for your input. I'm not sure what the button is called but i think it's called skip. Are you able to skip or fastforward 10+ seconds a time like the 622 remote?


Yes, I can skip 30 seconds ahead and go back 10 seconds at a time with the Harmony 880.


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## orenr (Jun 10, 2004)

lujan said:


> I'm likeing my Harmony 880 I got about a week ago except for one thing. I can't get it to work the way I want when switching activities or moving from one room to the next. I typically will move from the bedroom to the living room using the same 622 but different TVs. I will turn off the TV in the bedroom then click on the "Watch TV" activity in the living room, but the Harmony is not smart enough to know that the 622 is already on (usually on a buffer) and will turn the 622 off while turning the TV on. I wish there was a way to tell the Harmony to ignore all of the other devices instead of turning off all of the devices which seems to be the default.
> 
> I went from about 5 or 6 remotes to just the Harmony which I will just have to get used to.


I found some info on Remote Central by searching for "dish discrete", but the editor won't let me post the link because I'm a new used on this forum.

Here is the relevant text (I haven't tried it yet):

DISH NETWORK 622 here is how you get the discrete on/off codes:

- Press and hold the SAT button at the top of the remote until all mode button backlights illuminate (about 3 seconds), then release. 
- While the SAT mode light blinks, press and release the large satellite Power button. 
- Press Volume Up for discrete power on. Press Volume Down for discrete power off. 
- Press the Select button to exit.


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## rogerpl (Aug 16, 2006)

jdagreek said:


> Have you thought about the Kameleon ... The URC-9960 is GREAT you can get it at Buy.com for less than $45 free shipping. It works great ... so easy and if the codes is not in the unit you can use the IR learn feature or you can call the company and they will download the codes into the remote ... this remote has a modem built into it you simply hold it to the phone when they download ... Don't let people scare you about it's battries ...
> 
> John


Can't agree about the batteries, i loved my Kameleon but replacing or re-charging batteries every 3 or 4 weeks was too much. 
Roger


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## araghava (Aug 29, 2006)

bill-e said:


> How about the URC 6131, a JP1 enabled remote, for 25 bucks. I'm pretty happy with mine. Has all the PVR and PIP buttons.


hi,

i'm looking for a jp1 device code that works for the 622. i couldn't find a file specifically for the 622 in the device codes section of the yahoo group. can you point me one that works.


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## bill-e (Apr 14, 2006)

araghava said:


> hi,
> 
> I'm looking for a jp1 device code that works for the 622. i couldn't find a file specifically for the 622 in the device codes section of the yahoo group. can you point me one that works.


There isn't one for the 622. I used the 501's #775 and added a few keys. I ended up not really using JP1 because I was having some trouble and was having a difficult time re-educating myself on how to use the programs and spreadsheets et al so I just used a learning remote to learn the codes I needed and then used JP1 to read the codes. I then poked those codes in using the URC's standard key assignment methods.


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## sNEIRBO (Jul 23, 2006)

I've been using a Harmony Xbox 360 remote with my ViP622 for about 2 weeks. Had a major problem develop during the week - I lost about half of my LCD display. I called Harmony and after about a 10 minute phone call, they decided to replace the remote for me. The new one should arrive by the end of this week. Their customer service was VERY good. The sign of a good company is how they deal with problems, and Logitech / Harmony dealt with mine exceptionally well.


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## jimstick (Feb 5, 2007)

> Got two DVRs? No problem, it will be "taught" which IR Channel to use on each DVR.


How? I have a Harmony 688, but I can't figure out how to set it to control only one Tivo box at a time.


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

I don't want to belabor this but as I mentioned in another thread I am a new Harmony 880 owner and somewhat disappointed in its ability to operatet the 622. There really are not enough buttons and in my case significant reprogramming was necessary. But others eem to have hada different experience.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

Geronimo said:


> I don't want to belabor this but as I mentioned in another thread I am a new Harmony 880 owner and somewhat disappointed in its ability to operatet the 622. There really are not enough buttons and in my case significant reprogramming was necessary. But others eem to have hada different experience.


I got mine in October and I'm still changing it's programming even to this day. I think that it's worth it in the end.


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## mikeyinokc (Jan 11, 2006)

MarkoC said:


> I have a Harmony 880. It works great with my 622 and I love it.


Ditto on the Harmony 880.....It does everything I can think of needing it to do.


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## mikeyinokc (Jan 11, 2006)

lujan said:


> I'm likeing my Harmony 880 I got about a week ago except for one thing. I can't get it to work the way I want when switching activities or moving from one room to the next. I typically will move from the bedroom to the living room using the same 622 but different TVs. I will turn off the TV in the bedroom then click on the "Watch TV" activity in the living room, but the Harmony is not smart enough to know that the 622 is already on (usually on a buffer) and will turn the 622 off while turning the TV on. I wish there was a way to tell the Harmony to ignore all of the other devices instead of turning off all of the devices which seems to be the default.
> 
> I went from about 5 or 6 remotes to just the Harmony which I will just have to get used to.


Can't you program a "TV2" into the 880? Then set it up where it only turns on the TV, then on activities go back to TV1 to control the 622. I haven't done this, but from what I remember in setting mine up, this could be done.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

mikeyinokc said:


> Can't you program a "TV2" into the 880? Then set it up where it only turns on the TV, then on activities go back to TV1 to control the 622. I haven't done this, but from what I remember in setting mine up, this could be done.


Yes, I've learned a lot about it since I posted this in October. I created an activity called "TV Only" that will only activate the TV and not the satellite receiver.


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