Newbie and New Project Help

Questions
#1

So I am coming from years of programming my Harmony remote for the App on my tablet.

Now that Harmony is no longer I am finding that I need a replacement as I add new hardware to my HomeTheater.

For Now I only want a HomeTheater remote not a full house remote. I would prefer to design the look and feel to be like the Harmony App and to setup Activities to make things work with some custom buttons that would do things like Lens memory selection for the JVC Projector.

What I am failing to find is where and how to even start with this? LOL I am so used to Wizards walking you through things and boom done. I’m also concerned how difficult TheHomeRemote is to upkeep as I change hardware a lot.

My current list is as follows:

JVC RS420 Projector (I don’t have orignal remote)
Arcam AVR20
Zidoo z9x
Xbox Series X ( used for disney+, ect)
HTPC with Jriver MadVR build
HDFury Vrroom

What is needed for me to get started? I would assume I would need a IR Blaster of some sort. I have read that some are using Global Cache but the documention on that setup is unclear as I am not familar with how it works.

I would like my HomeScreen to be my Activities. After selecting the activity I would like the Home screen be the remote for that Activity with basic play, pause, skip, volume and custom buttons as well for the devices that are in the activity so that if I need to click that device to pull up maybe the JVC Menu as an example.

This is just a basic example of what I am wanting to do. Is this something HomeRemote can do and how hard is it to get started?

Thanks in advance for any help.

AH

#2

Welcome to the forum!

#4

I am not familiar with your hardware. Hardware is typically going to be controlled by IP or IR. Global Cache is a brand that makes devices that convert IP to various other technologies such as IR. So, for instance, if you get their iTach IP2IR, then you would plug the IP2IR into your network with an ethernet cable. Then it has places to plug in IR blasters and you would stick these on your devices. You would then use the Global Cache device in Home Remote Designer and add the IR commands for your specific device. The GC will receive the command you’re attempting from IP and convert it to IR and spit it out the blaster.

Your first job will be to find out how your devices communicate (IP, IR, etc). If it’s controlled by IR, then I would suggest a GC device purchase. If it is IP and has an API that’s available, you can write a plugin to control it, but that requires writing javascript code.

Were all of these items previously controlled by Harmony?