Dish 625 & Harmony Remotes

[JNP2000]

Does anyone have the Dish 625 DVR receiver and use one of the Harmony universal remotes? I am looking at the Harmony 880 specifically and wanted any advice/info. available.

Thanks!

 

[Ganthet]

I just got an 880 for my 622 over Christmas and I love it! You will have to manually program a few of the 625's featres to the soft keys on the LCD. If I recall I had to program the DVR, Search and Recall buttons.

Otherwise it works flawlessly. The remote takes a little time to set up via the PC, but once you get the hang of it I think you'll be happy.

 

[redman042]

I just got an 880 for my 622 over Christmas and I love it! You will have to manually program a few of the 625's featres to the soft keys on the LCD. If I recall I had to program the DVR, Search and Recall buttons.

Otherwise it works flawlessly. The remote takes a little time to set up via the PC, but once you get the hang of it I think you'll be happy.

I'm interested in getting an 880 to use with my 622 DVR as well. How well does the Harmony 880 cover all of the 622's functions, including the forward and backward skip, guide, etc.? The reason I want the 880 is to control my DVR, TV, and receiver efficiently, but if it's not as easy for my wife to use as the existing Dish remote, I probably won't do it.

 

[pacman]

I have been using a Harmony 880 for my system (with a 942 receiver) for about a year now. Previously I used Pronto remotes. The Harmony does what it is named, create harmony in the home for wives that want simple easy control of our big A/V systems. As Ganthet said, you will need to program a few screen buttons for access to "DVR" and possibly a few other commands, but the basic transport controls are all there as hard buttons (menu, info, guide, exit (cancel), play, stop, pause, record, skip (forward and back), fast forward, rewind...). It is much easier to program with the interactive web interface included (you need to have access to the internet and Harmony's site) than my Prontos ever were (Prontos are nice and much more capable, if you are willing to spend the time on them).

 

[redman042]

Good to know! If I get a new gadget intended to make life easier for my wife, but it ends up being MORE complicated, it creates the OPPOSITE of harmony, whatever that is called. I sure don't want that!

One more question: I'm planning to get a new upscaling DVD player. Since my one HDMI input on my TV is dedicated to the 622, I will need to get a separate HDMI switcher. You can get these with infrared remote controls. I'm hoping the Harmony can control these. Do you know if that's the case?

 

[pacman]

If it is IR controlled, the Harmony can probably control it. At worst, you will have to teach the Harmony the correct controls using the switcher's original remote control. At best, the Harmony database will already have the switcher available as a device you can add.

 

[stimpson]

When I do the set up on the harmony, what do I use for the Manufacturer and model # for the 625.

 

[Miggity]

I just put in Dish ViP622 and it had it in its system. But like everyone else already pointed out you need to customize a few buttons like DVR and mapping of the * and # to the keypad.

 

[stimpson]

I see. The remote functions should be pretty much the same, execpt for a few changes?

 

[stimpson]

Set up issues

I have an issue with the set up, and i'm sure it's me that's the problem. I'll try to explain. I have my "Watch TV" set up, when I select it everything turns on(705, 625, and TV)but all that shows up on the display is "aspect". To cotrol the 625 I have to go to devices and select "satellite", then do my navigating. I really don't have a problem with this. Here is my major issue. To adjust the volume or mute, I have to go back to the "Watch TV" activity, or select TV from the "device" section. I have selected that the 705 handle the volume, and have verified the commands are there as well. I have tried to set up an additional activity to "Watch PVR", but in the set up it tells me there is no device selected to change channels. Is there a way to set it up where when I want to watch TV the 625 commands show up on the display, and I can cotrol the volume with out having to swap devices? Thanks all. I hope this is enough info.

 

[cparker]

I'm at work and I have a horrible respiratory thing going on so I'm a bit blurry, but I can tell you that if you are having to go into device control you are not set up correctly. And yes, it's you. Not saying that in a bad way... the setup can, at times, be less than intuitive. I am assuming the "705" is your AV receiver?

I have a Harmony 880 controlling my 622, a Sony AV receiver, a Panasonic Plasma, and a Panasonic DVD recorder. I never have to enter the Devices section.

You MAY want to set up another login at the Harmony web site and start over. Select your devices and activities carefully. Remember what you did that worked and what doesn't work. Write it down.

It does take a little getting used to, but you can also call Logitech's tech support and tell them what's happening. They can make changes for you ... on your login... and then you update your remote and try it out.

The Harmony remotes are ACTIVITIES based. You should not be going into the device menues. If you ARE then you need to look at WHY and make some changes.

 

[stimpson]

I'm at work and I have a horrible respiratory thing going on so I'm a bit blurry, but I can tell you that if you are having to go into device control you are not set up correctly. And yes, it's you. Not saying that in a bad way... the setup can, at times, be less than intuitive. I am assuming the "705" is your AV receiver?

I have a Harmony 880 controlling my 622, a Sony AV receiver, a Panasonic Plasma, and a Panasonic DVD recorder. I never have to enter the Devices section.

You MAY want to set up another login at the Harmony web site and start over. Select your devices and activities carefully. Remember what you did that worked and what doesn't work. Write it down.

It does take a little getting used to, but you can also call Logitech's tech support and tell them what's happening. They can make changes for you ... on your login... and then you update your remote and try it out.

The Harmony remotes are ACTIVITIES based. You should not be going into the device menues. If you ARE then you need to look at WHY and make some changes.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, the 705 is the AV reciever. Like I said, I'm sure it's me. I'll try your suggestions tonight. How did you set yours up to watch TV? Did you create an activity to "watch tv", or "watch pvr"?

 

[downriver]

Do yourself a big favor, forget the Harmony and get one of these: RC: Home Theater Master MX-500 Remote Control Review (1)

 

[cparker]

Do yourself a big favor, forget the Harmony and get one of these: RC: Home Theater Master MX-500 Remote Control Review (1)

If he's already got a Harmony 880, then your suggestion is probably not practical at this point. That's not meant to be a nasty comment and in fact I will probably be looking at a URC when it comes time to replace my own current 880. The MX500 is a bit.... well it's not as sexy as the 880, but there are other choices as well.

 

[cparker]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, the 705 is the AV reciever. Like I said, I'm sure it's me. I'll try your suggestions tonight. How did you set yours up to watch TV? Did you create an activity to "watch tv", or "watch pvr"?

Please understand that it's been a while since I programmed mine. I remember that I had to "start over" a couple of times. I had to get used to the process and what questions the setup software was going to ask (and in what order).

How you set up your activities is entirely dependent upon how you use your equipment. At my house, when we say we're going to "watch TV", what we really mean is, we're going to "watch TV as supplied by the satellite receiver". So in essence we're watching satellite. A "Watch PVR" activity is probably correct in this case.

The satellite receiver controls the channel, the Sony AV receiver controls the volume (and the input is Video2), the Plasma controls the video source switching so it gets turned on and set to HDMI1 for satellite.

There is no "DVR" button on my 880 so I made one in the lower right side of the "soft buttons" area of the remote. I think I had to make one other button that we were using but didn't appear on that screen when we were watching TV. Again, if you have to go into the DEVICE control during normal use, you probably want to tweak your setup for that activity.

I leave the satellite receiver "on" all the time. OH! And I made a button that says DVD-R. See... I have component from satellite receiver going to DVD recorder. I have an activity "PVR2DVD" where I can set up the DVD recorder on the correct input. Then I go back to the "Watch PVR" activity and now that DVD-R button that I created in the "Watch PVR" activity can start the recording on the DVD recorder.

Think of it this way if it helps... you can put DEVICE controls (like "record" from the DVD recorder) into ACTIVITIES. This way the regular "Record" hard button on the 880 will be used to handle DVR recording on the 622 while I'm in the Watch PVR activity, but I still have access to the DVD "record" button in my custom button.