Dish Hopper/Joey IR issue -- No independent control

[smokey75]

I've googled and found at least a few people with the same issue, but no workarounds yet. I'm a brand new DISH customer who has been looking forward to the Hopper and Joey system ever since it was announced back in January. I have now gotten it installed with the intent of leaving DirecTV and becoming a DISH customer. Unfortunately, I'm running into what I consider a HUGE bug in the design of these systems and am hoping others have workarounds.


I have both the Hopper and the Joey in a wiring closet in another room of my house and the signals get distributed from this closet to my TVs in other rooms. I use universal IR remotes (Logitech Harmony) and an IR Distribution system to allow me to control the devices in the wiring closet from any room in the house. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of my system, using the universal capabilities on the Dish provided remote is not an option due to limited/non-existent support.


Unfortunately, in a large design oversight, the Hopper and Joey share the same IR codes for control. What this means is that when I press Menu for the Hopper, the Joey also brings up the menu. When I try to watch a show in one room, the other room also randomly gets the same signals and so on. There is no independent IR control of these devices....


The DirecTV systems I came from have the ability to use discrete IR Remote codes for exactly this scenario so that controlling one box doesn't try and control both boxes (or more -- think of a sports bar scenario or similar...). Based on the digging I did with Google, even the older VIP 922 and even VIP 722 have this same ability, yet Dish tech support says this ability does not exist on the Hopper and Joey's yet nor could they give any input on timelines for when this might get added.


At this point, the system is unusable as a multi-box, whole home DVR. I'd prefer to keep the system and wait for the kinks to get worked out, but with no information on timeframe for the fixes nor workarounds, I'm not sure what else to do.


Have others run into this same scenario and tracked down a fix? Anyone know when this blatant oversight will be fixed? Any ideas at all would be appreciated.

 

[mdavej]

As you've discovered, while previous Dish systems used 32 IR addresses, hopper/Joey currently uses only one. I have a couple of suggestions. First, reconsider using the Dish remotes in UHF mode. While it can't do macros, it does have a huge code database (larger than harmony) and can learn. So the Dish remotes should be sufficient on your simpler systems. I taught my Dish remotes all the discrete power and input commands to make watching each system only a few button presses. Second, consider getting an IR system with addressable blasters. Cable TV users have to do this all the time. One thing you can do with Dish that you can't do with DirecTV is use IR and RF at the same time. So you may be able to use this to your advantage.

 

[smokey75]

I'm really hoping they fix this in a some code updates in the near future -- HUGE oversight and I hate to buy more hardware out of my pocket to get past this oversight...

Unfortunately, due to the complexity of the system (HDMI Matrix switches, etc. etc.) in the mix, using the Dish remotes would require quite a few button pushes to get everything aligned.

I'm vaguely familiar with the concept of addressable blasters but will have to do some more digging. Are there any that you're familiar with that you'd recommend? I just upgraded my IR distribution system two weeks ago to a 12 volt coax based system for a new house I moved into and it works great. Based on some quick digging, it looks like I should be able to branch off of the Channel Vision system relatively easy... just not sure on cost yet either .. Any recommendations would be great!

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[n0qcu]

Just a FYI.....
The 922 had the same design flaw.


Hopefully if they get enough complaints they will add a few more IR address codes.

 

[kwindrem]

I'm using a Universal Remote Control remote (the MX-980 model) and a companion MPR350 base station. With the two, you can restrict IR commands to one of the 6 devices. The system is designed for multiple devices that use the same IR codes. The URC MSC-400 is a step up, controlling independent IR outputs. Multiple units can also be slaved. It also supports serial control. Finding programming software for URC stuff can often be challenging. You need to find a dealer that will provide the software as there's nothing on URC's web site that an owner has access to. Of course, this changes your entire remote control environment so it would be a big step.

Not sure what's available for Harmony remotes.

 

[mdavej]

Sorry, smokey, I don't know much about them. I thought the harmony 900 had a few addressable ports (4?). I don't know how to integrate that with a secondary system. With such a complex system, it's probably time to upgrade to a URC system like the one mentioned earlier. In any case, RemoteCentral.com is probably the best place to get advice about this.

 

[TimberWolf]

It's not really an oversight or a design flaw. It simply wasn't a necessity.
The hopper and joey were designed specifically to operate in separate rooms over 2-way uhf