Hi,
I am looking for recommendation for hardware that HA can control to manage an entertainment system. For details the system has:
Fetch TV Box, TCL TV, Yamaha Amplifier, Sony Blue-ray DVD, Chromecast Ultra.
At the moment I am using a Harmony universal remote, which is beginning to fail and are no longer available for purchase, so not a straight replacement.
I am hoping to set up a tablet with a dashboard to handle the tasks of watching TV, listening to music, watch a DVD, et.al.
BroadLink RM4 pro - integration has been solid - it can do anything an IR control can do.
The main disadvantage is volume control isn’t ideal as the IR doesn’t allow you to set a volume level - it’s a volume up or volume down. I suppose you could send a lot of volume downs (to get it to zero) and then you could volume up to a specific level.
So in the future I’ll replace my AV receiver with a Denon that has a WIFI interface.
Here’s a handy tip for you while your Harmony is still relatively working:
The Harmony database for your devices will usually contain discrete commands, such as separate power on/off or switching directly to a specific source without needing to navigate the menu.
When you get the Broadlink, teach it all the discrete commands you possibly can using the Harmony remote instead of the original remote. Yes, it’s a massive pain, but you’ll be grateful when you need to resend an activity because one of the devices missed a command.
Yes, same deal as the last reply, I am after hardware recommendations as the current equipment I have is not smart integrated.
I am looking forward to making the mistakes that will eventually give me a perfect remote using HA, once I have settled on an IR/RF blaster to control all of the individual pieces of the entertainment system.
Thanks Nickrout, It appears all of the entertainment systems appliances use IR as the current Harmony 650 remote only supports IR. Yamaha Amplifier, only IR. Google Cast already integerated to HA, but it is a stand alone, and needs to connect via the Yamaha amplifier, so it will happen with hardware decision.