Saturday, October 13, 2012

Harmony 880 Reprogrammed & Firmware Updated

Today I officially cancelled cable TV. We had Comcast and I have now setup a TiVo box and subscribed to Hulu Plus and Netflix to get all our streaming needs taken care of. I am using an over the air antenna to receive local channels in HD. So far so good with this setup. I setup everything last week and have been test driving all the features for the past week. My wife and kids can easily use the new technology so we good to go.

With the removal of Comcast cable service I had to remove the Motorola DCX3400 I had to reprogram the Logitech Harmony 880 remote. The update to the Activities was easy using the Logitech Harmony Remote Software (version 7.7.0). I removed the Motorola DCX3400 device and add the TiVo TCD-746500. Everything works like it should. I'll change some of the button layouts once I get a better understanding of what I use most.

When using the Logitech Harmony Remote Software I found under the Downloads section the option to update the firmware on the remote. I ran the process and the software did update the firmware on the remote. There are no release notes or read me files on the firmware so I do not know exactly what was updated. I plan to do so more internet searching and see if I can find disclosure information. If I am able to find information I will post links and the data here on this blog.

I am in the process of updating this blog to get everything current with all the technology changes that have occurred in my systems. I will be reviewing and updated the pages to reflect the current components and what the upgrade plan is now.

The biggest piece of news outside of the introduction of TiVo to the system is that my TV is now dying. About three weeks ago a single line of pixels on the left hand side of the screen stopping displaying. Depending on the source material the line is either green, red or black. In reviewing posts on the internet I am diagnosing that the y board has failed. Since the TV is over 5 years old it will not be covered and replacing parts would be silly. So the hunt for a new TV has begun.

There are several large purchases that will happen before the new TV. First will be new living room furniture since the couch and loveseat are over 10 years old now. I'll also be purchasing a bookcase that will hold the rear channel speakers. Finally going to have full 5.1 surround sound! Can't wait.

Other items I need to post about include: Another Obi firmware update, PC upgrade plans (possible HTPC if it works out), design for charging station, installation of over the air antenna, plans for solar panel charging station, and research on powerline networking.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

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