# Logitech Harmony Ultimate with Roamio using RF?



## noah82 (Aug 1, 2007)

Does anybody know if you are able to use the RF functionality of the Logitech Harmony Ultimate remote to control the Roamio?

It works fine through IR now, however the difference in speed between the Tivo and Harmony remotes are like night and day!

I have already tried setting the Inter-key delays to the lowest settings, but I have not been able to duplicate the speed of the Harmony through IR.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Nope. There is no standard for RF control. The Harmony Ultimate can only communicate with that little base unit they sell via RF, it can not control any RF devices directly.


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## consumedsoul (Jan 13, 2013)

Dan203 said:


> Nope. There is no standard for RF control. The Harmony Ultimate can only communicate with that little base unit they sell via RF, it can not control any RF devices directly.


That being said, I'm assuming it's safe to say that the RF base that comes with the Harmony Smart remote can be programmed to 'talk' to the Roamio via RF (vs. IR)?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I don't think so.

I think the Harmony comes with a base station that it talks to and then converts the commands to IR, that should work.


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## CharlesH (Aug 29, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> I don't think so.
> 
> I think the Harmony comes with a base station that it talks to and then converts the commands to IR, that should work.


The Harmony "hub" can also talk directly to devices that use Bluetooth remotes, such as the PS3. But otherwise, it outputs IR. The RF protocol used by TiVo remotes seems to be some proprietary thing.


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## 2004raptor (Dec 31, 2005)

Oldish thread, I know. 

So, I am confused with all of this. I purchased a harmony ultimate home remote. 

With my old Harmony One, sometimes things like channel changes wouldn't get through depending on the angle of the seating position relative to the roamio. 
For example you might try to go to channel 234 but it would just go to 34 or maybe 23. 

My hope was that the Ultimate would help with this by adding the ir blaster. Is this correct? 

If so, what do I need to do to actually configure the blaster? I know I connect it to the hub and place the sensor in front of the roamio but what else needs to be done?


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

2004raptor said:


> With my old Harmony One, sometimes things like channel changes wouldn't get through depending on the angle of the seating position relative to the roamio. For example you might try to go to channel 234 but it would just go to 34 or maybe 23.


Right, that's likely due to the One being an IR remote, requiring line-of-sight to the target device. An RF remote would help resolve that.



2004raptor said:


> My hope was that the Ultimate would help with this by adding the ir blaster. Is this correct?


Yes, it should, but not so much because of the "IR blaster." The Ultimate is an RF remote, so you don't have to point it at anything when you're pressing the buttons. The Ultimate's associated RF receiver, has IR blaster and Bluetooth capabilities built-in for relaying your commands to the target device. You may not even need to attach any extra IR blaster extenders, depending on where the Harmony Hub is sitting relative to your target electronics.

Also, the Hub doesn't need to be sitting out in the open, since it's wireless; its positioning will largely be dependent on where the target devices reside.



2004raptor said:


> If so, what do I need to do to actually configure the blaster? I know I connect it to the hub and place the sensor in front of the roamio but what else needs to be done?


I've seen equipment that needed to be powered-cycled before they'd recognize a newly attached IR blaster, but I don't know if that applies to a Harmony Hub.

If you previously owned a One, you should be up and running pretty quickly, I would think. You should be able to migrate your One's configuration over to the new Ultimate remote, possibly w/ assistance from Logitech support, and you should be good to go -- providing the Hub has line-of-sight to your target electronics.


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## 2004raptor (Dec 31, 2005)

Thanks krkaufman.

I haven't actually had a chance to mess with anything other than the basic setup. I chose not to "migrate" my One's account but rather to set things up again from scratch.

I've got a rack similar to this but alot cheaper.










Right now, tivo is on the very top (wanted to avoid glass as a possible issue) and the hub is sitting on the tivo.

So, when you say "The Ultimate's associated RF receiver", are you referring to the hub?

If that's right, that means the remote talks to the hub and the hub sends the commands to each device?? just trying to understand.

I haven't actually tried to connect an IR balster yet. Actually, I'm still having everyone use the One until I get most of the activity specific commands added.

Like the tivo 30 second skip instead of the regular FF. That's one thing I noticed right away. Got to try and find that.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

2004raptor said:


> So, when you say "The Ultimate's associated RF receiver", are you referring to the hub?
> 
> If that's right, that means the remote talks to the hub and the hub sends the commands to each device??


Yes and yes. I initially used "RF receiver" because I'd forgotten the formal name of the receiving device, the Harmony Hub, but I also wanted to make it clear that it was an RF receiver and not just an IR receiver/extender device.



2004raptor said:


> I haven't actually tried to connect an IR blaster yet.


The Harmony Hub has built-in IR blasting capability, without connecting any additional IR blaster extenders. With a glass front on that cabinet, you *might* be able to get away without needing the extender cables, but you won't know until you start testing.



2004raptor said:


> I'm still having everyone use the One until I get most of the activity specific commands added.


This is why I was suggesting contacting Logitech support, to expedite that process. Rather than replacing your One, they might be able to copy all your settings from your One account over to the Ultimate, so that you could keep using the One while getting a major jump-start on setting-up and fine-tuning your Ultimate.


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