3322

SStteepp  bbyy  SStteepp  T

Tuutto

orriiaall

T

To

oggggllee  C

Co

om

mm

maannddss  ccrreeaattee    PPo

oiinntt  &

&  PPrraayy    M

Maaccrro

oss      

Imagine a system with three components (a TV, a VCR and a surround sound Receiver). Each has a toggle type

POWER command on the original remote control. You program a macro with the three power commands on the

MAIN Power ON button and tell your client to turn on their system with this button. Here's what will happen:

U

The client will pick out a videotape and insert it in the VCR (the VCR will now automatically turn on).The client sits

S

down, picks up their MX remote control and presses the MAIN Power On button.The three toggle type power com 

I

mands are issued. So, since the TV and the Receiver were Off, they turn on, however the VCR was already on from

inserting the tape, so it turns off. The client is puzzled that they don't see a picture, so they press the MAIN Power

N

On button again.The three toggle type power commands are issued again.This time the TV and the Receiver turn off

G

and the VCR turns on.The client begins to get frustrated...

T

TIIPP        FFo

orr  ssyysstteem

mss  w

wiitthh  llo

ottss  o

off  tto

oggggllee  PPo

ow

weerr  cco

oddeess,,  ccrreeaattee  aa    PPo

ow

weerr   hheellpp  lliisstt..    

M

You cannot successfully train a family to use a Point & Pray macro. It is too inconsistent. You are

better off creating a help list device named  POWER.  On the Power Page 1, create shortcut

X

buttons to all of the components toggle power commands.Train the customer to turn on the system

E

by pressing the Power button on MAIN, then turning anything that they need on one at a time. Once

the system is on, they press MAIN and decide what they want to watch or listen to.

D

I

PPrrooffeessssiioonnaall  IInnssttaallllaattiioonnss  R

Reeqquuiirree    BBuulllleett  PPrrooooff    ((R

Reelliiaabbllee))  M

Maaccrrooss  oorr  aa  hheellpp  lliisstt..  TThhee  uussee  ooff  PPooiinntt  &

&  PPrraayy  m

maaccrrooss  w

wiillll

T

ccrreeaattee  sseerrvviiccee  ccaallllss  aanndd  aa  lloott  ooff  bbaadd  w

wiillll..  N

Neevveerr  lleeaavvee  aa  ccuussttoom

meerr  w

wiitthh  aa  rreem

moottee  pprrooggrraam

mm

meedd  ttoo    m

maayybbee    w

woorrkk......

O

R

FFiinnddiinngg  W

Wo

orrkkaarro

ouunnddss  ffo

orr  T

To

oggggllee  C

Co

om

mm

maannddss  iinn  M

Maaccrro

oss    

By creatively experimenting you may find that you can workaround the lack of discrete codes.This takes time and

T

there is no guarantee that you will find a workaround for any given component. Here are some common examples:

O

D

DV

VD

D  aanndd    V

VC

CR

R  PPo

ow

weerr  W

Wo

orrkkaarro

ouunndd

Most DVD players will turn on when off when they receive a Play command.Thus you can workaround like this:

P

DVD ON = 1) Play 

2) DVD Stop

R

DVD OFF= 1) DVD Play 

2) Delay (amount of delay varies with brand and model, typically 1

O

or 2  seconds)

T

TV

V  ssccrro

olllliinngg    IIN

NPPU

UT

T  

G

3) DVD Power

W

Wo

orrkkaarro

ouunnddss

Many televisions respond to a channel up or a channel number command by changing to the Antenna input regardless

R

of what input was last selected.This creates an  anchor  action that puts the television in a known input.Thus you

A

can create a workaround as follows:

M

EXAMPLE   CH Up takes TV to the ANT A input (and the TV has 5 inputs  Ant A, Ant B, EXT1, EXT2 and EXT3)

TV to EXT3 = 1) Ch Up (takes TV to ANT A regardless of what input was last selected)

2) Input (takes TV to next input   ANT B)

3) Input (takes TV to next input   EXT 1)

4) Input (takes TV to next input   EXT 2)

5) Input (takes TV to desired input   EXT 3)