Q: Does the smpl Remote work with Dish Network?
A: Yes, the smpl Remote works with most Dish Network systems. The only caveat is that the Dish Network receiver box must be able to accept infrared commands (IR) and not radio frequency commands (RF) only.The way you can tell if your receiver uses RF remote control is the fact that you can take your original remote control and not need to point it directly at the receiver to operate it. With RF remote control, you can be completely turned around from the receiver or even in another room. If your original remote still works under these circumstances, then your receiver uses RF based remote control.
Some Dish Network receivers actually use a dual-tuner system, where the location of the actual receiver unit operates using IR remote control while a remote TV in another room is controlled using RF remote control. In the case of a dual-tuner system, the smpl Remote will work with the TV directly connected to the receiver but not to the remote TV in another room.
Keep in mind that some of these units can actually support both IR and RF signaling. You can check your receiver by going into the setup menu to see if it supports IR. You may need to turn this feature on to allow the smpl Remote to communicate with it.
To reiterate, the smpl Remote supports IR based remote control only.
Q: If using a TV and Set-Top device, which device receives the channel information?
A: This depends on how you configure the smpl Remote during setup.
If you use the built-in codes, as soon as you define a Set-Top device like a digital cable box, the smpl Remote automatically sends all channel data (Favorite Channels + Channel Up/Down) to the cable box.
If you use the learning method, whatever signals you learn (either TV tuner or Cable tuner) will be what the smpl Remote uses.
Q: Can I use a single smpl Remote to control my TV and DVD player?
A: While the smpl Remote is primarily designed to be used with TV to control live channel changing, through the extensive learning features, this remote can be programmed for both the critical functions of a TV and a DVD player.
For example, one of our customers wanted to simply control a TV to turn on/off and control the volume while operating the basic functions of a DVD player such as Play, Stop and Pause.
They are using a smpl Remote and set it up as follows with the learning function. You can discover more information about our learning features by downloading the smpl Remote reference guide available in the Documentation and Tutorials section of this forum.
TV Remote Power - learned to smpl Remotepower control
TV Volume Up/Down - learned to smpl Remotevolume up/down control
TV MUTE - learned to smpl Remote mute control
DVD PLAY - learned to smpl Remote Favorite 1 Button
DVD STOP - learned to smpl Remote Favorite 2 Button
DVD PAUSE - learned to smpl Remote Favorite 3 Button
You could also learn more controls on the smpl Remote Favorite 4 and 5 buttons as well as the channel up/down button.
Q: I just got my smpl Remote and the light does not go on when I press any of the buttons
A: This is normal behavior for the remote. Until you program the smpl Remote using codes or learning, the user buttons have no information on them, so pressing them will not cause the LED to go on.
