JP1 Remotes

Just picked up one of these for fun...must say it is nice w/JP1.

I can't get the backlight to work...manual says it must be activated but doesn't say how....help

Press the Light button at the lower left of the keypad.

That's the part that isn't working

Hope you saved your wal-mart receipt

I was going to ask you what color your backlight was but I guess I will have to wait until you exchange your remote for a new one. The "manual says it must be activated" just means press the button in the lower left corner (the one with the picture of a lightbulb on it).

When you press it, nothing happens? I'm sure you've checked, but the pale green backlighting can be difficult to see in normal lighting conditions.

You just press and release to activate it (or deactivate if it is), and then the backlight will come on for a few seconds before timing out. When you press a button while the backlight is enabled, it will go out while the button is pressed and come back on when released (a feature I don't like). The v2 extender changes the backlight to an always-on-until-timed-out behavior.

Mark Pierson wrote:The v2 extender changes the backlight to an always-on-until-timed-out behavior.

What does the v3 extender do with regard to the backlight?

I did backlights so many different ways in different extenders I can't remember which was which, and it's harder to deduce the behavior by reading the code than to load up the extender and test it (I don't have a remote handy so someone else can).

I will mention that if your batteries are in poor shape, turning the backlight off while the key is pressed is a good idea, since it lets the remote send a good signal with not so good batteries, so you can use the batteries until they're quite dead. If you use an extender that keeps the backlight on while a key is pressed you need to change batteries while there's still some life left in them (or stop using the backlight). I use rechargeable batteries and I don't use the backlight, so I'm doubly imune to the issue, so I was happy to code (at least some of the) extenders with the behavior people said they preferred.

I guess it works differently in the 8810 than in the 8910 (I recently programmed one for a friend) because on the 8910 every time you press the light button the whole keypad lights up.

I expected the 8810 to work the same way...maybe I'm not doing the buttons in the correct order.

I'll try again....(yeah I kept the receipt)

e34m5 wrote:I guess it works differently in the 8810 than in the 8910

Right out of the box (unextended) they do work the same way. I have one of each, and if you press the button the whole keypad lights up the same way on each. Even in moderately bright light I can see the buttons are lit. If it does not light up then maybe the transformer coil is bad or a solder joint is cold or broken. Go back to wal-mart, return it, open a new box in the store and make sure the light works and buy that one

My thoughts exactly.. this is one of those times when jp1 and IR.exe really pay off...

usblipitor wrote:If it does not light up then maybe the transformer coil is bad or a solder joint is cold or broken.

IIRC, the 8810w doesn't use a transformer/EL sheet, but instead a bunch of them itty bitty surface mount LED's scattered around the PCB (I honestly don't remember what my 8810w looked like when I last had it apart ). Barring an all out failure in the backlight circuit, they should work, and last longer than the remote was designed to.

Mark Pierson wrote:Barring an all out failure in the backlight circuit, they should work, and last longer than the remote was designed to.

Maybe the button is scrozzled then? Or a trace to the button is damaged? I just like writing "the button!"

I have a URC-9800 that also recent had the backlight fail. Does anyone have a schematic for this unit?