Skip 1s: Universal Remote Control by Flirc

Ironically I am not as advanced as some of you all for my remote needs?

The Skip 1s is EXCELLENT. It worked out of the box on the 1st attempt after running the wizard which was shocking to me.

Holding down a button is buttery smooth fast forwarding and rewinding in channels along with controlling my Sony receiver. For 45$ this thing is fantastic. I remember my beloved harmony remote which cost 4* as much and couldn't be happier with the 1s.

Ended up grabbing a Skip 1s as I can use the number pad via Sony HDMI-CEC and prefer the design over my harmony elite.

Also ordered a “handheld scientific bt-500 Bluetooth adapter” which seems to be fairly plug and play. Am going to try using the keyboard mode of the skip 1s via the flirc usb to see if I can get additional commands that way (via Bluetooth keyboard pairing on Apple TV)

Will report back once they get shipped and can test it out.

Bit of a workaround if it does work, but would love to have a skip 1s on my other tv (TCL) that doesn’t support hdmi-cec very well.

Edit: compatibility says the bt500 should work with the flirc usb, just need to hope that the Apple TV accepts the adapters commands
http://handheldsci.com/comp/

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Just an update on my Skip 1s.

Got the remote, the Flirc usb and the bt500 adapter.

BT adapter works perfectly with the Apple TV.

The FlircUSB registers as a keyboard and even can utilise the ChannelsDVR profile on the software when setting up commands to send to the appleTV, instead of the 'full keyboard' - although you need the full keyboard for a couple of commands.

You still need line of site from the remote to the Flirc, but its easily hidden and allows full bt command support for an only IR remote.

Very happy with how its turned out. Let me know if anyone has any questions about my setup etc.

Do you have both USB devices plugged into a computer and then sending over to the Apple TV?

So I set up a random media device with the Skip1s with a bunch of IR commands that I can assign. eg something with a number pad. - And then assign those 0-9 on the remote

Then I plug the FlircUSB into the computer and using the Flirc software I select either the ChannelsDVR profile or the Full Keyboard and you go through key by key and match them.
eg. select '1' on keyboard - point remote at FlircUSB and press 1 (that was assign '1' on the random IR Profile).

Then once you've assigned all the keyboard commands you want, plug the FlircUSB into the BT-500 adapter, which then is just powered by a usb brick, and allows the Apple TV to receive those keyboard inputs.

So basically

Skip 1s sends IR command to FlircUSB > FlircUSB sends keyboard input assigned to that IR command via USB > BT-500 adapter sends the keyboard input via Bluetooth instead of USB (as the Apple TV does not have usb input)

Abit to wrap your head around but once you get going its not very complicated.

If your still confused id suggest watching this video Setting up the Skip 1s with a Raspberry Pi - YouTube
which sort of showcases what I am trying to explain (with the skip1s > flircUSB setup)

EDIT: So atm I've just got the BT adapter plugged into a brick behind my TV unit with the FlircUSB plugged in with a USB extension cable to place it within line of site of my remote.

Too many points of failure for my liking in a simple remote...

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Agree ... I have mine in my junk drawer.

I personally wouldn’t say there’s really any more points of failure than a harmony hub.

I’d say there’s less due to not having to rely on harmony servers.

But more stuffing around for sure.

Love my Flirc. Just controlling an apple TV + Sony Receiver so nothing special. Curious why the complicated setups - thats normally my department!

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Haha yeah exactly
I kind of see it like HDMI for channels.
Could use the default apps/set top box…or I could tinker around for weeks to get it loaded into ChannelsDVR

It’s not so much about convenience, more that I like to tinker around with this sort of stuff. So just documenting it incase anyone else needs this :slight_smile:

I also really liked the form factor and button selection - but wanted to be able to use the number input and the only way to do that with an IR remote was like this.