New Rogers RF remote

[theClubHopper]

Just got the new remote control on Monday, for use with our Nextbox 3. Although I'd brought 2 old Atlas URC-1056 remotes with me to the Rogers store, the rep suggested we keep our NB2(8642HD) remote as that old PVR isn't RF capable, so there isn't much point in exchanging it. We could always do an exchange at a later date if we wished.

Having used the new Champion Plus URC-2125 for a couple of evenings now, I'm happy with that decision. This remote has some serious shortcomings!

Like so many others have complained of above, my main complaint is that although this remote's RF cabability is a welcome functional improvement, it is substantially LESS usable as a multi-device universal remote than the URC-1056, due to its apparent lack of optional "unlock" modes. Its inability to allow the user to unlock on a per-device basis the volume controls and the number (and channel up/down) controls mean I have to now keep handy my AVR and DVD remotes in order to use those devices as intended. I'm going to reach out to Rogers and/or UEI to see if it's possible to unlock the missing features, and if it's not, I think it's probable I'll be returning this remote.

Some thoughts on the new remote:

• ERGONOMICS: - no where near as good as the URC-1056.
  - The URC-2125 is about 2cm shorter than the URC-1056 and for the most part is about 0.5cm narrower - so its buttons seem crammed in, even though it actually has 5 fewer buttons.
  - Although both remotes are the same width at their upper ends, the URC-2125 lacks the bulbous D-PAD area and otherwise near-straight (subtlely curved) shoulders of the older model, and it instead employs a gentle hourglass shape that tapers considerably below the playback controls (Pause/Play/RW/FF). As a result, when transitioning grip from the lower half of the remote up to the D-PAD/OK/GUIDE/Device buttons, the URC-2125 slips through the fingers far too easily, slipping further than is usually intended. I've already dropped it a few times because of this (slipped right through my my vertically-oriented hand), fortuantely at this point only onto my lap and couch. Transitioning your grip from the upper half to number keys in the lower half on the URC-2125 is also problematic due a combination of the curvature of the sides and underside, overall size of the remote (slightly shorter tail), and number button shape/design. End result: the remote either slips only to the BACK/GUIDE area (about 1/4s the way down) or I find I have to shuffle the remote with my thumb, multiple times, in order to get to the numbers. A simple flick of the wrist used to be all that was needed! And because the lower end of the URC-2125 is tapered so narrow, and because its tail is so short, the lower half of this remote is just not comfortable to hold or use.
  
  
• IT'S NOT A VERY GOOD UNIVERSAL REMOTE: - thanks to no (known) INDIVIDUAL VOLUME UNLOCK function and/or CHANNEL CONTROL UNLOCK function.
  - What is the point of being an All-in-One universal remote when it does not allow users to do the basic functions of other device's remotes? The URC-2125 does not allow the user to unlock the ability to control the volume of their AUDIO device separately to the volume of their TV (and/or Cable box), and also does not allow the user the ability to unlock and use the channel control buttons (number buttons and CH+/-) for their AVR and DVD/Blu-ray devices. Control remains locked to CABLE (i.e., the PVR).
  - The URC-1056 and, I believe, every PVR remote I've used (going back 15 years?) has had 'unlock' ability via the Setup button and a key sequence found in the remote's manual. (I've tried all previously-documented codes to no avail). So until now, I've always been able to control my TV and AVR volumes independently using the PVR's universal remote. (My high-end TV has a superb soundbar built-in, so the AVR, side speakers and sub are typically only used for prime-time viewing and sporting events, not for casual solo viewing or video game playing). And, in addition to AVR input switching --previously done by number pad on my universal remote, no longer possible-- when on my AVR's RADIO mode, I've always been able to switch between radio station presets using the CH+/- buttons, but can't do that any more because the buttons are locked to CABLE, so change the TV(PVR) channel.
  - I should mention that the Atlas URC-1056's DVD and VCR modes similarly disabled number key entry, though the CH+/- buttons were still functional (correct for the respective device). I don't know why the number keys were non-functional on that remote, but had always hoped that the next remote I got would not be crippled in the same manner. So finding that the URC-2125 has one fewer device capability but has cripped the AUDIO mode as well  is a big disappointment. I've now got a stack of remotes on my coffee table again. Why are we going backwards not forwards?
  REQUEST FOR ROGERS: CAN YOU PLEASE CONTACT UEI AND INQUIRE-
  - WHY DOES THE URC-2125 NOT SEEM TO INCLUDE THE PER-DEVICE VOLUME AND CHANNEL UNLOCK MODES THAT PREVIOUS MODELS OF REMOTES HAD AND THAT ROGERS CUSTOMERS ARE ACCUSTOMED TO USING?
  - IF THE REMOTE IS CABABLE BUT THE FEATURES ARE SIMPLY NOT DOCUMENTED, WHAT ARE THE SETUP KEY SEQUENCES NEEDED?
  
  

• BUG: - intermittently loses control of CABLE mode
  - More than a few times already, I've been on CABLE mode, watching live or recorded programming, then picked up the remote to do something like change the channel or view the GUIDE, only to find the remote seemingly non-responsive. When I look at the remote and press a button again, I see all the buttons light up, but neither the CABLE button or any other device button light up, indicating that the remote has 'lost' its mode. Once I tap CABLE, everything works normally again... until the next that it randomly chooses not to.
  
  
• BUG: - when in IR mode, 3-minute skip function does not work
  - When I first got the remote, I didn't immediately RF-pair it with my NB3, and I instead tested functionality compared to my old remote - and I noticed that the 3-minute skip function via PAGE+/PAGE- did not work. I was really disappointed! However after I RF-paired the remote with my NB3, 3-minute skip function was enabled. As 3-minute skip worked on the IR-only URC-1056, one would assume 3-minute skip should work on the URC-2125 in IR-mode.
  
  
• UNUSED >| BUTTON DUE TO NAVIGATR feature loss
  - The URC-2125 features a Skip to End button. Unfortunately, when Rogers introduced NAVIGATR, it removed this feature from our PVRs - so this button is currently unable to function. (Skip to End allows the user to quickly jump to the end of a recording, or to the end of the cache when viewing live tv; incidentally I would have thought the LIVE button could have been made redundant by this key).
  SUGGESTION FOR ROGERS/NAVIGATR: REENABLE Skip to End on our PVRs, in NAVIGATR, so that the remote can make use of it.
  
  
• No FAV Button = *NOT* SHOMI-FRIENDLY.
  - On Shomi, (which I must remind everyone is a Rogers co-owned on-demand service), the only way to add episodes to your Shomi Playlist is to use the FAV button. WHAT FAV button? The URC-2125 doesn't have one. Rogers: Shomi now needs to be updated as soon as possible to become URC-2125 remote compatible.
  SUGGESTION: assign the unused 'D' button in Shomi as 'Add to Playlist'.
  - Note: While I'm mentioning the FAV button, on the old Atlas remote, it was somewhat redundant because a double-press of GUIDE would (and still does) bring up My Favourites, and additionally it did cause issues on the NB3 when invoked while GUIDE was hidden - it changed and saved the Guide Filter preferences and caused only My Favourites to show with no way to quickly switch back. This could only be undone by manually going back into Filter Channels via C button and changing and saving the setting.
  
  
• NO MOVE BUTTON? WHAT WHY?
  If the MOVE button is not considered important enough to include on a remote any more, I can live with that... as long as there is an option to move it IN NAVIGATR SETTINGS. So, how about it, Rogers?
  
  
• NO SETTINGS button ("SETTINGS" is shown as 2nd function, but indicates it is accessed via MENU, which is 6 button presses on URC-2125 vs just 1 on the URC-1056)
  - I'm not missing something, am I? There's no 2nd function, is there?
  - SUGGESTION TO ROGERS/NAVIGATR: make the currently unused 'B' button SETTINGS, and while you're at it make the currently used 'C' button enable/disable Closed Captioning. And, while you're at it, make a 2nd press of the 'D' button close Weather, instead of making us reach for EXIT.
  
  
• Horizontal PAUSE/PLAY rocker with lower-set PAUSE: is it an improvement?
  - Perhaps it'll just take some getting used to, but I keep hitting STOP instead of PAUSE, thanks to something like 15 years of muscle memory, from past PVR, and VCR remotes, including the URC-1056 which had PAUSE directly below PLAY. Also, in my mind, left = RW and right = FW, so I don't expect left to equal PAUSE. I wonder why the sudden change in ergonomics?
  

I think that's all for now. I wrote far more than I was expecting to!

[OLDYELLR]

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@theClubHopper wrote:

• ERGONOMICS: - no where near as good as the URC-1056.

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Even though I don't have one of these new ones and I'm not planning to get one, I have to jump in here. Why, oh why, do they always have to keep changing stuff for the sake of change?  I keep 4 remotes in the side pocket of my La-Z-Boy recliner (Rogers PVR, Samsung TV, AVR, DVD-R) and can tell them all apart just by feel. The URC-1056 is by far the most ergonomic and I can never pick it up the wrong way. The Samsung TV one is the worst because it's symmetric top to bottom and half the time I have it backwards and have to look at it and turn it around. Why would designers do that?

On another note, why do these Rogers remotes have letters above the numbers like a telephone dial (ABC above the 1, etc)? Is there a function for that?

[kimbelery87]

My video input button is doing nothing. The remote has been paired with my Nextbox and Auria TV. It seems to work with my TV, it turns on/off, controls volume. Only other issue is it opens my TV settings fine but the arrow buttons have no functionality to make any changes.
I'm just trying to cycle to my Playstation on HDMI 2, which wasnt an issue with the old remotes Video Source button.
I make sure I am in TV mode before hitting the button, am I missing something??

[57]

One should not be surprised when different remotes have different functionality.  I've had several different remotes over a period of roughly 15 years and each of them behaved differently. For example, one of the remotes was able to have direct access to various inputs on a Yamaha AVR that I have.  The next remote behaved totally differently and didn't have the same type of direct input access (by pressing the number buttons for example).  Some remotes can control TV inputs while others cannot.

One also needs to remember that these remotes are not manufactured by Rogers, but rather URC. Rogers may request that certain functionality is "pre-programmed" (like volume lock, ability to turn on/off most STBs/TVs (master power), etc).  They may even do this themselves - not sure how it's handled.

It would be nice if URC provided a link like they used to for the complete operating manual for the remote and not only the condensed "quick setup" sheets.  This would then allow consumers to override certain settings designed for "ease of use" by most Rogers customers.

I've often considered purchasing another remote like a Harmony, however, my 1056 is ergonomically well designed, I can use it without looking at it and covers 99% of my needs. When it doesn't manage, I pull out the remote specific to the device for the 1% of the time.  I'm sure that if I were not the only user in my home in our Home Theatre, I would have purchased a Harmony for wife or children, however, that has not been necessary.

[kjcurley]

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@kimbelery87 wrote:
My video input button is doing nothing. The remote has been paired with my Nextbox and Auria TV. It seems to work with my TV, it turns on/off, controls volume. Only other issue is it opens my TV settings fine but the arrow buttons have no functionality to make any changes.
I'm just trying to cycle to my Playstation on HDMI 2, which wasnt an issue with the old remotes Video Source button.
I make sure I am in TV mode before hitting the button, am I missing something??

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The remote can only control input on a single device so your input key may be locked to a device other than your TV. You change the input lock as follows:

1. Press and hold SETUP until the mode key blinks twice.

2. Press the VIDEO INPUT key.

3. Press the mode key for the device you wish to use for input switching (In your case you would want to select TV). The key will blink twice to confirm. 

[Pauly]

Guys, there should be another way to activate the FAV (Favourites) key, as well as the Picture in Picture key when no such key exists on the remote, its called EFC commands (Extended Function Control) commands. There is a 4 or 5 digit code you can enter to activate the function even if the remote does not contain the required button. I have not studied this new remote yet but I can definately do some tests to figure out how to get the fav and pip options back, I can even help you guys to program them as a macro into an existing unused key as well once I figure out.

[robindp]

Hello Everyone,

I picked up the Rogers RF remote (URC-2125) and want to provide feedback (further to the excellent post by @theClubHopper😞

- Pressing "Volume Up" or "Volume Down" transmits the signal to the TV only, not the AUDIO device (Yamaha amplifier)...even when I press "AUDIO" on the remote first.  This is fine when using the TV's internal speakers, but NOT okay when using my amplifier for surround sound. 

On the previous remote (URC-1056) the signal would be transmitted to the TV or AUDIO, depending on which mode the remote was in.  The new method makes zero sense, since you now require the actual amplifier remote in hand, which defeats the purpose of having a universal remote.

- Pressing "Video Source" transmits the signal to the TV only, not the AUDIO device (Yahama amplifier)...even when I press "AUDIO" on the remote first.  This means I cannot change input sources on the amplifier with the Rogers remote.

On the previous remote, the signal would be transmitted to the TV or AUDIO, depending on which mode the remote was in.  This new method makes zero sense...since you now require the actual amplifier remote in hand...which defeats the purpose of having a universal remote control.

- No "VCR" mode.  Yes...I still have 2 of them that see periodic use.

- The remote does not work with my living room TV (Vizio M70-C3).  It caused my Vizio **to stop responding to any IR input, even from the TV remote...unless the remote was pressed directly up to the IR sensor window***.

After fixing this issue by performing a TV factory reset, I tried again.

And again...the Vizio stopped responding to any IR input, unless the remote was pressed up against the IR sensor window.  I performed another factory reset, and it now works properly.

- The remote does not pair to my NextBox 3 via RF.  Held "Setup" + "Up Arrow" buttons (as directed) till lights flashed, then waited.   Does not control box any better than it did before, and it does not work if pointed away from the box. 

The remote also continues to control other devices (NextBox 2), which tells me it is still operating in IR mode.

These are severe regressions in functionality that, for me, are "deal-breakers". 

Looking for the community to chime in - are you seeing the same issues? Sorry for the mini-rant, just frustrated!

[MrMontagoose]

Need help.  I think I've accidentally set it to some weird mode where it's expecting a 3-digit code after I hit a particular key.  For example, when I was trying to navigate to channel 500 and it was not accepting the 0-keys, what was actually happening is that after pressing 5 it, basically, ignored the next 3 presses.  After pressing any three keys the cable light would blink twice, and after that I could press another key.  Except that by this time the PVR had already navigated to channel 5. 

Maybe I'm not describing it clearly, but I've noticed this pattern.  While I thought some keys were being unresponsive, in reality it looked like the remote was waiting for a specific input of three key-presses (some code?) before it "confirmed" the entry by flashing the cable key two times.  Until those three  keys had been pressed it was not sending *any* signal to the PVR (either RF or IR).

So I think what I need to do now is some kind of factory reset and start from scratch.  It really is almost useless now (or at leas very infuriating). 

[robindp]

Also:
- Remote intermittently looses control of cable box (must press "CABLE" again).

- PiP window can no longer be moved to corners of the screen (PIP Move button gone from remote. ROGERS: Can this not be re-mapped to another button - "B" or "C"?

[robindp]

Hello @MrMontagoose,

Have you tried removing the batteries for 5-10 seconds, then replacing them? This will usually fix these types of issues.