Alexa and RM Pro – Set top box tutorial

  www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ge9KV8Kzac%5B/embedyt%5D
 This is an instructional video to show you how to fool Alexa into controlling Cable TV from any provider, including Sky, Virgin Media, Talktalk, Now Tv, Xfinity, Comcast, Time Warner and Charter.As well as showing you how to control your set top box with Alexa, I will also show you how to setup the Broadlink Econtrol app to control cable TV from the phone app and also how to add TV channel buttons as widgets/shortcuts to your Android home screen.

All you need is an RM pro for around £30 and my guide will show you how to link Alexa to your receiver.

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37 Replies to “Alexa and RM Pro – Set top box tutorial”

  1. hi ,
    i am trying to set up my virgin tv to my broadlink rm pro, and have still not managed to find the video on how to set it up from the start

    is there any way you can help me out with out to do this please

    thank you
    gary

  2. Hi Paul!

    Have you ever had any problems with the RM Pro not working with the set top box after some time has passed? It will be working for maybe 20 minutes after I set it up, but the set top box no longer responds to it after that. The orange light comes on showing that it is putting out a signal, and everything else still works with it. Just not the cable box. It doesn’t matter if I use Alexa or the app, the result is the same.

      1. I have same problem with my SKY remote the only buttons that work are the volume buttons, and this because the SKY remote sends out the signal that matches the TV. The quickest way to find out if your remote is RF/Bluetooth is to cover the remote control with your hand if it works then it’s using RF/Bluetooth. Some other buttons do work sometimes and some do strange commands like swap the input source of the TV. I think the issue is with Broadlink unit 100%, whoever this might be to do with the unit possibly being a copy (fake) version, I only paid £20 from China. I am only guessing that it’s fake due to the issues I am having, works sometime and then it locks up and I need power down to reset. The TV control work perfectly all the time, the locking up issue only happens whilst in the learning mode. Also work via Alexa voice commands for the TV every time.

        Has anyone found a fix?

  3. His Paul. I am trying to set up my virgin tivo remote in the broadlink e control app . The only buttons that the app will learn are the volume buttons. It says the others are learned but pressing them does nothing. Wold you know why this is?

    1. I’ve heard something similar with Sky, in that case it was that the volume buttons were the only infrared buttons, everything else was bluetooth! I didn’t think Virgin had bluetooth remotes though, are you able to look at the model number and google it?

  4. Hi Paul.

    I have tried and tried but I cannot seem to add the comands to Broadlink rm pro for my sky plus HD box.

    I have tried to manually add it to the broadlink and can get some buttons to work but not the Numerical keys ie to select channel 401 etc

    Any advice

  5. hi I posted on here but it seems to have vanished.
    Can you give any help with Sky remote it is fully IR remote and many say have it working but I cannot make it work

    any help would be great

    kind regards

    1. Your remote is almost definitely the Bluetooth one. BUT the sky box can recover either, you just need to find an infrared sky remote to teach the Broadlink with. You could use Econtrol to download the remote! Check out this tutorial for Xbox, it will show you exactly what I mean. 🙂

      youtu.be/4OnUUoOYbTY

    1. See my reply to John below 🙂

      Your remote is almost definitely the Bluetooth one. BUT the sky box can recover either, you just need to find an infrared sky remote to teach the Broadlink with. You could use Econtrol to download the remote! Check out this tutorial for Xbox, it will show you exactly what I mean. 🙂

      youtu.be/4OnUUoOYbTY

  6. Hi Thanks Paul,

    I tried the other night using the app to download the remote and tried every single sky controller listed and not one worked.

    The funny thing is that the controller I have works using a magic eye from one room to another so not sure how it can be bluetooth

    will keep trying

    1. Mine fails to find the SKY IR frequency the BROADLINK doesn’t offer this frequency by the seems of things. My Broadlink is two weeks old so not sure if the newer units have an issue with SKY Box IR frequencies. Sony TV works fine all the time, and with Alexa voice control.

  7. That is strange!! If your magic eye works then so should the broadlink, it’s all the same protocol. It makes me question if the Broadlink is working properly! Have you been able to teach it other Infrared remotes successfully?

  8. Hi Paul
    The new virginmedia V6 tivo box remote does not work with broadlnk. When you try and get broadlnk to ‘learn’ the remote buttons, it just doesn’t see (hear) them. The remote works using IR and radio frequency. Any other reports of this? Any idea why it doesn’t work? Thanks

    1. Hey dude,

      I’ve heard this with Sky, but not with Virgin! I don’t think I have the latest box though. Which buttons are IR and which are RF?

      -P

      1. I think the only IR buttons are the volume up and down (for TV) and the (long hold) stand by button for switching the TV on or off. All other buttons are RF, which is better as you don’t need to be in line of sight to control the box but the frequency isn’t compatible with the Broadlnk pro.

  9. Hi
    My mother has dementia and can’t remember how to play her recordings from her sky hd planner ..we try to explain over the phone but to no avail..😳is there anyway that we can control her sky box and play her recorded programmes for her remotely from our homes through an app or something else??please help us and our mum
    Cheers
    Lee

    1. Hello brother. You need 2 things, visibility and control. No 1 device can give you both control and visual access (as far as I know), but I know 2 devices that could work together to get you to your goal!…

      Visibility: There is a box called Sentab which is an Android box that sits between the TV provider’s set top box and the TV (bizarrely I just so happen to be reviewing it this week!). It does HDMI pass through which means it feeds the TV signal from the Sky box to the TV, but because it is sat in the middle it can do things like overlay video calls and reminders to take tablets etc over the top of the Broadcast. This means you can video call your parent without them needing to understand or do anything, if the TV is on then you can speak to them and make sure they’re OK, more of a bonus than a solution to your current situation, BUT…

      If you installed Teamviewer on the Sentab box then you could also get visibility of what she is seeing!! I haven’t tested this, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.

      The guys at Sentab are really helpful so they may have an even better solution to allow you visibility and maybe even control of the box if you get in touch with them. 🙂

      Control: To control the Sky box remotely so you can can load stuff up for her you would need the Broadlink Blackbean. It will act in place of the remote and you can control it using the IHC app from your location.

      If you use Teamviewer on your PC or tablet to gain visibility of the Sentab box you should be able to see the Sky box, and then you can use the IHC app on your phone to control it. You’ll be able to both see the Sky box and control it. Voila!! 🙂

      -P

  10. Hi Paul, new subscriber on your channel. Loving the videos!

    I have a Virgin Tivo remote I am trying to train my RM Pro with. Can get the remote into IR mode and most buttons seem to work but for the life of me, I can’t get the RM to learn the 0 (zero) button. This is slightly problematic for any TV channels that have a zero in them lol!

    Any help would be gratefully received.

    – Neil

    1. Hi Neil,

      That’s a super weird problem!! I think the RM pro now learns the length of key-presses (it didn’t used to), so I would recommend try teach the 0 key again and hold the key at different lengths until you find one that works (short tap, press for a half second, press for a second etc).

      Hope that helps!

      -P

      1. Hi Paul,

        It is really weird, all the other buttons worked without issue. Didn’t realise how may channels have a fricken zero in it lol! Thanks for the suggestion. Will try tonight and let you know. It’s the IHC for EU app on my iPhone I’m using, as I want to use it with Alexa.

        Keep doing what you do man, videos are awesome!

        -Neil

  11. Can I use any broadlink to control my Virgin V6 box?If so which one will work?I will use your link to buy if one of them works.

    1. Hi Dave, If you only want to control IR devices (Not RF), then the Blackbean will do the job 🙂
      What you will most likely discover though is that the Tivo remote is automatically configured to bluetooth mode which the Broadlink won’t be able to learn. You’ll need to set the Tivo remote to Infrared mode before you try to teach the RM pro. There’s some info ojn that here: mediacomcc.custhelp.com/euf/assets/documents/remote%20user%20guides/TiVo%20Series%205%20Remote%20User%20Guide.pdf

      There’s a guide here to setting the Broadlink up to control TV channels, I think I used an RM pro in the video, but the instructions are the same to control the blackbean: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENGoYuUsq6U

      Thanks,

      -P

        1. Hey David,

          Perhaps it is. Either way it should work out the same way, you just need to get the remote into Infrared mode in order to train the Broadlink device.

          Thanks,

          -P

        2. Hi Dave, I just got mine set up a couple of weeks ago. Yes as Paul says, simply put the Bluetooth into IR mode and it works a treat!

          Neil

          1. Yeah okay David, I didn’t type the word ‘remote’ after Bluetooth.

            The Bluetooth remote for your virgin box? Put it in IR mode and the Broadlink will learn the codes for the Virgin TiVo remote.

          2. Ok thanks but according to virgin it’s not got Bluetooth,but I understand what you mean now.

          3. No worries. The Virgin Remote connects to the Virgin Box via Bluetooth. It doesn’t need line of sight of the box to work that way you see.

            Once you get the Broadlink set up you can pair the remote back to the box. It only needs to be in IR mode to let the Broadlink learn the codes for the buttons you want it to learn.

            It really works very well. My six year old daughter loves changing TV channels with it!

  12. Hi Paul I have set up my broadlink with sky as your videos show , I can get Alexa to do volume up / down tv on / off but the tv channels iv programmed don’t work all Alexa says is ‘ I can’t find any enabled video skills that can do that ,
    Any ideas what I’m doing wrong
    Thanks

    1. Hey Ben, that’s a weird one! Are you using the exact same phrasing as I am in the video? If you are then try changing the name of the channel to test in IHC and then get Alexa to scan again. That will hopefully give you an idea if it’s just an issue with naming. Alexa doesn’t like certain names, and she seems to be especially awkward with channel names!

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