Syncing Power on/off of 6000 Bar to Direct TV remote

gdmedia

Following the instructions, I first synced my 6000 SurroundBar to the remote for my Sharp TV. Went through all the buttons, except "Source", and all -- including the Power button -- synced fine with the Sharp remote. Can now turn the Bar on/off, adjust volume and mute, using the Sharp TV remote.

But -- what I really want is to use my Direct TV (DTV) remote to control everything, including the Bar. I had already synced it to the Sharp TV and all the buttons I needed to use, including power, worked fine for the Sharp TV. So, theoretically, the DTV remote should now also work fine with the SurroundBar. Which it does -- for volume up/down and mute. But not for "TV Power On / Off". The DTV remote has a "Power" button (which is supposed to be for external equipment) and also a pair of "TV On" and "TV Off" buttons. They will operate the DTV receiver and the Sharp TV but not the SurroundBar. (The other "Power" button on the DTV remote will not work for the SurroundBar, either.) So, I have to use either the TV remote or the supplied Bar remote to turn the Bar on and off.

Has anybody found a way to make those "TV On" and "TV Off" buttons on the DTV receiver remote work with their Surround Bar? Would be convenient to be able to do that.

ONE MORE QUESTION: What about just leaving the Bar on, like leaving the sub on (which the manual says to just do)? Is there some significant difference between the bar and the wireless sub that would cause you to turn the former off and just leave the latter on?

VR3

Hey GDMedia,

You should have no issues leaving the surround bar on.

To make sure I am understanding correctly, are you syncing the remote by a manufacture code or are you manually teaching the remotes these codes? (The remotes facing each other, you pressing a button on each remote that you want the new remote to act on...)

Thanks

gdmedia

Previously, I had synced the Direct TV (DTV) Remote to my new Sharp TV, using the manufacture code in the DTV receiver menu. Then, after the surround bar was installed, I followed its instructions to sync the Sharp TV remote to the surround bar. That worked perfectly. In theory, the DTV remote should now also control the surround bar. Which it does, except for the DTV remotes Power On / Power Off-TV button set, which does work with the Sharp TV and the DTV receiver, but not with the surround bar.

VR3

Sometimes with those manufacture setup codes some of the commands will not transfer correctly. I would recommend trying to manual learning function. That way you can choose what commands go where.

gdmedia

I will check the DTV manual to see if that remote can be programmed that way. Might be problematical, even if it is, because the Sharp TV remote "Power" is one toggle button while the DTV remote is two buttons in a set to control the DTV receiver and your TV on with one button and off with the other one. Seems like if they were just sending out the same signal to toggle power on and off, they would just be one button. But I have no idea, really.

gdmedia

Just discovered last night: The 6000 SurroundBar GOES TO STANDBY MODE BY ITSELF after it is not fed any audio for some period of time. So, my whole concern here was unnecessary. When I turn off my TV, the bar takes care of itself, in a little while. (As I should have made clear, what I wanted to do was put the bar on "standby", which I was calling "turning it off". I didn't mean the main power to it.)

NOTE TO POLK: Maybe this is something that should be noted in the manual. You do say it about the sub, but not the bar.

Bottom line: I am VERY PLEASED with the way the SurroundBar 6000 programs itself to fit my DTV and TV remotes, including going to standby by itself, as well as VERY PLEASED with the sound (oh, yeah, that) -- which is excellent!