Check this out!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1379850929

a 12 gig for $102!!! Crazy. All the others are going for $600+

Yow! I would have sniped that up!

Tangent: Does there exist a tool that will monitor eBay for new auctions with certain keywords? I looked on shareware boards, but didn't find a tool that did exactly that thing.

Essentially, I'm in mourning because I didn't order another 3ware 6410 from Hypermicro before they ran out and I'd like to monitor eBay for new auctions of same...

Yeah.. it's built into ebay. Just click my ebay then favorites i think... i have a few setup.

Greetings!

Actually, I am kind of skeptical about this auction. According to the listing, it was ended early to sell to the bidder at the current price. The bidder is a zero feedback user with a username that looks like it was a throw-a-way (a6s7d8, type that to see what I am thinking). The bid history, too, looks like this user was created to outbid the current high bidders, then closed immediately. I may be wrong, but it looks "strange".

.. it's built into ebay.

D'oh!! I looked there last night, too!!

(Obvious incipient squash rot on my part. If only the battle for the billion-hour work week was done!)

In the Favorites section of your My eBay page, you can define your favorite searches. For example, "empeg" is one of mine. Next to the search, there is a checkbox; you can have eBay send you an email when a new item appears matching your search criteria in the category you chose. See attachment.

Edit: I am so slow today.

Does there exist a tool that will monitor eBay for new auctions with certain keywords?

Yes.

It is built right into ebay's software.

Do a search with whatever keywords and parameters you want (i.e., "empeg"). At the bottom left of the page of auctions that the search generates in quite small print is the link "Save this search". This will add that exact search to your "My Favorite Searches" tab in the "My Ebay" page that you have as a registered ebayer.

Go to that Favorite Search item, and check the box that says "Email Me" and click the submit button. From then on, any time an auction has the word "empeg" in it, you will receive an email within a few hours of the beginning of the auction.

It is easier to do than these instructions make it sound.

tanstaafl.

Well... that'll teach me to type faster. Looks like about four people beat me to it!

It is built right into ebay's software.

Deadfire/tanstaafl,

Thank you both. Rarely if ever in the short but broad history of the Internet has such clueless density been met with such patient kindness.

And I now have searches for "3ware 6410" and "15-1994"! (What *is* it about EOL products???!!)

Hmmmm.... Jim's after a new remote? I'll keep my eyes open.

Hmmmm.... Jim's after a new remote? I'll keep my eyes open.

Thanks! Actually, I do have *one* RS 15-1994 that I got for $30 on sale a while ago. I have looked at the newer RS JP1-enabled models like the 2104, but don't like the layout quite as much. I'm looking for 2 15-1994s actually, one as a backup for me, and a second to set up for a friend. I got outbid on the last one on eBay -- went for something like $47. I've raised my (snipe) bid a bit for the one that is sitting at $30 right now....we'll see!!

Whoa, are you saying that the 1994's are a rare item now?

Yikes. I need to stock up. Just yesterday I was thinking to myself how much I liked my 1994 and how future-proof it was thanks to the JP1 group. Just a couple of days ago I reprogrammed one of the buttons with IR.EXE and it was a very painless procedure.

They're really going for nearly 50 bucks on ebay? Wow...

I only recently have found the need for a "beefy" remote with learning/programming features, so I got the 2104, Radio Shack's apparently top-of-the-line model. Now that I have it, I think I would have been better off looking around for a 1994. The "home theater" mode is a good idea (arranging buttons into "groups" and having a seventh "device" which uses buttons from other devices) but in practice I find I still need to switch devices far too often. Plus, in the home theater mode, the "smart keys" aren't programmable to anything. The 4 "favorite" keys are equally useless, and I don't think those can be mapped to other functions in *any* mode unless there's some special tweak I haven't found on any of the 15-1994 hacking sites.

In other words, they oversimplified it and used up valuable buttons for gimmicky newbie features.

The 4 "favorite" keys are equally useless, and I don't think those can be mapped to other functions in *any* mode unless there's some special tweak I haven't found on any of the 15-1994 hacking sites.

I haven't had any trouble programming any key on the 1994, including those four. With some of the new protocols and stuff pioneered by Nicola, the sky is the limit on programming that thing. The only two buttons I couldn't do anything with were the SCAN and SWAP keys, and I took care of those with this hack. And that hack was done over a year ago, I'll bet that by now you can do that sort of thing in software.

There's a mailing list, under Yahoo Groups, called "JP1". If there's anything you want to do with a 1994, the folks there will help you do it. Indispensible information there, check it out.

Um unless I'm mistaken, the 15-1994 doesn't have the "favorite keys" I'm speaking of. They have names like "news" "sports" etc and are just there to store channel stacks which you can flip through. Anyway, the 2104 is quite a bit different from the 1994, even though they share the same codes and some of the same "hacking" behavior (magic button, macros, etc.)

Oh, sorry. By "4 favorite keys" I thought you were referring to the 1994's "1s, 2s, 3s, 4s" keys. Never mind.

What the HELL are you guys talking about.

Yeah, the 2104 has those, but it also has 4 "favorite channel" buttons that piss me off because I'm not going to use them for that purpose, and I can't find a way to map them to regular functions. Hence I have 4 worthless buttons on my $40 remote.

Does that new remote use a JP1 connector?

*sigh*

programmable remote controls??

I dunno, where might I find said connector?

programmable remote controls??

Yes, with a small connector to your PC's parallel port. I made the connector myself with about $15 worth of radio shack parts.

See, some of the remotes that were made by the "One-For-All" company (and their licensees such as Radio Shack) have upgrade connectors on them. These connectors are meant for the remotes to be upgraded at the factory.

But the connector electronics and the communication protocols have been reverse-engineered, and now you can use the PC's parallel port to mess with them. So, on the net, there is a group of "JP1 hackers" who can reprogram these things in any way you want. You're no longer limited to the features the manufacturers included.

In my case, this was with a remote that cost me only $39.00 new.

More info here.

I dunno, where might I find said connector?

Never mind, according to the JP1 FAQ, your Radio Shack 15-2104 does have the JP1 header and it is supported.

So ask on the JP1 Yahoo list to see if there are ways to reprogram those four buttons.

So ask on the JP1 Yahoo list to see if there are ways to reprogram those four buttons.

Good idea... Just gotta get one of them cables, I guess. Can't see myself spending the time to make one myself.

Can't see myself spending the time to make one myself.

They are actually pretty simple to build, especially if you do the simple design.

Yes, Tony, $47 for the last 1994 auction on eBay. Heh, now we can have a bidding war!!

Tony, Tony,

I initially built that simple interface and it worked fine. It was a pain, though, to find a 6-pin connector and the ribbon cable I had was way too short, so I ultimately bought a pre-built cable from this gent . Much longer (to reach around the back of this one particular PC) and it works great.

I would be surprised if you couldn't re-map those 2104 keys with IR.exe. My issue with the 2104 was that I didn't like the up/down, <> buttons as much as the 1994..

AH HAAA! Thank you for explaining Tony. That's actually pretty cool. Hadn't heard of it before.

General consensus (according to people I know with 1994s) is that the 1994 has a better button layout/design than the 2104. Unfortunately, you're pretty unlikely to find a 1994 anywhere. I think they discontinued them a while ago when they released the newer models.

If anybody comes across one at a decent price, let me know.

It was a pain, though, to find a 6-pin connector

I just used one of those ribbon cables originally intended to internally connect a PC serial port plug to the motherboard. The pin layout matched perfectly, and the ribbon cable was already attached. I did not depend on the ribbon cable for the length, mine is attached to a parallel port extender cable that I already had laying around.

Also, I did the "Micro Perf" design instead of the "Simple" design. That was actually a fun little project. The guys who drew up those instruction sheets are to be commended.

Oh, and I also "keyed" my 6-pin connector by gluing bits of perf board in strategic places. So I can't plug it in upside down.

Hah, see Tony? There's already a reply from the guy that wrote the extender protocol. I knew it could be done.

The JP1 group is cool.

Yeah, that's almost as cool as posting a message about a certain car audio player and getting a response from the guy(s) who created it. Naaah, that never happens...

I did not depend on the ribbon cable for the length, mine is attached to a parallel port extender cable that I already had laying around.

That's where I gave up. My creation worked fine *until* I tried extendding it with a straight-through DB-25 cable....and that config would work on my work laptop, but not on the parallel port on my home PC. So, after about 2 hours down the drain, the answer? Money!

(News flash! I have a lead on a 15-1994! Details to follow!)

Yeah, I had trouble sourcing a 6 pin connector and ribbon. I ended up trimming down a 10 wire ribbon and connector, applying judicious amounts of The Dremel and Epoxy. Seems to hold up well enough.

They're really going for nearly 50 bucks on ebay? Wow...

Nope. more like 61 bucks

Damn, I just end up in the best threads on here. Makes me wonder what I've been missing in the past few months.

Just taking some time to browse and for who knows what reason decided to read this thread. Now it turns into a discussion on the 1994 which I've been using for a couple of years. I originally bought four of them. 1 for myself, one for my brother, one for a friend and one for my parents. I was out a month ago looking for more of them and found nothing. My brother recently replaced his with an RCA model with an LCD featuring a nice enough button layout. Similar to the 1994 in programmability. It also has a 6 pin header in the battery compartment, but just pads, no pins.

I originally bought these remotes for $30 Canadian each. When I first bought mine, I thought only the four s buttons were custom and everything else had to be built-in. Imagine my surprise when I decided to try programming the other buttons. Wooowee! I had no idea.

And now I learn that there's been this whole movement of people programming these things with a parallel interface? Damn! That would have saved me a lot of time. A lot.

Never too late to start playing with an old toy I guess.

Bruno

My brother recently replaced his with an RCA model with an LCD featuring a nice enough button layout.

Hey, does your brother want to sell his 1994???

I'll give him, like, 15 bucks for it!!

It also has a 6 pin header in the battery compartment, but just pads, no pins.

Then it is likely that his unit is supported by the same IR.EXE hacking software that we're using on the 1994 unit. All you have to do is solder some kind of a connector onto those pads.

And now I learn that there's been this whole movement of people programming these things with a parallel interface? Damn! That would have saved me a lot of time. A lot.

When you see it in action, it's really quite cool. After having jumped through hoops to get codes punched into it through the thing's keypad, you will be amazed at what you can do with IR.EXE.

One of the most interesting things you can do is to drop little machine-language "extender" programs into the remote's memory. These are more than just macros, they are embedded code, and can make significant changes to the remote's behavior.

The first of these extenders was written by Nicola Salmoria of "MAME" fame. I remember when he first joined the JP1 mailing list and started messing with the stuff. Soon he was doing amazing things with the code that no one had ever dreamed of.

We need to get an empeg in Nicola's hands. Then he and Mark can compete for the most amazing hack prize.

actually... i would DEFINITELY contribute to a group fund for buying him an empeg. That's a brilliant idea.

no... wait... that would give him less time to work on MAME... no good...