Marantz RC5400 - RC5400 Customization: Macros vs. Help Lists

User Guide
18
Customizing Your RC5400
If your entire system is new to you, practice using the RC5400
manually for a few days before programming any macros. You’ll find
that your home theater requires many operations that require multiple
steps to do. You have to decide whether to use a:
Macro - The entire operation happens in an automated sequence
when you touch one button.
Help List - The operation happens manually but is prompted by large
sequentially numbered buttons with friendly labels on one sequence of
pages linked together.
Some multiple step operations require you to make decisions before
you proceed. An example is turning on a non-Marantz home theater
system. Many components turn on and off with a single “Power”
button. Before you press a “Power” button, the manufacturer expects
you to look at the component to see whether it is on or off. If you want
it on and it’s off, you press the “Power” button. If you forget to look,
and it is already on, you will turn it off when you press the “Power”
button. The Remote cannot “look” at your components to see if they
are on or off. So, if you recorded a macro intended to power up a non-
Marantz home theater, it wouldn’t be very reliable.
Here ’ s an example:
Your spouse goes out to the local video store and rents a video tape.
When he/she gets home, they pop the tape in the VCR (most VCR
’ s
automatically turn on when a tape is inserted). Your spouse touches the
macro button you programmed to power up the system. The recorded
sequence of
“ power ” buttons is played back. Unfortunately, since the VCR
was already on, it is now off and everything else is on. Your spouse sees
no picture, assumes the macro didn
’ t work, so he/she touches the button
again. This time, the macro turns the VCR on and every thing else off.
Frustrating!
Marantz builds components that are “macro-friendly”. Instead of a
single “power” button, the remote controls have a discrete “On” and a
discrete “Off” button. With a Marantz system, you can record a Macro
that is very reliable from a series of “On” commands. Take a look at
the example ALL ON and ALL OFF macros preprogrammed in the
default configuration.
3. Complex Operation? Macro or Help...