Greetings all - I had the same problem, I had IR codes that I needed to get into Harmony and didn't have a remote with those codes. I found all the harmony links that worked back in 2010'ish to be dead ends.
BUT I WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT WORK with this hardware:
- Purchased the iTach flex wifi to IR system ($100). It worked great for controlling devices, but the 3-in-1 cable didn't work training Harmony. Drat! I picked up a learning remote, and it didn't seem powerful enough to make that work either.
- Purchased the iTach flex 3-port splitter.
- Purchased this 3 party blaster:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0039BYJ4A. It worked in either port1 or port2, don't try it in port3 in blaster mode, it won't work.
- I did not try the flex IR blaster, that may also work fine in port3 mode.
- Note that iTach flex Wifi setup is a bit tricky - I had to use my wife's iPhone to make it work. My Android phone/tablet and win10 laptop couldn't make that wifi mode work properly.
Using their software:
- Use iLearn, enter your codes in Edit view, in whatever format you wish. They have iConvert to convert to/from hex codes.
- Put your remote or Harmony into learning mode. Hold the IR blaster very close to the new remote. Have iLearn do Send IR.
- This approach worked for me for training a learning remote, harmony hub, and the harmony ultimate remote. My first attempt with all 3 worked!
As for why? Many devices allow more codes than show up on their remotes, these are often shared on the Web. For myself, I needed my Yamaha 2nd amp (in IR2 mode) to have discrete power on and power off abilities in harmony. Otherwise Harmony would just cycle power, and would often get it wrong. Now I can Amazon Alexa and iTach in some situations and Harmony for my wife, and they play together nicely.
FYI, a few things that did not work:
- In all of these cases, the actual devices (receivers, A/V equipment) worked when signaled directly. What did not work is using iTach to try and train another device so it could control it later by itself. For me, this includes learning remotes, harmony hub, and harmony ultimate remote.
- Don't use the 3-in-1 iTach splitter cable. The connector 1,2 visible emitters don't seem powerful enough. The connector 3 blaster is seen, but the codes are not recognized.
- What also does not work: trying the X10 powermid IR extender or BAFX IR repeater or BAFX IR extender to boost the signal.
- Also didn't work: using the blaster above in a port on the BAFX IR repeater or in the remote out on my A/V equipment. My guess is that the blaster uses too much power, and that only the iTach unit is supplying enough to make it work properly.
- Also didn't work: using the Harmony blaster with a 2.5" to 3.5" converter. That didn't work with anything I tried.
Hope this helps others!