Frequently-asked questions
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Thinking of buying a Wand?
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Will the Kymera Wand work with my equipment?
The Kymera Wand is compatible with almost all makes of home audio-visual equipment around the world, such as TVs, DVD players, hi-fis and set-top boxes.
Please note that the Wand only works with infra-red (IR) remote controls, not radio-frequency (RF) remotes, and that the wand is not compatible with Bang & Olufsen equipment. Also, it is not able to perform the equivalent of a long button press (push-and-hold) on a normal remote control. -
Can the Wand perform all functions of my remote control?
No. The Kymera Wand can learn the infra-red (IR) codes from 13 of the buttons on your existing remote controls. This is enough for you to have some fun performing "magic" at home, but we didn't design the Wand to be a full-functioning replacement remote control.
You can over-write any of the 13 functions with new IR codes at any time, if you change your mind about the functions that you want the wand to perform. -
Is the Kymera Wand easy to use?
Like any magical instrument, it takes a bit of practice to master the Kymera Wand. Some people seem to be natural wizards and perform magic with it straight away, but for most muggles about ten minutes' practice is required to get the hang of the different movement gestures.
Please note that the Wand does require quite precise hand movements to perform the gestures, so we do not recommend it as a remote control for the elderly or infirm. -
Can I use the Wand if I have lost my original remote?
No. The wand is a learning remote and you have to teach it the infra-red (IR) codes from your original remote control(s). -
What's the difference between the Kymera and Kandela?
The Kymera wand is a universal 13-function buttonless remote control - you can use it to control your TV, DVD player, or almost anything that uses a normal infra-red remote control. The Kymera wand is coloured to look like an old Victorian wooden wand (pictured on this page)
The Kandela wand will only control the candle (included) and is not a universal remote control, but it's much easier to use - there's no programming needed to get it working. The Kandela wand is ivory-coloured - you can see some pictures of it here. -
How quickly will my package be delivered?
For UK addresses, we send all packages by First Class Recorded Delivery, and we aim to dispatch the same day for all orders received by midday Monday to Friday. The Royal Mail will normally deliver to you the next working day, but sometimes it can take a few days longer.
For US addresses, we dispatch from our Chicago warehouse using FedEx's 2nd business day service.
For all other countries, we dispatch from the UK using Royal Mail International Signed For priority airmail service, which normally takes 1-2 weeks to reach our customers, but the delivery time can be up to 4 weeks in some cases.
Please note that a signature will be required on delivery so you might prefer to use your work address as the delivery address if there's no-one at home during the daytime. -
Is the delivery packaging anonymous?
No. Our mailing carton has the words "The Wand Company" in large letters down the sides, and we also include our company name and address as the return address in case the package is undeliverable.
So, if you're buying the wand as a surprise gift for someone in your home, you might want to specify a different delivery address such as your office or a neighbour's address.
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Need help with your Kymera Wand?
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Having trouble with the rotation gestures?
For the rotation gestures (1 and 2), you need to rotate the wand very slowly and smoothly one quarter-turn, keeping the tip steady. Once you've gone just over a quarter-turn, the wand will register the rotation and go into fine-resolution rotation mode, where it will register an event every 15 degrees - this allows you to control the volume with only small movements of your wrist. -
Trouble with the flick gestures?
If you're having difficulty with the flick gestures, stop and hold the wand steady and horizontal for a couple of seconds before trying again.
Waving the wand more vigorously doesn't tend to work well - a short, positive flick of the wrist is all that is needed, where the tip of the wand only moves a few centimetres.
In case you haven't seen them already, please take a look at this page of our website and click on the typewriter-style buttons to see a short video clip showing how to perform each gesture. -
Trouble with the tap gestures?
The wand must be held quite steady during the tap gestures. To get started with these gestures, you might find it easiest to hold the wand firmly with one hand whilst tapping it on the criss-cross area with one or two fingers of the other hand. -
Instructional videos
There are a few videos on YouTube that show you how to use the Kymera Wand:
- Practising with the wand
- Programming the wand
- Using the wand
- A video made by one of our German resellers
- An example of controlling a TV and set-top box -
Having difficulty learning from your remote control?
Make sure that you've entered "Learning Mode" properly before trying to learn the infra-red (IR) codes from your normal remote control: point the wand vertically upwards, hold it steady and tap it twice on the criss-cross area - the wand should respond with four double pulses to confirm that it is in learning mode.
Carefully return the wand to the horizontal position and then do the gesture onto which you want to learn a remote control code. The wand pulses a number of times corresponding to that gesture (e.g. 3 pulses for an upwards flick) and then starts rapid pulsing - this tells you that it is ready to receive the remote control code.
During the rapid pulsing, point your existing remote control at the tip of the wand and briefly press the button of the function that you want the wand to learn (e.g. channel up). Then wait a second: if the wand has successfully learned the code, it confirms that it has done so with a big pulse.
If the wand doesn't give a big pulse, first try varying the distance between the tip of the wand and the front of your remote during learning - normally about 3 cm works best, but you could try a little closer or further away.
If varying the distance doesn't help then try varying the duration of the button press on your original remote control - normally it's best to use a very short press, but increasing the duration slightly (up to about half a second) might help. -
The wand can change channel on my TV once, but repeated commands don't seem to work
There are a few TVs (and other devices) which use infra-red (IR) "toggle codes" - these alternate between two different codes each time you press the button on your normal remote control. This is intended to avoid multiple commands being executed accidentally if the IR beam is broken during transmission (for example by the cat or another person walking between the remote control and the TV).
So, the first time you press the "channel up" button (for example, though this may also applies to other buttons), it will send one IR code (let's call it "code A", which will repeat for as long as you hold the button down), but the next time you press the same button, it will send a second IR code (B). On the third press, you'll be back to the first code A again, and so on. The TV will action a channel change when it sees code A, but it won't change the channel again if another code A is received consecutively, but is instead waiting to receive code B before it'll change channel in the same direction.
The wand can only learn the IR code it sees when the button is pressed once during learning mode, which will be either code A or code B. So, repeated gestures will send the same IR code each time, and that causes the problem you're experiencing.
Fortunately, there is a work-around:
- Whilst the TV is expecting to see A,B,A,B for repeated channel up (and, say, C,D,C,D for channel down), putting any other IR code in between the repeated A's will also work OK (e.g. A,X,A,X for two channel up changes, or C,X,C,X for two channel down changes).
- An undocumented feature of the wand is that you can actually learn more than one remote control button onto each gesture (as a kind of macro) if you press two buttons in quick succession whilst the wand is doing the fast pulsing during learning mode.
- Therefore if you first press the button that you want to use (e.g. channel up) and then quickly press another button which has no effect (e.g. the yellow button on most TV remotes does nothing most of the time), then the wand will learn two IR codes (e.g A,X) onto that gesture.
Now when you perform repeated gestures for channel up (e.g. flick upwards), the TV will receive code A (to change the channel up), then code X (which will do nothing but make it forget that it had just received code A), then the next code A (on the next flick upwards) should cause the channel to change again as expected. It might take you a couple of attempts to get the timing right for learning the "macro" of two buttons onto each gesture, but it's not too difficult once you get the hang of it. -
Problems with Windows Media Center?
If you find that Windows Media Center will only respond once to a given command from the wand and that repeated commands don't work, please take a look at the explanation and solution given here:
http://www.cepro.com/article/ no_more_quirky_ir_for_media_center/
Unfortunately their link to Autonomic Home is out-of-date - the IR Debounce Utility file they refer to can be downloaded from this page of Autonomic Home (near the bottom):
http://www.autonomichome.com/support_downloads.php -
Is it possible to over-write the learned IR codes?
Yes, absolutely. You can over-write any of the 13 functions with new IR codes at any time, if you change your mind about the functions that you want the wand to perform. -
Is there a way to completely reset the wand?
Yes, you can perform a factory reset to erase all learned infra-red (IR) codes and put the wand back into full practice mode:
- Put the wand into learning mode (point vertically upwards and double tap)
- Do any gesture to make it start the rapid pulsing
- Instead of sending it some IR from a regular remote, do the "big swish" gesture while the rapid pulsing is going on
- The wand will do a few fast strong pulses to acknowledge the erase request, then the same again shortly afterwards to confirm that erase is complete.
- Take the wand out of learning mode (point vertically downwards and tap)
- The wand will now be back to its factory-default state, in full "practice mode" for every gesture.
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Thinking of buying a Phaser?
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Will the Phaser work with my equipment?
The Phaser is compatible with almost all makes of home audio-visual equipment around the world, such as TVs, DVD players, hi-fis and set-top boxes. Please note that the Phaser only works with infra-red (IR) remote controls, not radio-frequency (RF) remotes, and that the Phaser is not compatible with Bang & Olufsen equipment. -
Can the Phaser perform all functions of my remote control?
No, the Phaser is not a full replacement for your standard remote control. However it can learn the infra-red (IR) codes from 36 of the buttons on your existing remote controls. This is enough for you to have some fun performing controlling your home entertainment equipment. You can over-write any of the 36 functions with new IR codes at any time, if you change your mind about the functions that you want the Phaser to perform. -
Is the Phaser easy to use?
Like any sensitive instrument, it takes a bit of practice to master the Phaser. Some people seem to be natural members of the Enterprise crew and can stun TVs and iPod docks into silence with it straight away, but for most Starfleet trainee officers, about ten minutes' practice is required to get the hang of the different movement gestures. Please note that the Phaser does require quite precise hand movements to perform the gestures, so we do not recommend it as a remote control for the elderly or infirm. -
What batteries does the Phaser use?
The Phaser I has a built-in rechargeable lithium power cell that is recharged via the USB cable supplied with the Phaser. (Any good quality micro USB cable may also be used). The Phaser II does not have a battery, but takes its power from the Phaser I when they are docked together. The power cell in the Phaser I cannot be changed and will last the lifetime of the product.
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