A new gate remote does nothing until the receiver in your gate motor has learned it. With most remotes sold today you do that at the motor, not by copying the old remote, and every brand does it a little differently. Below are the steps for the remotes we sell, taken from each maker's own instructions. Find your brand, follow the steps, and test the remote from the street before you close everything up.
Before you start
- Match the remote to the receiver. A remote only works on a receiver of the same brand, frequency and code type. Sentry marks its code hopping receivers with a sticker: a blue dot is 433MHz and a blue and black dot is 403MHz. On ET Nice receivers, a plain orange antenna takes only the older ET Blue format, while a white and orange antenna takes ET Blu Mix as well.
- Find the learn button or menu. On most motors it is on the control board under the motor cover. Some motors use a menu on a screen or a phone app instead.
- Work safely. The control board sits inside the motor, where there can be mains power, and the gate can move while you work. Open only the cover the manual tells you to, keep your hands away from the gears and the rack, and if you are not comfortable doing it, ask your installer.
Centurion Systems Nova remotes
The Nova 1 button, Nova 2 button and Nova 4 button remotes work on Centurion Systems motors and receivers with Nova code hopping. How you add one depends on the motor.
SMART and SMART+ motors
On Centurion Systems SMART and SMART+ motors you add, label and delete remotes in the MyCentsys Pro app. Stand at the motor, connect to it in the app, add the Nova remote and choose what each button must do, such as open the gate fully or open it for a pedestrian, then follow the prompts on the screen. Centurion Systems rates the D5-Evo SMART receiver for up to 1,500 remotes.
D5-Evo and D10 with the LCD screen
These are Centurion Systems' own steps for the older controllers with a screen:
- Press and hold the oblong button between the two arrows for about 2 seconds.
- At "Setting Limits", press the up arrow until "Remote Controls (TX)" shows, then press the oblong button briefly.
- At "Add Remote", press the oblong button briefly again.
- Choose "Trigger Gate" (or the pedestrian function for a pedestrian button) and press the oblong button.
- At "Timebar Remote: No", press the oblong button.
- When the screen asks for the remote, press the remote button. A unique ID number on the screen means it has been learned.
- Press the round button until you are out of the menu, then test the remote.
The same Remote Controls menu is where you delete a lost remote.
Original D3 and D5 with a Nova Voyager receiver
These older motors use a master remote, which is the first remote learned into the receiver, so you do not need to open anything:
- Press any button on the master remote and keep it down for at least 10 red LED flashes, or about 10 seconds if you cannot see the receiver, then let go. Holding it for more than 20 seconds will not start learning.
- The receiver now listens for 10 seconds. Press the button on the new remote. Every press gives you another 10 seconds.
- About 10 seconds after your last press the red LED goes off and learning ends.
The receiver holds 36 buttons, the master included. If the master remote is lost, the memory has to be erased, a new master set up and every remote learned in again, so mark your master remote clearly.
Sentry code hopping remotes
The Sentry 1 button 433MHz, 1 button 403MHz and 3 button 403MHz code hopping remotes learn into Sentry code hopping receivers only. Sentry says they cannot be learned into receivers from other makers. Check the dot on your receiver and buy the remote with the same frequency.
Sentry's steps for its 1 channel code hopping receiver:
- Press and release the Program button once. The LED flashes once.
- Hold the remote about 1 metre from the receiver and press the button you want to use. The LED flashes three times when the remote is stored.
- For the next remote, press the Program button once more and repeat.
- When you are done, switch the receiver's power off for 10 seconds and back on.
On a receiver that already has remotes, each press of the Program button moves to the next memory slot, and learning a remote into a slot that is in use replaces the remote stored there. If you are not sure which slot is free, ask your installer. Holding the Program button for about 8 seconds erases every remote. Sentry's other receivers follow the same idea, so check the leaflet that came with yours.
Want one remote in place of several old ones? The Sentry self-learning remotes copy older Sentry 403MHz binary, trinary and SMART remotes, and the Sentry dual frequency learning remote copies seven code types on 403MHz and 433MHz, code hopping included.
Gemini remotes
On current Gemini motors with the red release lever, only Gemini code hopping remotes such as the Gemini 1 button and Gemini 3 button work on the onboard receiver. Older Gemini motors use a separate receiver, and the remote has to match that receiver. Gemini's manual for its 12V sliders gives these steps:
- Press and hold the button on the remote.
- While you hold it, press and release the LEARN button on the control board.
- The receiver LED on the board flashes twice. Let go of the remote button.
- Repeat for each remote.
The receiver holds 30 remotes. When it is full, the LED flashes five times in a row, and no more remotes can be added until the memory is cleared. To clear every remote, hold the LEARN button until the receiver LED goes off. Gemini warns that if programming goes wrong, the motor can learn remotes from neighbouring properties too. If that happens, clear all the remotes and learn only your own again. Motors with the GEMLINK smart device can also add remotes in the GEMLINK app.
ET Nice Blu Mix remotes
The ET Nice Blu Mix 1 button, 2 button, 4 button and 6 button remotes work on ET Nice gate motors, garage motors and receivers. Each button can send the newer Blu Mix code or the older ET Blue code. Hold a button and watch the light on the remote: a shimmering light means Blu Mix and a steady light means ET Blue. Keep holding for about 20 seconds, until the light flashes clearly on and off, to switch that button to the other format.
For the ET Drive 500 and Drive 600, the installer instructions give these steps:
- Press and hold the Enter key on the controller until the buzzer beeps.
- Scroll to "Receiver Setup" and press Enter.
- Choose "Quick learn", then choose what the button must do: full opening, pedestrian opening, auxiliary relay or holiday lockout.
- Press and hold the remote button. While it is still transmitting, press and release Enter.
- The buzzer beeps twice and the screen shows the remote's user number. Let go of the remote button.
To delete a lost remote, go to Receiver Setup, choose "Erase remotes", then "Select Address", pick its user number and press Enter. The Drive 500 and 600 hold up to 1,023 users. Other ET Nice motors, such as the Drive 300 and the DC Blue garage motors, have their own steps in their manuals.
DTS remotes
For the DTS TX5 Octo and other remotes on the DTS Expert 500, DTS's manual for the onboard receiver gives these steps:
- Make sure the motor's override lever is closed.
- Press the GATE button on the control board, or PED for a pedestrian button. The RX LED comes on.
- Within arm's length of the board, press the remote button once. The LED flashes. Press the same button again.
- The board beeps three times for a full KeeLoq code hopping remote, or twice for other remotes.
A button learned for GATE cannot also be used for PED. The board holds 31 remotes. To delete one, hold GATE for 5 seconds until it beeps once, let go, and press the button on the remote you want to remove: two beeps confirm it. Newer DTS boards can work differently, so check the manual that came with your motor.
Can I add a remote using another remote?
Only on some systems. Of the motors above, the Centurion Systems Nova Voyager receiver on the original D3 and D5 adds remotes with the master remote. The others add remotes at the control board, in the screen menu or in an app. Sentry's learning remotes work the other way around: they copy the code of a remote you already have onto the learning remote itself.
When the remote still does not work
- Check the battery. Nova remotes take a GP23 battery and Sentry code hopping remotes a 12V 23A battery.
- Check the memory. A full Gemini receiver flashes five times, and a full DTS Expert 500 board gives one long beep.
- Check the match. The frequency and code type must suit the receiver. See "Before you start" above.
- Ask us. Send the branch a photo of your old remote and the motor on WhatsApp, or bring the working remote in and we will show you how to add the new one at the counter.
Alectra Solutions supplies the remotes. Programming at your gate is done by you or your installer. Need a new one? See all our gate and garage door remotes, with the price on every one.