R
Rod Out Back
Guest
Folks,
Thought I might share this weird effect I got from a Remote Control
Extender unit, bought from Jaycar some 6 years ago. It is the model
that is a remote extender only (no video), operating on UHF
frequencies.
It has done sterling service these past 6 years. The reciever unit
sits atop my tv, and the transmitter is sitting in front of the
free-to-air satellite decoder box, which sits around the other side of
the house. The receiver unit used a UHF transmission to send any
Infra-red signals it detected in the living room to the transmitter
for re-broadcast.
The only thing that has upset this unit was the fluro lightbulbs we
use in the living room. The light fixture has a 3-socket light
fitting that eats incandescants for breakfast, but the compact fluro
bulbs last for years in the same job. Only problem is the remote
control extender sort of 'locks' when the room light is shining
directly at it, and we have a little shield over the extender unit to
prevent this.
The UEC satellite box is nearly identical to an Austar satellite box.
I believe it is simply a change of firmware to alter the usage of the
decoder (as told by the tech who installed it)
Anyway, the satellite decoder box has started going flakey, where I
would regularly find the channels were blank. There would be the
channel information being presented when you changed channels, but no
audio or video. It required a re-boot of the decoder box to get the
damn thing working. The past few days, this was happening 2-3 times a
night. I also discovered the decoder box was re-booting on it's own,
which suggested to me the decoder box was losing its grip on reality.
I investigated a replacement box on Monday, and was bracing myself for
the $475 cost of the new decoder, but decided to talk to the tech
before I took the plunge. However, things got away from me, and I
didnt get around to contacting him. Last night, the decoder box was
even worse, and was now announcing after a re-boot that the channels
were all currently scrambled.
I ended up out looking at the decoder box, and moved the transmitter
unit of the remote control extender out of the way. From the other
side of the house, I hear the television burst into life! Thinking
about it some more, I wondered if the remote control extender had
caused the problem. I have another model of a remote control
extender; one that operated on 2.4Ghz, and can send video & audio as
well. Plugging it in, and placing the units in their respective
positions, I have my satellite decoder back in business, and the
channel changing works just fine via the extender units.
Only thing I can think of is the old remote control extender unit was
firing out flakey commands to the satellite decoder box, and the
decoder was acting on them. However, I hadnt realised there might be a
command sent via infra-red that could instruct the decoder to re-boot!
It wasnt the room light in the living room causing the problem, as I
havent used it the past few weeks. It makes me think the extender's
infra-red transmitter is losing the plot, and killing the decoder box
in the process.
Anyway, thought I might share this unusual problem in the hope it
helps someone else. The solution turned out to be much cheaper than I
expected, and a lot less obvious.
Cheers,
Rod.....Out Back
Thought I might share this weird effect I got from a Remote Control
Extender unit, bought from Jaycar some 6 years ago. It is the model
that is a remote extender only (no video), operating on UHF
frequencies.
It has done sterling service these past 6 years. The reciever unit
sits atop my tv, and the transmitter is sitting in front of the
free-to-air satellite decoder box, which sits around the other side of
the house. The receiver unit used a UHF transmission to send any
Infra-red signals it detected in the living room to the transmitter
for re-broadcast.
The only thing that has upset this unit was the fluro lightbulbs we
use in the living room. The light fixture has a 3-socket light
fitting that eats incandescants for breakfast, but the compact fluro
bulbs last for years in the same job. Only problem is the remote
control extender sort of 'locks' when the room light is shining
directly at it, and we have a little shield over the extender unit to
prevent this.
The UEC satellite box is nearly identical to an Austar satellite box.
I believe it is simply a change of firmware to alter the usage of the
decoder (as told by the tech who installed it)
Anyway, the satellite decoder box has started going flakey, where I
would regularly find the channels were blank. There would be the
channel information being presented when you changed channels, but no
audio or video. It required a re-boot of the decoder box to get the
damn thing working. The past few days, this was happening 2-3 times a
night. I also discovered the decoder box was re-booting on it's own,
which suggested to me the decoder box was losing its grip on reality.
I investigated a replacement box on Monday, and was bracing myself for
the $475 cost of the new decoder, but decided to talk to the tech
before I took the plunge. However, things got away from me, and I
didnt get around to contacting him. Last night, the decoder box was
even worse, and was now announcing after a re-boot that the channels
were all currently scrambled.
I ended up out looking at the decoder box, and moved the transmitter
unit of the remote control extender out of the way. From the other
side of the house, I hear the television burst into life! Thinking
about it some more, I wondered if the remote control extender had
caused the problem. I have another model of a remote control
extender; one that operated on 2.4Ghz, and can send video & audio as
well. Plugging it in, and placing the units in their respective
positions, I have my satellite decoder back in business, and the
channel changing works just fine via the extender units.
Only thing I can think of is the old remote control extender unit was
firing out flakey commands to the satellite decoder box, and the
decoder was acting on them. However, I hadnt realised there might be a
command sent via infra-red that could instruct the decoder to re-boot!
It wasnt the room light in the living room causing the problem, as I
havent used it the past few weeks. It makes me think the extender's
infra-red transmitter is losing the plot, and killing the decoder box
in the process.
Anyway, thought I might share this unusual problem in the hope it
helps someone else. The solution turned out to be much cheaper than I
expected, and a lot less obvious.
Cheers,
Rod.....Out Back
3l532tg0vqstpl8hs33jvokguhhm98tte@4ax.com...