HELP Remote Control Question, i need someone smarter then me

[Brillo]

i have a Hughes unit and for some reason the remote transmitter on the unit is not working well. you have to move very close for the remote to work. I DID CHANGE THE BATTERIES, I EVEN HAVE A SECOND REMOTE, STILL ONLY WORKS WHEN YOU MOVE CLOSE TO THE UNIT. Any ideas.

[captain_video]

I've seen this problem posted before but I don't think anyone has come up with a solid solution for it. It sounds like there's a problem with the IR receiver that's reducing its sensitivity. Try turning off any ambient lighting that may be interfering with the IR signal from the remote. Fluorescent lighting fixtures may cause interference with IR remotes.

You may also try reseating the ribbon cable between the mainboard and front panel of the Tivo. I'm assuming you have a DTivo since you said it was a Hughes unit. Pull the hard drive rack out and disconnect the IDE and power cables and fan connector to get to the ribbon cable. Carefully pull the ribbon cable from the mainboard and then remove the front panel. Check the window in front of the IR receiver and make sure nothing is obstructing it or attenuating the signal in any way. Remove and reseat the ribbon cable from the control/IR receiver board mounted on the front panel and then reassemble everything.

If you still can't get it working then you might try getting an IR repeater that allows you to send IR signals to components from a different room. Place the receiver on your coffee table or anywhere you like and then place the transmitter in front of the Tivo IR receiver window. Since the repeater is in close proximity to the IR window it should put out a strong enough signal to allow control of the Tivo. I know this sounds like a MickeyMouse solution but I'm grasping at straws here.

[z1blackie]

Well now I've got this enigma on my DSR7000. The remote works 1 inch away but not on my comfie couch. Replaced the batteries and restarted TIVO and still nothing. Worked fine last night.

I don't have any hacks running, just a 120GB drive I put in two months ago (thanks again to everyone here).

This is the only thread I've found with this problem so I'm headding down to take the top off and will let you know what I find.

Brillo-> Where did you end up?

Anyone else been here?

Thanx

[Brillo]

if you can figure it out please let me konw. i've been down for some time.

[David Bought]

Originally posted by Brillo
if you can figure it out please let me konw. i've been down for some time.

Buy/borrow a second Tivo and start swapping parts until something fixes it.

You're not going to solve the problem until you isolate it.

[z1blackie]

Well the TIVO gnomes must have showed up at my place while I was sleeping, because everything is working normal again. I didn't have time to take the top off because my wife thinks getting xmas presents for loving relatives is more important than TIVO.

One screwy thing I did notice...last night while watching the other sat box, the TV volume increased three or four clicks all by its self. TIVO remote was sitting on the table so I gave it a couple of shots to the head and a time-out pointed away from the TV. Woke up this morning and all is well.

I bought a spare remote for the next time and I will take the top off soon and post what I find.

It's probably the cat driving me crazy.