Controlling Samsung STB from another room

[danant]

I have been able to watch my NTL STB in another room for over a year now, when I first decided I also wanted to be lazy and change channels from there too I discovered that NTL had been very clever when requesting Pace manufactuer the STB's by making it almost impossible to change channel from another room.
I eventually discovered that it could only be done with the Digieye.
NTL have now given me the new Samsung STB and ever since, I have had trouble changing channel using my Digieye. At first I thought it was a problem with my Digieye but now I am beginning to think it is something to do with NTL and the Samsung box, it works sometimes but only intermittantly and appears to be less and less often.

Does anyone know if my assumptiion is correct and if so is there another remote sender that is more reliable

[philquinney]

Hi danant,

The old pace boxes used a special IRDA standard for their remote controls which meant that normal remote extenders wouldn't work with them. (However, I think some of the 4xxx series are different.)

The Samsung on the other hand uses normal infrared so it can be controlled using any of the remote extenders you can buy from places like Maplins or Tesco.

Hope this helps.

to cableforum too.

Phil.

[danant]

Hi Phil,


Thanks for your help.

Are there any particular ones that you recommend from these companies, it only need to go through one wall to the next room so no major distance.
I know some of them require the remote sender to be plugged into the RF lead to transit the signal back on Sky boxes, would it work on the same principle with NTL STB's?

Many Thanks

Dan

[bob_builder]

Originally Posted by danant

Are there any particular ones that you recommend from these companies, it only need to go through one wall to the next room so no major distance.
I know some of them require the remote sender to be plugged into the RF lead to transit the signal back on Sky boxes, would it work on the same principle with NTL STB's?

No the NTL STB do not work like the Sky ones using RF. Any standard remote extender or digisender should work.

Is the Digieye a remote sender or does it just translate a signal from a remote sender?

[danant]

I have a Digieye in each room.

The first one picks up the signal from the remote and sends it via the air to the other one that sits behind my Samsung STB, a cable comes from this to a little eye that I have to sit in front of the STB which transmits the original signal sent from the remote in the other room.

Does that make any sense

[nfs6600]

A collection of small mirrors at the correct angles would surely be cheaper ;o)

[MovedGoalPosts]

I too had this problem with the DigiEye when my trusty PACE STB was declared incapable of dealing with Boradband so the shiny new Samsung came along (and didn't fix that problem without a further fiddle from the engineer who then couldn't be bothered to take the Samsung away)

I still use the DigiEye, but I had to be very particular with the setup. It's as if the new signal instead of IRDA is too powerful for it.

I've put the transmitter bit, directly in front of the STB, about 3-4cm from the front panel just at about the centre.

The receiver (that you point the Remote Controller at, is upstairs. That I've just got on the floor, not in a direct line of sight to my telly, but about a metre from where I lie in my pit, with the telly at the foot of my bed.

What you cannot do is point the remote directly at the receiver!

I've found that I need to point the remote at the telly, thus the receiver somehow gets just the edge of the remote's signal. Getting the angle right takes a little practice, but most of the time it works.

I do only use the remote upstairs for the basic functions of change channel up/down and TV and info. Occasioinally the info button won't clear back so you clear the screen by pressing TV, but it does for me.