How to test your remote control

[doug]

I may have put this in the wrong forum but I thought this waould be generaly useful. Had a problem with the wie's HDD recorder in that the remote didn't seem to be working. After some faffing around with the Mnfr talking about sending an enigineer out etc. I short circuited things to save time and took the remote into my local Comet. chap at the service desk pointed his mobile at the remote and said "there's a button stuck". Sure enough looked at it and one of the buttons had been wedged down and part under the surrounding. Eased it back and he checked again and said "should be OK now". to be certain he then used the proper tester and you couod hear it beeping every time he pressed a button. He said he couldn't say if the remote was sending the correct signal but it was certainly transmitting. Tried it out using my mobile and sure enough I could see the signal. Now back home and tested several other remotes and could see the signal being transmitted with all of them but couldn't using my digi camera.

How many times in the past I've looked at a remote and pressed buttons hoping to see if the LED lit up I don't know but have never seen a signal. I thought Brilliant! I must pass that on

[AlanHo]

I just tried our 5 remotes (dont ask!!!)with both my mobile and my wife's mobile. Nowt happened (other than the TV channel was changed much to chagrin of my wife).

My phone is Motorola on O2. My Wife's is Nokia on Voda. Both phones remained blissfully ignorant of a remote being aimed at them from just 6".

You must have something magic Doug. Perhaps your remote works via radio waves rather than the more common infra red.

[-pops-]

I'm not sure we have the full story.

Do you mean that the camera on the phone can see the beam from the remote, doug?

[doug]

That's right pops. Obviously the phone camera is more sensitive down in the red/infrared region than either my visual eye and my digicamera. Try again Alan I saw it work with the technicia's phone and also mine.

[AlanHo]

OK - it was me being thick. I didn't realise you were using the phone camera. I have never used the camera in my phone and just had to learn how to use it.

I can now see what you meant and confirm it works OK. I will now forget how to use the camera anyway.

I just wish someone would market a nice compact clamshell phone with a big clear keyboard, bright screen, speaker, bluetooth connection in the car for hands free calling to be used just for phoning and texting - nothing else. I don't need built in radio, MP3 player, video, games, web connection or any other frills.

[doug]

Glad it worked. Your comment about getting a more useful phone reminded me of a clip int a film I think it was Police Academy where a revolver progessively transformed into a full sized AA gun.

[Gandalph]

Glad it worked. Your comment about getting a more useful phone reminded me of a clip int a film I think it was Police Academy where a revolver progessively transformed into a full sized AA gun.

I think you are thinking of the film 'The Naked Gun" starring Leslie Nielsen and O.J. Simpson. It was O.J. on the rooftop that started with a pistol and ended up with the mobile AA. Good film that. :D

[doug]

That was it - him with the geriatric silve hair :lol:

[Gandalph]

That was it - him with the geriatric silve hair :lol:

That's the marra. :lol:

[Gandalph]

I may have put this in the wrong forum but I thought this waould be generaly useful. Had a problem with the wie's HDD recorder in that the remote didn't seem to be working. After some faffing around with the Mnfr talking about sending an enigineer out etc. I short circuited things to save time and took the remote into my local Comet. chap at the service desk pointed his mobile at the remote and said "there's a button stuck". Sure enough looked at it and one of the buttons had been wedged down and part under the surrounding. Eased it back and he checked again and said "should be OK now". to be certain he then used the proper tester and you couod hear it beeping every time he pressed a button. He said he couldn't say if the remote was sending the correct signal but it was certainly transmitting. Tried it out using my mobile and sure enough I could see the signal. Now back home and tested several other remotes and could see the signal being transmitted with all of them but couldn't using my digi camera.

How many times in the past I've looked at a remote and pressed buttons hoping to see if the LED lit up I don't know but have never seen a signal. I thought Brilliant! I must pass that on

On this point Doug, just as a follow up.

I have a SLR camera with an infra-red distance finder flash, looking through the camera at a white wall or anything white you can see the infra-red flashing, including flashes of infra-red from remote controls.

I also have a DSLR which does exactly the same.

[doug]

Rightoh Gandalf. It wouldn't work with my digi but I thought at the time "brilliant". Never heard of that trick. When I rang comet Central Customer Support I was talked through taking the batterieas out then holding down one of the keys to fully discharge it, then replacing the batteries etc with no improvement. As I had purchased it 11 months ago I then had to contact Sagem (purveyors of the HDD box) being outside the 28 days etc. Sagem then started to go through the rigmarole of me emailing the a copy of the purchase receipt, before they would then make arrangements for an engineer to visit and either replace the remote or remove the box and then arrange for a replacement.

I said hang on isn't there anyway of shortcircuiting all this rigmarole I was confident the box itself was OK as the on/off button worked and so did the channel select program, no other functions available. If I went back to the store they should be able to test the remote, if it was that Sagem would arrange for a replacement. So I rang Comet again and manage to wheedle the ,phone no. for Comet at the Durham Arnison Centre out of them. When I rang was told OH Dear their remote tester got broken the day before but were expecting a replacement in a few days. thjey would ring when it was in. All the tester would be able to say was if the remote was transmitting but would give no info regarding if if was the correct signal being sent. I was getting a bit peeved at this point as this recorder is the wife's life line, they didn't have that model anymore and there was no way they could tell if any of these univesal replacements would work.

I then drove over to Comet on the Team Valley, told the chap at the service desk the problem. He simply took his 'phone out pointed it at the remote and said a button was stuck, etc now back to the first post.

[Gandalph]

You've had a carry-on and a half by the sound of things Doug. At least somebody had the trick up his sleeve to help. I'm pleased you got it all sorted in the end.