Does anyone know of a ~confirmed to work~ IR repeater?

[Dee_Ann]

I have a new (new to me) VIP211k.

I desperately need an IR remote repeater cone/pyramid/whatever.
I have some really old pyramids that have ALWAYS been flaky. They are extremely susceptible to interference from who knows what.

I have turned off everything in my house but the bleepin thing continues to flash it's light which is indicating that it's picking up a radio signal from ~something~...

It's very, very unreliable. It says on the bottom, "RCA D930"..

I absolutely HATE this thing. I've moved it all over the room but to no avail..

But here's where it really fails. I've been using it for a few years for my Home Theater with moderate results.

Now I am trying to use it with my VIP211k and it will NOT pass the signal through to the tuner and what's worse, it JAMS the tuner from working.

I have put the LED extender directly in front of the tuner, facing the tuner IR detector window. I aim the Dish remote at the other pyramid and nothing at all happens. ZIP.
The pyramid is not malfunctioning at all as it will control the Home Theater and my HDMI 3way switch.

If I cover the LED completely I can point the Dish remote to ANYWHERE in the room, even opposite walls and the tuner operates like a charm.
When I uncover the LED the tuner instantly gets sluggish and difficult to control. The closer I move the LED to the tuner, the more it jams it.
I can put the LED right in front of the tuner and point the Dish remote directly at the tuner, within 2 inches and it will not respond. Cover the LED and BOOM!, works great.

So this pyramid is not only incompatible, it jams the tuner from operating.

I also have an HDMI splitter so I can watch TV anywhere in the house. I need an inexpensive way to operate not only the Dish tuner from other rooms, I also need to be able to operate the HDMI switch and the Home Theater (with it's own Hauppage remote). I've looked at the Dish UHF to IR remote kit but it only comes with one fonky looking remote and it won't work with any other remotes except the 10.1 remote that comes with it.
I don't want to have to drag one remote around the house between four rooms. I have four IR remote already, two 20.0 and two 21.0 remotes. I want to leave one remote in each room. The other IR devices such as the HDMI switch can be programmed into the Dish remotes and for the Hauppage tuner in the Home Theater I have four remotes for it also.

The dish UHF to IR kit just wouldn't help me. Plus I would have to purchase three additional 10.1 remotes for it and I can not find them listed for sale anywhere on the internet, not even ebay. I am not going to buy four complete kits for $60 each just to end up with one repeater and four remotes. That's just waaaaaaaay too much to spend for something like this. And that it won't help me with the other IR devices isn't a plus..

What I am left with is one option, a new IR repeater system. But I don't know how to find one that is absolutely 1000% guaranteed to work with my VIP211k tuner.
I'm dumbstruck that the repeaters I have not only don't work, they jam it from working. That's just crazy.
As it is now, I can get an awesome picture on any TV but I can only operate the tuner in the same room it resides in. That, is a mega bummer.
Until I can get some way to operate the tuner from other rooms I really can't get a lot of use out of it..

I could really use some solid advice so I can get one on order. I've got Amazon Prime so I hope to find one that's affordable then I can get it with 2 day shipping..

Thanks!

 

[Dee_Ann]

Well I decided to give this a try..

Amazon.com: Next Generation Remote Control Extender: Electronics

It has like 960+ reviews and 685 people gave it 5 stars, 125 gave it 4 stars, etc.
Main complaint was that it doesn't work with a remote called a "Harmony".. Big whoop..
I found one person who specifically posted that he used it with his Dish VIP 211 and that it worked perfectly, he gave it 5 stars.

Amazon.com: Glenn B's review of Next Generation Remote Control Extender

So I bought one device which will convert one of my existing remotes plus I bought two additional transmitter conversion kits to convert my Home Theater Hauppage remote and to convert a second dish remote. So three remotes converted, two of them for Dish. This will give me control for in my office/craft room where I am most of the time and one for my bedroom which I will be mostly watching FTA at night.
When I get additional TV's I'll get additional transmitter conversion kits for the other Dish remotes.
Now I can toss away those crummy, useless RCA pyramids. Those things have been p***ing me off for years and their day is coming. Soon..

Well, here's to hoping this isn't another snipe hunt..

 

[KAB]

I have a NexGen...works great. But, in about three years, you'll to get new batteries.

 

[dwarren2]

Dish has it's own IR-to_uhf Pro Upgrade Kit. Has a new remote(uhf) and a ir blaster that works with the 211. I got one from Dish. Don't see it online, but contact one of the DIRT and see if they can help you.

 

[KAB]

Dish has it's own IR-to_uhf Pro Upgrade Kit. Has a new remote(uhf) and a ir blaster that works with the 211. I got one from Dish. Don't see it online, but contact one of the DIRT and see if they can help you.

The OP wants to be able to control multiple devices which the NexGen can be upgraded to do. Dish kit can only control Dish receivers.

 

[dwarren2]

Missed that. I was using my old Radio Shack pyramid extender before I got the Dish upgrade ir to uhf

 

[tedb3rd]

I tried to use a repeater with my 722k inside a cabinet. The repeater would operate all my components (amp, bd player, x-box) fine. But WOULD NOT control the 722k worth a flip. I tried all sorts of things as far as positioning the repeaters on the inside of the cabinet door, on the 722k, etc... I would have to hit a button on the remote 3, 4, and 5 times before the 722k would 'see' the command. It has something to do with the 3 little 'eyes' on the front of the receiver. Apparently, they don't like the source to be very close. I finally had to just leave the 722k outside the cabinet and have everything else inside (behind the doors). So... just a note to anybody else out there who might be thinking of a setup similar.

As far as the interference, do you have kids? Because if you've got kids' toys, something could be causing the interference. My repeater has the light too to indicate when it's receiving a command. My son has a RC car and when he turns it on the light on the repeater flashes like crazy. Our daughter has this "TV-interactive" toy piano--same thing. When it's in interactive mode, the light flashes like crazy too.

 

[david_jr]

Some flat panel tvs also emit the interfering signals. When I upgraded to plasma from a SD tv my Niles Audio IR repeater all of a sudden overloaded. Ended up having to replace it with one that had a plasma filter on it. No problems since then.