Frustrating Coolsat 6000 remote

[colbec]

My Coolsat 6000 basically does a fine job. The one peeve I would have is that the remote is not very positive. From a user perspective you can occasionally get the remote to work fine, but most of the time pressing a button will either result in no reaction from the box or it will repeat the last request or just make one of its own up and do that. Persistence finally gets you what you want so the box is not exactly broken, but is a tad annoying just the same.

Factory bin reloaded, check, and Box rebooted, check.
Replace batteries in remote, check.
Try from different angles, check. Emitter and receiver unobstructed, check.
Ensure remote is generating signals by viewing in digital camera, check.
Does the amber light on the box always light up when pressing remote, no, only sometimes, about 60%.
Probablility of entering a 4 digit code from the numeric pad successfully to jump to a channel, about 2%.
Number of keypad presses to get 4 zeros as password entry, about 8.
Probablility of 10 consecutive up arrow presses to surf channels, 60%.

Is this normal behaviour? If not, what else can I check?

 

[lumpkin666]

Just a thought (not a great one, but what the heck), do you have any sunlight coming through a window that could be distorting your IR signals?

I had heard of this before, but never really experienced it until my son started complaining that his DVR would not change the channels on his set-top-box (via IR emitter) when he set something to record anytime between 3pm and 5pm. Ended up that those times were the times that sun flooded the area where his set-top-box was located. Problem was fixed by moving the STB to another locaction. Now channels change consistently 100% of the time.

 

[cspiteri]

The obvious, there`s a piece of film on the display window which must be removed. I hope your solution is as simple as that...............

 

[gabshere]

its was a noted problem with one of my coolsats (5000) lucky i had two units and could figure out if it was the unit or the remote. There also was a problem in the past with others reporting the eye sensor on the unit itself wouldn't receive. This wasn't my problem though but mine sounded just like yours . i took the remote apart ( very carefully) and straightened the little light (sender) at the end. and it works great now or you can get a replacement remote.

also with this problem, distance seems to be the problem..... mine would act up at anything over 3 ft away from the unit but it would work at 3 ft.

good luck

 

[colbec]

Excellent suggestions, most of which I had tried:

Sunlight, agreed it makes a diff but not in this case, nighttime is the same.
Film on receiver, no film to remove that I can detect, glass is clear, but it is shaped like a convex lens... I will take the box apart and see if the receiver is badly positioned.
Distance, no diff, behaves the same when 1 foot away, signal stuffed down its throat.
Remote looks good, emitter appears straight.

I will keep checking variables - including the user.

 

[Anole]

The hardware in the IR sensor subsystem is supposed to reject light pulses from fluorescent lights.
So, it's unlikely this is a problem.
However, with so many of us replacing our regular incandescent bulbs with CFL's, that pulsed light is back with a vengeance.
Try making the room dark - no lights, and pull the drapes for no outside sunlight.
You've tried all the good ideas - nothing left to lose.

 

[Shawn95GT]

FWIW, my Coolsat 6000 hasn't had the problem you're describing.

The only problem I've had with my remote is that it runs my WorldDVB box too.

Good luck tracking it down.

 

[colbec]

I started this thread some time ago, and feel I should update it (to be fair to Coolsat) now that my new Coolsat 6000 Premium just arrived after the other was knocked off kilter by a lightning strike. This combination of receiver and remote is perfect. Every click positive, cannot fault it at all.

If I try to use the remote from the box that died on the new receiver then I get the same problems. The two remotes, even though they look identical, are as different in operation as they can be. No doubt there was a bad run which was not picked up in quality control procedures.

Now I just need to be careful not to push the buttons on the new remote too hard from force of habit!

 

[Mr Tony]

cool. At least it was something simple

I know my 5000 can be erratic but that is due to too many remotes in one area