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Not Car Related - TV remote/receiver question

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Bob McElwee

Bob McElwee

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Background: We recently signed up with AT&T FiOs TV service. Everything is great except for one thing.
In our main viewing area we have two TV’s sitting on a home made shelf one on top the other. The reason for this is my wife is hearing impaired so we have closed captioning on both TVs and only the sound up on one.

The Problem: Because the receiver boxes are in the same area, either remote will change both TVs. Talking with AT&T tech support confirms that this will happen because all of their remote/receiver units are on the same infrared frequency.

The Question: What can I use to ‘shield’ one of the receivers (mine) from being effected when my wife uses her remote? I have moved mine far enough away so I can use the remote very close to the box and not change her TV. Unfortunately we can’t us that option with her remote/receiver.
While I am comfortable doing house wiring I am completely lost when it comes to electronic type stuff. So building something to shield my receiver from her remote would be easier for me the futzing with the remote/receiver interface.
 
are you using a box or the television itself?

If you're using a box, move your box a good 5 feet away from the other one. Also make sure that your interior paint is not a gloss or semi-gloss finish. The remotes uses flashes of infrared light, and any type of gloss finish will reflect your infra red signal untill it hits one/both recivers. If you want to see something neat, point your remote at the wall behind you, and change the channel. Your TV will probably change.
 
We're using the boxes. Currently there is about 7 ft between the boxes with a 4 ft vertical separation. My wife is sitting about 7 ft from her control box. My guess is her signal is bouncing off the tv screen, which is behind my control box, or it is sneaking in from the side. I thought the angle, about 90 degrees, would be enough but I'll play around some more.
Thanks for the input.
 
Hey Bob,

If the issue is with the receivers being affected and not the TV's, check with AT&T to see if they have once of the receivers that controls two TV's. We have one with Dish Network where one of the remotes is an "RF" (radio frequency) remote and the other is a regular infrared remote. This should fix your issue as long as the two TV's are from different manufacturers.

I'll ask one of the engineers that works at my company and see if he has any ideas. I can also stop by and take a look at what you have, if you want.

Shane
 
I'd be for flat black baffles at the individual receivers. But the signal has to be sent from angles oblique to the "other" box. Think "Snell's Law" here.


Just a WAG as it never crossed my pea brane before. :laugh:
 
Hi Shane,

Started working a part time job today so I don't have the luxury of checking the forum 5 or 6 times a day anymore. I'll see what AT&T says about the two frequencies but so far they have played 'dumb' about having them.
Let me see if I can come up with something (Doc's flat black baffles sounds like a possibility).
I need to adjust to the 5:00 am alarm again before I get back to this. SWMBO is out of town right now so I have some wiggle room. Plus it isn't her TV with the problem. :yesnod:
 
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