Problem with IR Channel Change on Foxtel Digital Cable

[reni10]

Hi guys hopefully someone can help me with the problem I am having all of a sudden with my TiVo!

I have had my TiVo for well over a year now, love it and everything has always worked very well until a few days ago!

The Channel Changes that the TiVo IR Blaster sends out do not seem to always change the channel properly on my Foxtel Digital PACE cable receiver.

I have tried a few of the things people have suggested here including in the setup trying the Fast, Medium and Slow settings for the IR and also I have even taped off the internal IR Blaster so as to be sure the IR signal is only coming from the external IR Blaster and still the results are the same!

I then adjusted the DigitDelay setting lowering and upping it manually between 100 and 800 using the dbset command but still could not get a proper channel change everytime.

The only other thing of note is the channel change works about 90% of the time when I press channel up or down but when I bring up the TV guide on screen and scroll to a channel and select then the channel change IR signal is passed but only works 50% of the time...

It seems to work about 50% of the time now where as before it worked 99.9% of the time but nothing I have done seems to fix it which makes me sad as the TiVo is virtually useless if it cannot change the channel properly
This also happens when the TiVo is trying to change the channel Unattended!

I also have looked through my Digital Camera LCD Screen and can see that the external IR blaster is lighting up so is sending a signal.

Without the external IR Blaster plugged in the internal IR Blaster does not seem to have a strong enough signal to change the channel properly either.

The TiVo is about a metre away from the Foxtel Box so not that far away!

The only other thing I can think of is that I bought a new Plasma Panasonic Viera 42" TV a few weeks ago and the problem has manifested itself last week.
Not sure if large Plasma TV's somehow might interfere with the IR signal?

No other remote control button is stuck down on any other controls in the room either; I checked that after someone else on the Wiki suggested that this might be the problem.

I am running the very latest version of OzTiVo having performed a software update 2 days ago to see if that would rectify the IR issue but again it did not.

So now I am out of options and things to try so I am hoping that someone here might be able to suggest something else I could try as I really want to continue using my beloved TiVo but as I said the TiVo is no good if it cannot change the channel correctly.

Please help GUYS!

[Darren King]

The only other thing I can think of is that I bought a new Plasma Panasonic Viera 42" TV a few weeks ago and the problem has manifested itself last week. Not sure if large Plasma TV's somehow might interfere with the IR signal?

Process of elimination: Turn off the TV and see if that works. Or if you need the TV to see a channel change has happened then borrow another TV if possible.

[petestrash]

As a suggestion. build an IR tent around the external IR emitter.

That is cover the back of your IR emitter and the whole area around the STB's IR reciever so that no other light get into the reciever. This will rule out any IR interference.

If that does not help, try routing the IR cable differentely in case it is picking up interference.

Peter.

[reni10]

As a suggestion. build an IR tent around the external IR emitter.
Peter.

Thanks for that suggestion, I place the IR Blaster on the ground about a foot away from the STB and create the tent with a towel!

Once this tent is in place the channel changes are perfect! I try 50 different channel changes and everyone of them is fine, I then just remove the tent and within 2 or 3 attempts the channel change does not work!
The tent is put back on again and another 30 times if works perfectly, off again and 2 or 3 times and the channel change is messed up!

It does indeed look like there now is some IR interference!!!

The only thing new in the setup is my Plasma TV which was installed about a month ago, but this problem has only arisen in the last week!

Even if I turn the TV completely off and try and change the channel it still does not work everytime.
The only way to get it to work is when using the tent!!!

So now how do I track down the interference and where it is coming from???

[petestrash]

That is really tricky to find.

Some of the known causes:
IR extenders
Compact fluros
Regular fluros
Sunlight
A stuck remote button somewhere
Other light sources

If none of the above are found to be a cause, you really need to start testing in a dark room at night. Close all the blinds and turn the lights off and any other electrical appliances and see if the IR works ok. If it does, then turn things on one by one and find the source.

At the end of the day if you can't find the source, then build a permanent light tent out of cardboard or anything else that blocks the light.

Peter.