IR Blaster problems

[tkosier]

Does the ir blaster emitter flash (visibly) when it sends a code?  Mine does not.

[erico]

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tkosier wrote:

Does the ir blaster emitter flash (visibly) when it sends a code?  Mine does not.

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No. However if you are talented enough you can add a led to the circuit that will blink when you use it.  

IR stands for infra red. that is not a part of the visible light spectrum. One needs special googles ( as in night vision) to see infrared emissions. Even if you use  goggles you won't see the transmission because it is too fast.

[WildBill47]

They do not give off any visible light to work (InfraRed), however the one that shipped with my HP PC, does blink a LED just to show you it is doing something.

On mine, the IR Blaster plugs in to one of two black 3.5mm jacks on the back of the PC, near the bottom, this is on and HP h8se (1090t).  THe HP TV is the Hauppauge Win-TV HVR-1260, a model that appears exclusive to HP.

I found on mine two odd things, there are two place to plug the IR Blaster into but one the one next to the IR receiver jack works, the other seems to do nothing.

The other is that the emitted IR signal is so weak and had to be pointed exacly with the end pointing that the IR sensor on my Comcast/Mortorola STB. In the end I had to take a small piece of plastic tube, like a fat straw, and put the sensor in it so I could tape that to the front of the cable box so the ended was pointing straight at the sensor. I tried every other position.

A faster way to find the sweet spot on your STB is to go through set-up and use the Automaically Detect my Cable Box type, it will have you hit 0 and then Enter, and then it says it knows your box, in my case it did.

Next, until you find that exact spot, go through set up as mentioned, enter the 0 and Enter from your STB remote, then when it asks if it works, say yes, even if it did not work., When it asked about it at fast and medium speed, answer no to each, that will set it to slow speed, raising your odds of it working.

Once you have finished set-up, hold the IR blaster end and point it at your cable box (STB) and just try channel up and down (if you enter station numbers, it will not resend the station is you pick the same one each time.) If your IR blaster is like mine it will flash a regular led anytime it flashes the IR so you know it is doing something.

Try all kinds of angles around the IR sesonor on the STB, I could see where mine was very easy, the hard part was finally figuringout that that IR Blaster had to had the end pointed right at it, and not the way it is designed to be mounted.

[WildBill47]

I would not suggest adding an LED to an IR blaster, it would be very easy to draw too much current from the IR driver circuit and smoke your IR Blaster and perhaps more, it can also just suck up all the joice for the IRED and just make it not work.