With so many different remotes (TV’s, VCR’s, DVD’s, CD’s and Vehicles) why don’t our TV’s and so on turn on and off from other remotes in the area? Are there really that many frequencies for remotes that there will never be a problem with out neighbors controlling our cars, TV’s and so on??
I dunno about you, but with most of my remotes I have to be at a fairly direct angle and close range for it to work.
To add to my post, my remotes function within 20-25 feet of the TV etc. It generally has to be in the front of the machine but I have also noticed that the beam will bounce around the room when pointed at opposite walls.
Almost any remote you can buy today works with infrared light, not radio frequencies. You can probably see the infrared LED if you look at the end of the remote.
If you have strong batteries and bright walls, you may be able to bounce the beam of light off the walls, but it won’t go through walls or around corners.
If you look directly at your remote you will not see the infrared, its invisible. If you do see some sort of light chances are its just a reflection of the little LED in your remote. In order to see infrared turn on your camcorder and aim your remote directly at it while pressing buttons. Play back the tape and youll be able to see the infrared beam. Have fun!
To answer the OP, the reason remotes don’t work on everything is that the signals are encoded, and the appliance (TV, VCR, DVD, Satellite, whatever) is looking not only for the infrared beam, but also the appropriate codes. Aftermarket “universal” remotes work on a variety of products because you program them to work with your system.
To answer the OP, the reason remotes don’t work on everything is that the signals are encoded, and the appliance (TV, VCR, DVD, Satellite, whatever) is looking not only for the infrared beam, but also the appropriate codes. Aftermarket “universal” remotes work on a variety of products because you program them to work with your system.
You CAN often see light from the LED. Reason: the light may be mostly in the infrared spectrum, but not completely, just as ordinary LED’s are also visible on infrared film. The best place to try it is in a dark closet with a blanket over your head, on a moonless night, with your main squeeze within reach. But I digress.
The best “Universal” remotes are those that can “learn”. You aim the two towards each other and push a button on your regular remote and then the same button on the learner, which will then echo whatever it saw. This will not be of use, however, if you have lost a remote, but only if you want to combine several into one controller.
Back to the OP, you can find remotes that turn other things on and off.
While programming a typical “universal” remote, for example. you step through a series of code sets. Before you find the one for your TV, you may be surprized to find some code turn on both your TV and VCR, or another device, but then will not be similar enough to work both units on that setting. But, yes, there are only so many codes to go around, and they aren’t unique.
Each manufacturer uses a different code, but if you have two SONY TV sets in a room, for example, one remote can indeed control both. Even in that case, the limited power and beam angle is usually enough to let you control just one TV at a time, if the two are placed far apart. IR only works by line of sight (plus one reflection off a white wall, maybe two) so you can’t control your neighbor’s TV by accident.
Radio waves are less directional, and can penetrate non-metallic walls. I think that’s one reason they are not often used for remotes. Otherwise radio remotes work well - I have one on my Bose amplified speaker system.
LEDs are monochromatic, so an IR LED will not produce any visible light. If a red LED shows up on IR film, that says more about the film than about the LED.
I should note, though, that Mr2001 didn’t say anything about seeing infrared light. He said you can see the LED, and you can. Look at the end of the remote, and there’s a little glass bulb. That’s the LED.
My parents had a C-Band satellite system (the big dish, not one of those pizza-pan sized digital systems) with a radio remote. It worked through walls, and you could mess with people by changing the channels on them from the other side of the house (which was amusing for precisely 8.12 seconds).