http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:0OvbPfiY4xMJ:fl-ink.com/phantom.htm+technics+sa-r277+manual&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6&lr=lang_en|lang_iw|lang_es&client=firefox-a ... Neither company had any idea what was causing the problem, although each assured me it couldn't possibly be their units. Three cable boxes and two remotes later the problem still persisted. In a typical incident, the cable box, apparently unhappy with the movie we were watching, started jumping randomly from channel to channel; the remote control had no affect on it at all.
It can't be all three boxes, I mused. Something must be interfering with the remote's signal to the box. Or maybe it's the signal from the cable. Everything seemed to work fine during the day, but not in the morning or evening. What was different? Feeling a bit foolish I turned off all the lights. To my delight, the remote worked again. Turning the lights on one at a time narrowed the problem down to the new energy saving fluorescent lights we had installed several months back, in midsummer, when we weren't watching much TV.
Apparently, the new fluorescents produced a broader spectrum of light than the standard incandescent bulbs they replaced. They seemed to be producing an infrared signal that blinded our cable box and occasionally mimicked the remote control's signals.
Energy efficient fluorescent lights are manufactured by many companies. I contacted several of the leading manufacturers and all acknowledged the problem. Though it is widespread, fluorescent light interference with remotes is so intermittent and unpredictable that nobody I spoke with could indicate how many homes might be affected.
"Yes, we have had some complaints," Scott Mack, a spokesman for Philips Lighting told me. Don Lowry, Director of Engineering for Matsushita Electronics (parent of Panasonic, Quasar, Technics) also acknowledged that, "We have had some problems." However, Lowry added that Matsushita feels "we have the problem well in hand in our product line," and is working to help define standards for the industry.
Compared with the energy savings fluorescent lights can yield, remote control interference "is a minor inconvenience,"** Mack asserted. His
best advice was to move the lamp to a different electrical circuit and make sure it was at least ten feet away from any equipment. When I pointed out the impracticality of his solution, he assured me the problem is being worked on, and Philips hoped to have a solution soon. ...
Unlike most webpages, this one actually has evidence of the date,
1994. !!! I don't even remember there being CF?s back then. In fact I don't remember the whole year. So maybe this isn't a problem anymore. Does anyone know?It's a darn good thing he gave a date, or I'd be thinking it was in the last year or two, the only time I've pondered cf?s.
**==> I'm as cheap as anyone, but paying extra for electricity is only money, it's no inconcvenience. But having the station change when someone is in the middle of an imprtant sentence can be an enormous inconvience. I've been watching tv through a different VCR lately, using the tuner, and it turns off after an hour for no apparent reason. It gives about 15 seconds warning, and I'm usually in another room.