Be prepared for a spate of garage door opener problems.

Garage opener problems, we can live with them, but they better not mess up with our TV remote controls!! :-)

All the TV/VCR/etc. remotes I've seen use an infrared beam, not RF.

Perce

On 12/06/04 10:41 am f/256 tossed the following ingredients into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

On 12/6/2004 12:05 PM US(ET), Percival P. Cassidy took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

My Time-Warner Cable box's remote will work even if I point the remote in the opposite direction of the cable box or if I have the remote in my pocket (to play remote tricks on little kids).

This is exactly the sort of problem the FCC is supposed to prevent, not chasing Howard Stern off the air for using the same language that Oprah gets away with (admittedly the context is a little different)

Best regards, Bob

No fault of the FCC. It is the direct result of the manufacturers chosing to supply devices in a frequency band that was already owned by someone. All such use comes under an agreement that any devices must not interfere with communications and must tolerate any interference.

Many new higher end (not supplied with TV) universal remotes have an option RF signal that can operate equipment through an RF to IR converter.

Some Cable boxes use a RF remote, but most use an IR remote. IR remotes are often powerful enough to bounce a signal off a wall or glass and operate the equipment. One test of the IR power is to see how many layers of thick cloth that the remote will still function through, so many IR remotes will work through your pocket.

Whether it is a TV remote, garage door remote, baby monitor or other RF devices, the frequency they are allowed to operate is dictated by the authorities, they don't get to pick any one they want to use.

So if it's not a problem, you can always make it a problem. Isn't technology wonderful!

:-)

Mike

That agency is called NTIA

I am sure that it was the FCC that allowed manufacturers to use for garage openers a frequency that "belonged to" the military -- on condition that the garage door openers do not interfere with military communications. And if the interference now goes the other way, it's the responsibility of the manufacturers of the door openers to take care of it.

Similarly, all these other UNlicensed "Part 15" devices (cordless phones, wireless networking products, etc., etc.) are not allowed to interfere with licensed services, and the users must put up with any interference that they experience. (Read the labels on these things.) But when a CB or ham radio transmission interferes with somebody's cordless phone, guess who is seen as the "bad guy."

BTW, many of the large-screen TVs on the market are not certified for use in residential environments because they generate too much interference: they are "Class A" devices, not "Class B." Bet the sales people at Best Buy won't warn you about that.

Perce

On 12/06/04 09:10 pm Ish tossed the following ingredients into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

I've seen high frequency audio remotes. Too high pitched to hear. Had a sqeaky wheel on a vacuum cleaner once and it would turn the TV on and off! ;-) Yes, this was back in the 60's

On 12/7/2004 9:44 AM US(ET), Tony Miklos took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

My ex in-laws bought a new Zenith TV with a remote. One of the first offered back in the early 60s. Only 2 functions, one to raise-lower the volumn and the other to mechanically turn the channel dial. It used a light beam that had to be aimed directly at the TV's light receptor. It worked pretty good, unless the sun was shining on the set, then it would operate the controls by itself.

On Tue, 07 Dec 2004 02:12:17 GMT "Ish" used 24 lines of text to write in newsgroup: alt.home.repair

I didn't know that. So reading both websites I gather that the FCC handles regulation of certain parts of the spectrum:

That's nice, but the FCC still controls frequency allocation for all bands to anyone/everyone.

LOL! I forgot about the motor changing the mechanical tuner! Ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk.

Hi, So you can be more couch potatoes? Tony