GMMZ remote issue

[taotoo]

Anybody have issues with the remote for the white GMM box?

It only works at certain angles - half the time you press a button nothing happens and you have to try again.

Not sure if I've got a dodgy box or if it goes with the territory.

[RichCor]

Are you within 5 meters of the box, not more than 15° off plane?

Have you tried a fresh battery?

Also, you can buy replacement remote controllers rather easily.

[taotoo]

Are you within 5 meters of the box, not more than 15° off plane?

Have you tried a fresh battery?

Also, you can buy replacement remote controllers rather easily.

At first I presumed it was indeed related to angle and distance - but now I'm not sure - I can be only a couple of meters away and head on and it sometimes won't work.

Tried fresh batteries.

I also tried to look in the window on the box - seems like the sensor may be floating so potentially out of alignment, but not easy to see - I should probably take it apart and see. I suspect it's the box rather than the remote - though I suppose if a third-party remote might be more 'powerful' then maybe it would overcome the issue.

[taotoo]

Right - just taken it apart - the sensor is mounted on a PCB but recessed from the window and also bordered by more prominent components to each side - no wonder it has a restricted field of view...

So I'm just going to leave the PCB exposed - works great from all angles now and all distances. Just need to find a solution to the now overly-bright LEDs.

Have no idea why I didn't try this before - I've been living with it for months...

[RichCor]

How much of a gap is there between the IR Sensor and the optic window?

Maybe you could place some reflective plastic on either side of the IR Sensor to allow the optic signal to bounce into the sensor.

Or if the sensor can be pulled out, replace it with one with longer legs so it sits closer to the window.

[taotoo]

How much of a gap is there between the IR Sensor and the optic window?

Maybe you could place some reflective plastic on either side of the IR Sensor to allow the optic signal to bounce into the sensor.

Or if the sensor can be pulled out, replace it with one with longer legs so it sits closer to the window.

The gap must be 5mm or so. Yes something reflective or longer legs might do it. I'm not sure if the smoked plastic window attenuates the signal or not - it being dark - or perhaps just by refracting the light - not sure how IR works!

In the picture attached the big black thing on the left is the light for the HD logo (the top of the light presumably touches the smoked plastic cover), to the right is the sensor, and to the right of that is the main LED.

[RichCor]

Very strange. The original placement behind the windows should still provide the IR Sensor with a 75° forward view (35°+40° side to side), The window coloring should be the same as the IR signal so it would, to the IR Sensor, appear translucent at frequency though some filtering may occur.

The way to test, of course, would be to see how far away the remote worked at 0° 0° with and without the window material in place.

Maybe you could wear sunglasses.

[taotoo]

Very strange. The original placement behind the windows should still provide the IR Sensor with a 75° forward view (35°+40° side to side), The window coloring should be the same as the IR signal so it would, to the IR Sensor, appear translucent at frequency though some filtering may occur.

The way to test, of course, would be to see how far away the remote worked at 0° 0° with and without the window material in place.

Maybe you could wear sunglasses.

Thanks - I didn't know about the window colour matching the IR frequency - interesting. I actually thought of putting some sunglasses in front of the LED, though have found a small piece of paper cut to size works wonders!

[lopburi3]

Just as added note I have not seen any after market remotes for sale - even from normal sellers. The protective plastic strip was removed from face of box? Not sure if has/that would effect anyhow as am sure many don't take off.

[RichCor]

Just as added note I have not seen any after market remotes for sale - even from normal sellers.

The protective plastic strip was removed from face of box? Not sure if has/that would effect anyhow as am sure many don't take off.

It would be funny if it was just a removable protective film protecting the shinny plastic face of the box.

And you're right, the white remote for the GMMz HD and HD-lite boxes aren't all that ubiquitous, though I did find three online vendors selling them at 100-150฿ a piece.

[taotoo]

Just as added note I have not seen any after market remotes for sale - even from normal sellers.

The protective plastic strip was removed from face of box? Not sure if has/that would effect anyhow as am sure many don't take off.

It would be funny if it was just a removable protective film protecting the shinny plastic face of the box.

And you're right, the white remote for the GMMz HD and HD-lite boxes aren't all that ubiquitous, though I did find three online vendors selling them at 100-150฿ a piece.

Just checked - no protective film there - that would have been embarrassing!

I once had a cheap replacement remote for a Samart set-top box - it was so badly made I stuck with the half-broken original instead..

[lopburi3]

I suspected you would have noticed during your dis-assembly but always best to double check as we sometimes miss the obvious (speaking from plenty of experience).

[RichCor]

Hey , I'm blown away that he disassembled it to do further testing. Most TV members would just continue complaining.

But now that he has it disassembled I just hope the radiation coming off those exposed LEDs don't kill him.

[lopburi3]

You believe the plastic case is a radiation shield? LED's are the new Green light source.

[RichCor]

Those cute little photons can kill. I believe they will annoy him to death.

When I posted that comment I wondered whether I should be using one of those annoying emoticons.

[lopburi3]

Believe there is a real shortage of foil among may forum readers in general so probably is best to make everything more than obvious.

[taotoo]

I suspected you would have noticed during your dis-assembly but always best to double check as we sometimes miss the obvious (speaking from plenty of experience).

My tires were down to the wear markers. I left it for a month then checked again. Since they hadn't got any lower, I left it for another month, and so on. After about 4 months I figured out the flaw in my checking method.

So I'm more than capable of not accounting for protective film I would imagine.