[just_mike]


please note: since originally posting, i have determined that the 5080 was defective.



the problem: your new 5xxx doesn't respond to button presses on the remote. i'm not referring to the delays experienced e.g.: while you're watching live tv, but actual non-responsiveness. i.e.: it only responds to 10-25% of the button pushes. even if you stand right in front of the unit. push a button, nothing happens.


if this is your problem, then you may be experiencing the problem i had: RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) or EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference)


when i hooked up my new 5080, i put it where the old 3060 was. i then put the 3060 on the empty shelf above the 5080. they were now separated by about 2 inches (including 1 1/4 inches of solid wood). and the old one was still connected and being used.

both units then had 10-25% remote response.


wtf?


making a long story short (long one is included below), the units were interfering with each other, either RFI and/or EMI. when i moved the 3060 two feet to the left, everything was fine! both units started responding like "normal" to the remote(s).



except the problem came back that night!



-----------------------------

long story:


hooked up one of the new 5080s last night. everything went smoothly. repositioned the old one (the 3060) to the top of the cabinet. put the 5080 in the 3060's place.


now the 3060 is about 3 inches above the 5080. separated by nice thick 1 1/4 inch cabinetry wood.


so, by now it's dinner time. we decide to watch CSI (tos) on the 3060. the remote won't work. hmm, the IR receiver is only 4 inches higher. we have to push buttons a number of times to get them to work. no matter where the remote is. even if we stand right in front of the 3060 and it's only one inch from the IR receiver. blah blah blah, long chapter short, we just have to keep pressing QS and IR (a lot) throughout the show to get it to work.


weird. is the 5080 somehow generating some sort of IR noise??


after dinner, i mess with the 5080 for a while. a long while. it too is having really ****** IR response. the same exact IR response, i.e.: maybe 10-20% of the time it sees a button push.


wtf?


so, i decide to go and install the 2nd 5080 upstairs... (time passes)... no problems with it's IR response.


wtf?! i just can't figure out how i can have both a broken 5080 and the 3060 is now broken in exactly the same way.


holding-in-the-power-button-re-booting doesn't help.


i was really, really, really pissed last night. really. i was having all sorts of fantasy conversations in my head with SB customer service, imagining what i'd need to say in order to get cross ship RMA approval.


then i got up this morning half hoping the problem had gone away. half, because then it might come back.


well, the problem was still there. on both units. sitting there, looking at them, i realized what the problem was.


they were interfering with each other, either RFI and/or EMI.


so i moved the 3060. and that fixed it. on both units.



except the problem came back that night!



it was a lack of RFI/EMI shielding! you can't have a 3060 sitting above a 5080 (or below for all i know)


all i did was move the 3060 to the left side of the 5 foot wide cabinet. the 5080 is on the right side. now they're diagonal from each other, plus separated by about 8 inches horizontal.


my guess: RFI from the boards or EMI from the disk drives was cross interfering with each unit. and only affecting the IR receiver chip/circuitry.


hard to believe they both affected each other in exactly the same way.

 

[fubie]

Excellent Work!


Just to prove your point,


if your 5040 is slow to respond to your IR commands, try setting up the Raplay Command Center. The RCC response is immediate.

 

[just_mike]

anyone have any ideas about this?


could it have been some sort of non-shielded cable issue? some "wave" got "guided" into both units?? because all of the cables for both were inter-mingling with each other when they were together.


i'm no EE, but of the three, IRI (infra-red interference), RFI (radio frequency interference), and EMI (electro-magnetic interference), i find EMI to be the most likely. i would think RFI would affect other components, and i just find it hard to believer there's anything really flooding the area with noisy IR.


hey! if IRI were the case, then the 5080 should still have the problem, because it didn't get moved!


plus, the 3060 has had one modification: replaced the 60G drive with a 125G drive.


all i know is if i were a SB engineer, i'd be calling me up offering to trade new units for my old ones so we could get them into the lab.


explain to me how both units effected the exact same symptoms, then worked fine when separated??

 

[just_mike]

the 3060 is working fine, but the 5080 is the same as last night or worse.


during live tv, the response is

so, now i'm thinking it is the big blue LED. and the IR sensor. and a lack of sunlight (not direct).


i think the IR sensor is incredibly sensitive.


while playing a recorded (at standard) show, i tested the response by trying: the "display" button, the arrows (to get the HUD), "channel guide", "replay guide" with various combinations of the following (and i've gotten no better than 33-50% responsiveness):

• room lights off
• incandescent room lights on
• halogen room lights on
• all room lights on
• stand ~15 feet away
• put a two-ply kleenex over the IR receiver
• put 2 two-ply kleenexes over the IR receiver
• put 3 two-ply kleenexes over the IR receiver
• shine an incandescent flashlight on the IR receiver
• shine a blue-ish LED flashlight on the IR receiver
• shine a red LED key-chain flashlight on the IR receiver
• cover the blue power-on LED with string-reinforced gray duct tape (you can still see the blue through the tape)
• cover the blue power-on LED with string-reinforced gray duct tape, then cover that with black electrical tape (can't see the blue anymore)

so, at night, the response is better using any of the above than none of the above.


but, during the day, the 5080 worked fine. probably >95% responsiveness to button presses.


since i haven't had much time to put much content on either 5080, i haven't had a chance to really test the upstairs unit. so, more on that one later. however, it doesn't seem to have any problems.


wtf?


oh - and explain why the 3060 wasn't working! and is working fine now.

 

[BaysideBas]

FWIW I once had a non-responsive most of the time to remote commands incident. After it drove me crazy I found another remote being activated by a book laying on top of it. I would look for an unexpected IR source in your environment. Possibly some alarm system, wireless IR headphones or speakers.

 

[SpedInFargo]

I think I can add a little input on this as well -- and it appears to be a Replay thing in general since I have a 4508.


My interference was coming from the IR Pyramid set that I was testing out at the time -- since I had two different sets (RadioShack and Jensen) I had those things at varying distances from my Replay, sometimes as close as 6 inches. While the blaster was working great (I could control the Replay great from upstairs) I was getting annoying response rates from my normal Replay remote, even when I went up a couple feet away from the damn thing.


I was also getting interference between the two IR extender systems -- so much so that even my Denon receiver was being affect.


I was getting VERY annoyed until I settled on the one IR extender (went with the Jensen) and moved it back to its normal spot (about 12 feet from my entertainment system...)


Just in case it helps...

 

[fubie]

Currently I have a 2020 & a 5040.


The 2020 sits directly ontop of the 5040. The 2020 is not experiencing any slow IR reception at all.


The 5040 does experience the IR slowdown very often.



I have no IR repeaters or extenders at all.


I will not be able to seperate the 2 RTV'S untill I get my new 65" TV in Feb.


When I do use my 5040 I try using the Replay Command Center software on my PC. It does not show any of the delays the remote does.

 

[just_mike]

well, i'm returning the "bad IR" 5080.


i took the "bad IR" 5080 out and put another 5080 in it's place. in exactly the same position. wired exactly the same.


the new 5080 works fine.


you name it, it does it: watching live tv, watching live delayed tv, pushing buttons and using menus while watching live delayed tv, watching a streamed show from another 5080 (not the "bad IR" one - i have three, one of which is the "bad IR" unit)


so, clearly the "bad IR" 5080 is "broken".


unfortunately, amazon doesn't have any to send me in its place. yet.