remote control question

I have an old Mitsubishi Tv and the remote control does not work. The only way to add cable TV stations is through the menu of the remote control. Can I use any universal remote control to add the stations or it has to be a Mitsubishi remote?

thanks

Reply to
rogv
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Well, some can be had for or it has to be a Mitsubishi remote?

Got any second-hand stores near you (e.g. Salvation Army)? Many have a bin full of old remotes.

Reply to
JeffM

Have you tried replacing the batteries in the remote? If yes, then find a digital camera, point it at the LED in the remote, and watch what happens when you press a button. You can sorta see the IR on the camera LCD display. If that shows output, it's possible that you have a problem in your unspecified model "old" Mitsubishi TV.

If genuinely dead, try:

20 different remotes for Mitsubishi. One of them is probably the original for your unspecified "old" model Mitsubishi TV.

Maybe. My luck hasn't been too good with cheap universal remotes. The one that came with my DirecTV (RC32) is marginal. I've tried 2 Radio Shack models that allegedly would work with my ancient assortment of C-band receivers. The mostly work, but there's always some button that either missing or works strangely. I've had the best luck with emulators running on my laptop and PDA where I can tweak the display and limit the number of buttons to a manageable number.

If possible, get the original or as someone suggested, get an overpriced Logitech Harmony universal remote:

While you're at it, buy a "TV-B-Gone":

Most remote controls will turn off the TV and one other device with a single button. My RC32 is really odd. You can use one button to turn two devices on, but you have to use two different buttons to turn both of them off. When I want to turn off all the boxes and gadgets, it's real ordeal. With TV-B-Gone, one button does it all. It even works with my video switcher and TIVO.

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Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

you can try to test the remote control by using it on AM radio receiver , if you hear pulsing sounds so it should work and the problem is in your tv receiver

Reply to
bahrouz

Remote controls don't use RF. Modern remote controls use IR (infrared). This happens to be light and no AM radio that I am aware of detects IR signals since they're not RF.

I believe you are thinking of some other device you can check with a AM radio.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Kennedy

Modern remote controls are going to use RF soon.

Reply to
Ken

That was my initial (internal) reaction to that suggestion until I suspected that the respondent meant to check for digital circuit RFI which the remote may radiate and be detected by the radio (sometimes FM works better for high clock frequency circuits, and certainly a shortwave radio would permit tuning to a sweet spot to listen to digital noise as the various buttons are pushed).

I will try it with various remotes and report the results; to be useful, the noise patterns would need to map well to button presses.

Michael

Reply to
msg

*AND* be radically different if the IR LED is faulty. That *may* be the case if its open circuit, but if its gone short, I'd not expect much change. At best its a quick way of checking the RC isn't totally brain dead.

I always favoured an IR photodiode mounted in a BNC plug with a black rubber shroud (off a large croc clip and cut to length) to exclude ambient light. It used to live on the 3rd channel input of the scope when I was doing TV work. Nice clear pulse signal as the scope's

1M/30pF integrated the ~40KHz carrier so easy to check the different buttons gave different signals.

For a rough function check I'm sure most of us know that IR is visible on most mono and some colour video cameras so just point it at the shop's CCTV and press the buttons. If using an unfamiliar camera try a known good RC first to confirm the camera can see IR.

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Reply to
IanM

Or if you have a webcam on your computer, watch your picture and push buttons on the remote, you should see the LED flashing light blue.

Reply to
att

The remotes for my Qwest 2-way cable are hybrid - IR for on/off and volume (cuz those are TV functions), and RF for everything else (cuz that stuff's in the gateway box).

Jerry

Reply to
Jerry

Or one could check the IR Remote Repair FAQ. Now what a concept? :)

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Reply to
Samuel M. Goldwasser

suspected

remote

permit

I thought the same thing, but if the LED were defective...

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

I'm interested to hear your results. I'd be surprised if a remote radiates enough EMI to detect with an AM radio. I guess its possible, it would have never occured to me to try this. It just seems easier to check it with a camera, then you know (within reason) that it's working.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Kennedy

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