Nothing but problems with remote control of HR21-700

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eboucher

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Jun 7, 2008
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So I've had my HR21-700 going on six months now, and have had nothing but problems controlling it via remote. My component stack is located about 25 feet from the living room, so I use a Universal Remote MX-850 with an MRF-250 remote IR base station and IR emitters in front of each component.

Every component with the exception of the damn Directv DVR works flawlessly. The DVR will respond great for days and then suddenly will only respond to maybe 10% of the button presses. My favorite is when I hit a button like five or ten times, nothing happens, and then suddenly all 10 button presses are executed, inevitably deleting something I didn't want to delete, or changing some setting I didn't want to change. It's utterly infuriating!

Tonight I'd finally had enough and went through the procedure to program the factory remote that came with the box for RF. I had pretty much the same problem once I had the system working on RF with the factory remote. It would maybe respond 30% of the time (50% if I moved within FIVE FEET of the box!...200 foot range my a$!), so I set it back to IR and am back to struggling with the MX-850.

I've read all kinds of complaints on various forums about this device's lack of stability and it's IR responsiveness, and I know from experience if I call and complain they'll send a tech out with a refurbished unit, which is unacceptable. Doing a hard reboot might fix the problem for the first few button presses and then it sucks again. Usually after several days of wanting to throw the thing out the closest window it magically starts working again, at least partially.

Has ANYONE had any luck in getting this box to work consistently with a Universal Remote and an IR base station with IR emitters, or is my best bet to have Directv take it back and give me a non-DVR HD receiver, and then go and buy a TIVO???? And yes, I've tried different emitters and different channels on the base station. That's not the problem. The RF signal from the MX-850 is reaching the base station just fine and the IR emitter directly in front of the IR receiver on the box is firing consistently. The problem is the IR receiver in the HR21-700.

Signed,
Frustrated in San Jose, CA :mad:
 
I have had 100% success with both units I have; operating them right out of the box with the remotes provided.
 
I have had no issues with either the supplied remote or either of 2 Harmonies (659 and 880Pro). My HR21-700 and A/V system is in the basement. The IR system I use is an older Rat Shack system and the emitter is ~5' from the components so everything can see the broadcast from the emitter. When everything was in a closet, I had the emitter sitting atop my A/V receiver angled downward and pointing at the door. When the door was closed, the signals would reflect off the door, and when the door was open, they would reflect off the hallway wall for all components to see.
 
Egnisn, I have to thank you because something in your reply got me thinking. :eureka: I checked the settings for my IR receiver base station, and sure enough the IR blaster was set to ON. What was happening was that the DVR was receiving the signal from the individual IR emitter stuck to the front, AND the signal from the base station's IR blaster, in effect canceling each other out. The rest of my components weren't bothered by the double signal, but I guess it was confusing the heck out of the HR-21. Removing the small IR emitter from the front did the trick, and the unit is now responding almost perfectly to the signals from the base station's IR blaster. Thanks! :up :bow
 
Egnisn, I have to thank you because something in your reply got me thinking. :eureka: I checked the settings for my IR receiver base station, and sure enough the IR blaster was set to ON. What was happening was that the DVR was receiving the signal from the individual IR emitter stuck to the front, AND the signal from the base station's IR blaster, in effect canceling each other out. The rest of my components weren't bothered by the double signal, but I guess it was confusing the heck out of the HR-21. Removing the small IR emitter from the front did the trick, and the unit is now responding almost perfectly to the signals from the base station's IR blaster. Thanks! :up :bow

So, you are saying YOU had it set up wrong, and your anger towards the dvr and Directv was misplaced?
 
Egnisn, I have to thank you because something in your reply got me thinking. :eureka: I checked the settings for my IR receiver base station, and sure enough the IR blaster was set to ON. What was happening was that the DVR was receiving the signal from the individual IR emitter stuck to the front, AND the signal from the base station's IR blaster, in effect canceling each other out. The rest of my components weren't bothered by the double signal, but I guess it was confusing the heck out of the HR-21. Removing the small IR emitter from the front did the trick, and the unit is now responding almost perfectly to the signals from the base station's IR blaster. Thanks! :up :bow
Cool! Never before has a comment of "Mine works fine" resulted in resolution of the issue. Glad it is working for you.
 
Nice feeling right? Thats what keeps me coming back on all these forums the last 6 years. :)
Intentionally offering help, as I have tried to do over the past several years in various venues, is one thing. Unintentionally doing it with a comment in passing is rather different. ;)
 
Intentionally offering help, as I have tried to do over the past several years in various venues, is one thing. Unintentionally doing it with a comment in passing is rather different. ;)
It's all GOOD!

You helped, whether you intended to or not. That's what we're all (hopefully) here for.

Thanks!
 
So, you are saying YOU had it set up wrong, and your anger towards the dvr and Directv was misplaced?

Yes, that is what I'm saying, and I readily admit it. However, seldom is anger misplaced towards Directv who will never admit that their gear or policies are ever flawed. I have a list a mile long, but we'll save that for another day.

Incidentally, after using it for a couple of days, while response will be great in certain views (List, Guide, etc.), in other views the unit won't respond at all to buttons that it responds to perfectly in every other case (direction buttons on the program search screen).

The troubleshooting continues.
 
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