Hopper Duo does not a connector for a UHF antenna

[Bill Jeff]

Title says it all. I have a Hopper Duo with DVR in the living room. I have two 40.0 remotes. Both remotes can control the Hopper from across the room (25 feet?) as long as they have line-of-sight to the Hopper, but as soon as the line-of-sight is interrupted (by my hand, for example), neither one works. This tells me that the remotes are controlling the Hopper via IR. Changing MENU / SETTINGS /REMOTE / IR ON/OFF doesn't change this.

I need to control the Hopper via the UHF link, but I can't make it work. All of the on-line references tell me to "move the UHF antenna" or "extend the UHF antenna" or "use a length of cable to put the UHF antenna in a better spot". But since the Hopper doesn't have a connector for a UHF antenna, this is impossible.

Suggestions?

I called Dish Support, but since the guy who answered didn't speak English, and I don't speak Hindi, I 'm not expecting much there. If it would help, I can take a picture of the rear panel of the Hopper, if I can figure out how to attach a picture.

Bill

 

[n0qcu]

Then the UHF antenna is built in because the 40.0 remote is definitely controlling the DUO by UHF because the 40.0 absolutely does NOT do IR in satellite mode.

 

[JSheridan]

Title says it all. I have a Hopper Duo with DVR in the living room. I have two 40.0 remotes. Both remotes can control the Hopper from across the room (25 feet?) as long as they have line-of-sight to the Hopper, but as soon as the line-of-sight is interrupted (by my hand, for example), neither one works. This tells me that the remotes are controlling the Hopper via IR. Changing MENU / SETTINGS /REMOTE / IR ON/OFF doesn't change this.

I need to control the Hopper via the UHF link, but I can't make it work. All of the on-line references tell me to "move the UHF antenna" or "extend the UHF antenna" or "use a length of cable to put the UHF antenna in a better spot". But since the Hopper doesn't have a connector for a UHF antenna, this is impossible.

Suggestions?

I called Dish Support, but since the guy who answered didn't speak English, and I don't speak Hindi, I 'm not expecting much there. If it would help, I can take a picture of the rear panel of the Hopper, if I can figure out how to attach a picture.

Bill

Hopper Duo's have the UHF antenna built in.

Have you paired the remotes to the Duo?

 

[Bill Jeff]

Hopper Duo's have the UHF antenna built in.

Have you paired the remotes to the Duo?

Thanks for your replies, but I'm not sure this is helping.

Kevin, you've said that the 40.0 does not use IR. So if it works, it must be using UHF, right? By the way, are you sure it has no IR capability? It has the window on the front end of the case. I'm not sure why it would be there if there is no IR. But if there is no IR, it must be working over UHF.

jSheridan, you asked if it is paired. My understanding is that if it is not paired, it won't work. But it does work, so it must be paired. Incidentally, the remote shows up in the System Info list, and responds to the Find Your Remote query.

So putting these together, the conclusion seems to be that it works over UHF, but only at very short range. And I'm back to my original question - why does it not work at longer range, and why does it stop working when it loses line of sight? And most important, how can I extend the range into the next room - not far away, but out of line of sight?

Thanks

Bill

 

[Cheddar_Head]

Have you tried changing the batteries in your remote? Weak batteries can degrade the range of your UHF remote.

 

[ChadT41]

Another idea, so we can get an idea... can you take a screenshot of your info page where the remote is listed. Black out all of the information on the screen, except the remote information on the right.

 

[Bill Jeff]

CheddarHead -

Thanks for the thought. Yes. I actually have 2 remotes doing this, and they both have brand-new batteries. Beyond that, I am an engineer, so I have a voltmeter, and I checked them.

Bill

 

[Bill Jeff]

Another idea, so we can get an idea... can you take a screenshot of your info page where the remote is listed. Black out all of the information on the screen, except the remote information on the right.

Chad -

Good idea. Will do - tom'w.

Bill

 

[osumike]

I have a nice shiny new 54.0 remote I'll sell you?

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[joegr]

...By the way, are you sure it has no IR capability? It has the window on the front end of the case. I'm not sure why it would be there if there is no IR. But if there is no IR, it must be working over UHF...

The IR emitter on the remote is to control the TV and other devices?

 

[HipKat]

Sounds like something is interfering with the UHF signal

 

[Bobby]

Sounds like something is interfering with the UHF signal

I agree. Just for jeepers, Bill Jeff, if your TV has auto dim enabled try disabling that temporarily to see if your remote issue goes away.

 

[HipKat]

I agree. Just for jeepers, Bill Jeff, if your TV has auto dim enabled try disabling that temporarily to see if your remote issue goes away.

Don't the remotes use both UHF AND IR? Possibly home security, radio, etc in or near the home could be an issue

 

[Bill Jeff]

Here's the picture that was requested. The TV is connected to the Hopper thru the HDMI port, and the picture was obtained by pushing the SysInfo button on the front of the Hopper. The TV does not have an auto-dim. Clicking the LOCATE in the red box causes the remote to respond.

Bill

 

[Bill Jeff]

Let me describe this line-of-sight thing again.

I stand anywhere in the front quadrant of the Hopper, 6 feet away from it, and both remotes control the Hopper.
I move to the side of the Hopper, again 6 feet away, and neither remote works.

Actually, if I stand in the front quadrant, as much as 30 feet away (as far as I can get in my living room/kitchen while maintaining line-of-sight), both remotes work.

WTFO?

HipKat, you asked about possible interference from other IR devices. I can't think of any other IR devices in the area. But if there is something I would expect the nature of the interference to be random unprovoked intermittent actions and strange results and responses, not a complete quiet failure.

Bill

 

[HipKat]

Let me describe this line-of-sight thing again.

I stand anywhere in the front quadrant of the Hopper, 6 feet away from it, and both remotes control the Hopper.
I move to the side of the Hopper, again 6 feet away, and neither remote works.

Actually, if I stand in the front quadrant, as much as 30 feet away (as far as I can get in my living room/kitchen while maintaining line-of-sight), both remotes work.

WTFO?

HipKat, you asked about possible interference from other IR devices. I can't think of any other IR devices in the area. But if there is something I would expect the nature of the interference to be random unprovoked intermittent actions and strange results and responses, not a complete quiet failure.

Bill

UHF, not IR. Blue light or UV light from a TV can interfere with IR, but UHF is more of a radio wave. On certain VIP's we fix that by taking a IR/UHF remote, setting it for UHF and programming it the receiver.

Since, I think the remotes work with both UHF and IR, that would explain why it works with line of sight - the IR function. For UHF, I wonder if there's something nearby that broadcasts on a similar frequency as the Hopper remote's UHF signal

 

[n0qcu]

The remotes are UHF in sat mode and IR in TV/DVD/AUX modes. If you don't believe me use the camera on your phone and you can see when the IR leds are transmitting.

 

[ChadT41]

How many remotes do you have paired. It appears more than those 2

 

[joewhite57]

The remotes are UHF in sat mode and IR in TV/DVD/AUX modes. If you don't believe me use the camera on your phone and you can see when the IR leds are transmitting.

I’m not original op but had never heard of trick with phone camera. Way cool!

 

[Bill Jeff]

Let me add one more tidbit. I have a wired Joey in the bedroom, on the other side of a wall constructed of standard drywall-on-studs. The Hopper drives the Joey via the Hopper's "To Hub" output, and a Hybrid Solo. In other words, it is using the second tuner in the Hopper.

I have yet another 40.0 remote that controls this part of the setup perfectly. It does NOT require line-of-sight to anything, which tells me that it is using UHF. I don't know if the remote sends UHF direct to the Hopper, or if it sends UHF to the Joey, which in turn passes the commands back to the Hopper. But UHF definitely works here. It also tells me that UHF interference is not the issue.

Do I have a defective Hopper? I still haven't heard back from Dish Tech Support, who was supposed to get back to me last week.

Bill