Remote control for the elderly

[Rusty909]

I just had DISH Network hooked up to our home today.

I take care of my 90 year old mother, and discovered that this is no way she is able to use the remote control which DISH supplied.

After calling DISH tonight, they explained that they do not provide a remote control that someone, such a my mom, can use. The only suggestion they had was to set up the "Favorites" option to simplify the process of her scanning channels, but she can't even hold this small remote properly and manipulate the buttons (way too small).

Is there some third party who might sell a remote control, with large buttons, which a 90 year old could use to control our DISH receiver?

I can supply the brand name and model of our receiver, if someone has any ideas.

If not, I'll probably need to pay DISH the $300 early termination fee, and ask the cable company to come and hook their service back into our home. It never occurred to me that the needs of the elderly wouldn't be supported by DISH Network.

 

[ab187]

Brookstone sells a jumbo remote that is compatible with Dish Network receivers.
Jumbo Universal Remote

Dish also sells a remote with a more simplified layout and slightly larger buttons.

The Dish Store - Powered by Metro25

 

[47HO]

I bought the weemote Sr for my Dad, who suffers with Parkinson's Disease. It does the job well.

 

[Andrewwski]

Look at your local drugstore for one called the Innovage Jumbo Universal Remote. I believe it has Dish codes in it as well. I've seen them at Walgreens and Rite Aid, they are huge. Pictures don't do them justice - it's probably a foot long.

 

[jlo]

dish has its own EZ Remote

 

[tonystewart20]

Yea dish does have the EZ remote I have 10 on my truck right now.

 

[Rusty909]

Thanks, though I have the Innovage Jumbo Universal Remote, I haven't been able to make it work for the DISH VIP222k receiver.

I'm a bit confused how these universal jumbo remotes could work, since we have only one DISH receiver for our 2 TVs. The receiver sits in our living room, her TV is in her bedroom.

 

[Bobby]

That's a bit more problematic. The dish remote for that TV is UHF and it controls the tuner on the receiver that way, over the air. These other remotes are ultraviolet and need line of sight to control the receiver.

 

[BobaBird]

See http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/178038-first-look-tv2-ir-converter-kit.html and EKB: TV2 IR Converter

 

[Bobby]

There ya go!

 

[navychop]

Of course, no matter what you do, it may come down to her calling her remote "son." That's how it worked out with my MiL. She won't learn my Harmony remote system with Dish, even though her cable remote is much more complicated.

 

[Rusty909]

Now I understand.

The signal for the remote in the bedroom is carried on UHF to reach the living room.

I'll bet that one device will work !

And I like one of the universal jumbo remotes mentioned earlier.

Thank you, folks. You've been a great help to me - and to a sweet 90 yo mom. :up

 

[Rusty909]

Of course, no matter what you do, it may come down to her calling her remote "son." That's how it worked out with my MiL. She won't learn my Harmony remote system with Dish, even though her cable remote is much more complicated.

lol. I know what you mean.

 

[Tom-Tx]

I've spent this past week hunting down a solution for the same exact same problem. I tried a Dishnetwork 4.0 remote. UHF, simpler layout, but buttons too small.
My next was to buy the Dish EZ Remote from Ebay ($10 w/shipping) and the TV2 IR Converter from the Dishstore (sorry I tried but I'm not yet allowed to post a web link)
My 84yr old mother-in-law has been completely unable to use a regular Dish UHF remote. God's honest truth, I had to stop writing this to go "fix" her TV.
I can't wait for these to arrive!

 

[Tom-Tx]

One more post to go and I can include links

 

[Tom-Tx]

Here try this
The Dish Store - Powered by Metro25 and this
http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/178038-first-look-tv2-ir-converter-kit.html

 

[Rusty909]

Thank you, folks.

I need to buy a TV2 IR Converter for the television (for TV2 - dual mode) in the rear bedroom.

I'm a little confused by the wiring diagram. I have experience with electronics, but the second of the two diagrams seems to indicate that the IR Converter needs to be in the same room with TV1 and the dish receiver.

That doesn't make sense, since I assume the IR converter needs to go in the bedroom with TV2 to allow a jumbo universal remote to work.

UNLESS.... the top diagram also depicts the dish system working in dual-mode.

????

 

[Tom-Tx]

Rusty:
Diagram A is for your situation and a receiver setup using Diplexers. Diagram B is for a Slingbox. I have a dual receiver downstairs set to dual mode. There is one coax from the receiver “distribution” output going upstairs to TV2. I used a modified Diagram A.

Here is my story and solution…
Used the Dish TV2 IR Conversion Kit. Then bought a cheep LARGE button remote http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=65785 from Harbor Freight. Hooked up the TV2 Converter in the upstairs bedroom (“TV” to TV2, “Receiver” to the wall outlet that goes downstairs to the receiver), the included splitter at the downstairs VIP 622 receiver (wall outlet to “In” one side to receiver “distribution” and the other to receiver “UHF Remote Antenna”), set the remote to the pre-programmed TV and receiver codes, and all worked well.

Having all the pre-programmed Dish buttons got my mother-in-law into trouble. I spent a few days of repeating and writing down the instructions, running upstairs to “fix” the TV, and then opening the remote to actually cut out the extra buttons. I was still left with the fact that my mother-in-law couldn’t understand the need to hit TV mode, power, Sat mode, power and the reverse to turn things on and off. Next I went out and got a learning remote Universal Remote Control - 6-Device Universal Remote - URC-R6 with two buttons having a macro function. I only taught the remote the very few absolutely needed buttons. Then programmed the “Power On” macro to TV mode, power, Sat mode, power on, cancel, and finally view tv. “Power Off” macro is set to Sat mode, power, TV mode, power.

If the big button remote was a learning remote, I could have taught it everything within one Sat Mode (TV power on/off to an unused button, Sat power on/off to another, etc.) then cut out the “TV” and “Sat” buttons off, and finally moved them to replace the newly programmed buttons. This option would have given me the advantage of the very large buttons, but left me with trying to teach a pre/post Alzheimer 84yr old the two button on/off routine. The learning remote w/ macro function I found is almost perfect except the buttons are not as large but still easier to see than Dish's remotes. However, so far no complaints nor "fix" my TV requests.

 

[Rusty909]

Tom, thank you.

This is extremely helpful.

I'm going to give it a try. :up

 

[sca]

Yea dish does have the EZ remote I have 10 on my truck right now.

WHAT??? then how come i dont have them? imagine how many tc's that could have saved me all these years? do you work for dns? where did you get these remotes?