ARES District 3 Bulletins 2017

TO:    ALL WOOD COUNTY ARES MEMBERS  (OFFICIAL)
       ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE  (INFORMATION)
FROM:  KEN HARRIS WA8LLM ARRL DISTRICT 3 EMERGENCY COORDINATOR
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INC.

WOOD COUNTY BULLETIN NR 17.04          DATE: January 22, 2017
SUBJECT: REMOTE CONTROL INTERFERENCE

Have you ever had problems with your TV, DVD, Cable, or other Remote Control device, only to find out later the problem goes away?  If you have to be close to the device you're controlling before you're able to make it command, it could one of a couple problems.  The batteries may be getting weak in your controller, or you're having interference from another controller device in the room.  Most of the time you'll find that new batteries will take care of the problem.

If you've changed the batteries and the problem is still there, start looking for an interfering signal.  There are devices that may produce an Infrared Signal which most Remote Control devices uses, and the most likely source of interference will be another Remote Control device.

If you are like a lot of other people, you may have a Remote Control units that you are no longer using, but the batteries are still good in it.  Be sure to take the batteries out of any units that you are no longer using before you put them up.  There's a likely chance that something may get pushed against it, or laid on top of it, pressing one of the buttons.  If one of the buttons gets pressed, the device will be flooding the room with an Infrared signal preventing other devices from doing their job.

Move around the room and see if blocking the signal corrects the problem.  If that clears the problem, start narrowing the interfering source by blocking its signal with a newspaper or other light blocking device.  If you can't find the interfering signal, it may just go away when the batteries in it go dead. (Spoken from experience)

Ken Harris WA8LLM
WCEC
Wood County WV

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