Extending Remote Control Range

[boombastic 10+ year member]

Hello all -

I just bought a Kenwood MPV-5028 head unit w/Sirius and love it, except for the simple fact that I thought the remote would work from outside the truck, but I can barely get it to work from inside the truck. I changed the batteries with no significant improvement. Am I wrong to think I was going to be able to use the remote outide the truck or is the remote or IR in the HU or remote bad?

Click to read more...

 

[chinny 5,000+ posts]

get a cutip and clean the lil eye lense thingy, worked for me not it works from outside of the car even if i point to the sky.

 

[hoss 5,000+ posts]

thats about typical. IR doesent give the most reliable connectivity from far away. going through windows, especially safety glass or automotive glass, bends the rays and causes deflection. you can get it from certain angles, or certain areas, but there really isnt a surefire way to do it.

on the other hand you could get a HT remote with RF capabilities and convert the RF base to a 12v power source and use the HT remote from virtually anywhere //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[boombastic 10+ year member]

on the other hand you could get a HT remote with RF capabilities and convert the RF base to a 12v power source and use the HT remote from virtually anywhere //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Wow, lost in the translation...

Please explain this, please, in a little more detail with a few more layman's terms... thanks!

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

RF = radio frequency...

Basically converting the IR signal which is extremely line-of-sight to a radio signal which is technically line of sight, but has much better...umm...how do I say this without an innuendo...penetrating capabilities //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[hoss 5,000+ posts]

lol, its not really worth your while what i was explaining...

i was talking about getting a home theater universal remote, one with radio frequency(RF) capabilities. you could teach it all the commands of your HU's remote, and with the use of RF you would have all the range you ever wanted.

i had thought about it when i cound out my car cant accept an aftermarket HU

 

[hoss 5,000+ posts]

RF = radio frequency...
Basically converting the IR signal which is extremely line-of-sight to a radio signal which is technically line of sight, but has much better...umm...how do I say this without an innuendo...penetrating capabilities //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

exactly. only RF isnt line of sight, it just has a limited range, but its much much greater than that of IR.

 

[boombastic 10+ year member]

Hoss - thanks for the clarification. I hope that cleaning the IR lense as per the first reply may help?!

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

exactly. only RF isnt line of sight, it just has a limited range, but its much much greater than that of IR.

RF is line of sight above 50MHz...trust me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

It's just that as you go up in frequency, the penetrating ability of the signal is less. Infrared is very sensitive to obstacles that a lower frequency signal would pass right through.

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

IR REPEATER.

Cost yah about $10 at the Shack.

Google it.