Buffalo IR sensor behavior

Guy Lavoie

Active Member
I have just set up an actual installation (as opposed to a temporary bench setup) of my Buffalo IR repeater system and I'm having some strange behavior that I'd like to discuss with anyone having worked with these devices.

This installation was prompted by my recent subscription to digital cable TV. I have a single cable box that I wanted to share with both TVs, so I set it up such that the audio and video signals out of the box go into a modulator that my TVs can view by going to channel 77. This setup allows both TVs to continue receiving analog cable as well as my in-house channels. I realize that I'm not getting the best picture quality but until I get a large hi-def TV, this is already very good. Anyway the subject I want to get to is the Buffalo IR...

I have a IR-250 sensor near one TV and an IR-350 near the other. These go back to a IR-100 connecting block and a mini-emitter stuck to the cable box. If I connect only one IR sensor (either one) it works just great. If I connect both sensor's signal lines at the same time, operation becomes very iffy, needing to be quite close (a couple of feet) to the sensor with the remote to get it to work at all. Furthurmore, the activity LED on the IR-350 shows constant activity, seemingly receiving IR "noise". If however I disconnect just the signal line from the IR-250 near the other TV, the IR-350's LED stops blinking wildly and once again works great. Similarly, disconnecting the IR-350's signal line lets the IR-250 work just great. Ok, I reconnected both sensors to do more troubleshooting.

Doing furthur experimentation, I could stop the IR-100's activity LED from blinking like the one on the IR-350 by connecting its ground screw to electrical ground. But this did not stop the IR-350's LED from blinking constantly. I then tried running a 4th wire which connected the IR-100's ground screw to one of the screws on the IR-350, but no improvement was observed. I did notice though that simply holding the IR-350 in my hand would make the LED blinking a lot dimmer or completely go away. A test with the wife holding the IR-350 and me trying the remove from a distance showed good range too. Trying to connect the ground screw to the TV's cable-in ground did not help. I did find one that that did work however. I wrapped the sides and back of the IR-350 with (I can hear them laughing already...) tin foil! The foil does touch the ground screw (and 4th wire back to the IR-350).

Has anyone experienced something like this? I would like to find a better way to finish up this installation properly but at least now its working reliably. Are the IR sensors that sensitive to noise? Any why is it only when I connect two of them that these problems appear?
 
That's weird Guy. Wild guess here, but do you think the "combined" gain of the two systems is causing an more noise in the system (which would explain why it works with one)? This increase noise is "swamping" out the normal signal!?

Would be interesting to see a trace of the signal and how much noise is present in each scenario.
 
One question: Are you placing the emitters in series or parallel? I think series is the way to go.

JMTCW

PaulH
 
PaulH, there is only one emitter. The amplified connecting block has four outputs and I'm only using one.

BSR, I'm also thinking that the noise levels of both sensors are somehow adding up. When I have some time I might have a look at the signal line with a scope and compare the individual residual noise levels and then with both connected. Each of the two sensors are at the end of Cat5 runs of about 25 to 30 feet each, with nothing else using other conductors. I have also avoided running parallel to high voltage wiring, etc.

If you're familiar with these Buffalo modules, you'll know that the IR-350 has a decora faceplate and is designed to be mounted in a wall box. I imagine that a metal wall box would provide shielding similar to what I'm doing with the tin foil, although I haven't seen any requirements for a metal enclosure for it (and many installations seem to be using plastic boxes anyways). My IR-350 is not mounted in a box, but is held by a wood screw below an overhang of a small TV shelf.

I'm just wondering if other people who might have installed two or more Buffalo sensors have seen this kind of problem before.
 
I missed this post the first time around...

I have a Xantech system that I installed and has worked flawlessly for at least a year. I wanted to add 1 more IR Receiver so I purchased a Buffalo receiver (the "bullet" style - about 2 inches long with just a receiver at the end) from AO (that's what they carried).

About once every 2 months, I notice random IR signals (my HVPro software keeps track of all the IR activity). If I look at some emmitters that have the visible light also, they will be dimly lit.

Took me some time to determine the cause - it's the Buffalo IR. If I unplug it from the IR network, the problem immediately stops. If I plug it back in - it starts again. If I leave it unplugged for 10-15 minutes and then plug back in - the problem goes away for another 4-8 weeks.

Very wierd and I've never figured out why... In case it helps...
 
Are there any resolutions to these problems. I need to install an IR repeater and I was thinking of going with the Buffalo IR system. Is there an alternate/better solution?
 
Don't fret. I've been doing some research and Buffalo seems to be my choice so far. Would just like some other opinions.
 
Are there any resolutions to these problems. I need to install an IR repeater and I was thinking of going with the Buffalo IR system. Is there an alternate/better solution?

I didn't resolve the two IR receiver problem (it's ok with just one receiver) but the first thing I would suggest is to use shielded cabling instead of the usual Cat 5 wiring. These are analog signals and are subject to noise pickup.
 
Buffalo swears that anything better than Cat 5 works just fine to about 800'. I have several units being delivered tomorrow and I'll report back. Thanks.
 
UPS put my Buffalo IR repeaters on the wrong delivery truck. I won't be able to test them until tomorrow. Thanks, Brown.
 
Has anyone experienced something like this? I would like to find a better way to finish up this installation properly but at least now its working reliably. Are the IR sensors that sensitive to noise? Any why is it only when I connect two of them that these problems appear?

Are the receivers shielded from the emitter? Maybe it could be some kind of signal loop?
 
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