Depending on how good your RS meter is you may be able to do the following:
Set you meter on the most sensitive AC volts scale you have. Blast the IR receiver with your remote and look for any response on the meter. In order for this to work your meter will have to respond to about 30 KHz or above, don't know if the RS meter will or not. The best way to test is with a scope.
They cost so darn much because there is an IR
sensor inside, pretty well shielded from RF interference,
with amplifiers and filtering circuits to reject
IR signals that are not in the right neighborhood
of frequencies. Open one up sometime -- then
think about making one. I once thought I could
do just as well for half the price, and a look
told me otherwise.
In volume the IR receiver would cost less than $5.00 to make which would mean an end price to the customer of less than $15.00. The reason they cost so much is that they are a small niche market item. If home automation ever becomes popular the price will fall accordingly.
