I have a client who has a Niles IR system in his main viewing room. It consists of a plasma proof wall plate sensor about 4' left of the plasma and on the same wall. I have eliminated just about every possible source of interference. With the Plasma off, all of the feedback leds are quite. As soon as the TV goes on, they are bright.

The rest of the Niles system is a MSU-250 with a single high-power blaster (IRB1) and the WS100P plasma proof wall plate IR sensor.

We have tried to look for interference from the IR Blaster, other equipment, lighting, alarm system, etc. Seems to come down to the Plasma.

Client indicates it works ok sometimes, sometimes not.

Any thoughts?

Thx Dave

It's operating normally if:

1. talkback led is out when plasma is off
2. talkback led is on when plasma is on & the ir system works

You can visit Nilesaudio.com and download codes to defeat the talkback led on the sensor if your customer doesn't want the visual interference

When plasma is on, the talkback lights in proportion to the interference from the plasma.

The codes are perhaps what you need to get rid of the distraction.

Another trick we have learned is to disconnect the status leg. That has helped on a couple of occasions. (of course this defeats the status feature, but it's more important that it work, right?)

Go the RF route. I haven't found a Plasma Proof receiver that works reliable 100%.

I have tried Ernie's trick with the blue painters tape over the IR receiver, just get a black sharpie. This has worked on dozens of installs with Xantech and Speakercraft IR repeaters. First thing I go to when I start to run into problems.

Good luck,

Do you use an IR friendly receiver to start with, or does it matter?

I think I have a Xantech in the truck with std and CFL friendly receiver but haven't taken a chance yet on them. I have an install with a Proceed high end pre/pro that puts out serious RF up to 30' away when you adj volume, power up, change input, etc. I think I am going to have to abandon RF operation on this one (first one that I've had trouble with).

I may also have an Audioplex that was supposed to be friendly but not so much to me as the folks who sold it.

Do you se the same model each time?

plasma displays produce tons of infra red noise. i deal with this by getting plasma friendly receivers and glueing them onto the top or bottom of the display out of line of site of plasma screen itsself.

i know there are 2 different types of receivers. those that block certain frequencies of ir and those that dont. each have ups and downs.......

turns out that those that block frequencies dont work with somel kenwood, ada and a couple other lines i cant think of.

i woul bet your plasma friendly receiver is not ...most likely mispackaged. have you tried changing out the connecting block as well? have had rash of bad blocks from different manufactureres lately as well as back about 22 months or so.

ed

Well, the one I worked with yesterday was the Xantech and it worked about as I expected with lots of little flashes from the plasma nearby.

I may dig out the Audioplex to see if it's any better.

Went to the training and tried a PLASMA PROOF Niles piece. I'd give it about a 99% - no real issues, just a little flaky when you add the plasma interference to the room light.

I'm looking for my painter's tape now...

We use Speakercraft IRC-2P2's which are plasma friendly. Sometimes we still have to break out the blue tape. We primarily use Pioneer Elite and Fujitsu plamas. The tape is the first thing I go to when something seems to be amiss. First time I tried this the Installer I was working with thought I was joking, but it made a huge difference in reliability. Why, I have know idea, but it just seems to work. Remote worked good, client was happy, got paid and got to go home.

I had a hell of a time with the Audioplex IR receiver and Xantech connecting block and emitters, while someone else around here has had good luck with that combo. Wierd things happen in California, maybe this is just another one of those things.

Good luck,

On my tape look (or whatever they call it) on my tool bag I have black and white electrical tape and painters tape. Also works good to protect the end of the shelves when moving equipment around. What an invention I tell you.

We gave up on Plasma proof IR receivers a while back for the majority of our installs. We occasionaly use the tuneable ones from Audioplex with our non RF remotes. This way we can adjust for the cable boxes.

We almost exclusively use RF. It ends up costing everyone less time, hassle, and money.

Many thanks for the good ideas, folks!

Roddy - I assume you mean to color the blue painter's tape with a sharpie and not the len's itself??? LOL

Thx Dave

Yes I did mean the coloring the tape, hope somebody is not using the sharpie on the eye. Who knows though, it just might work. lol

Maybe somebody can experiment in the lab?? :):)

Dave,

I've had no problems with the new plasma-proof Niles products. They work every time.

Dave

Since I started using RF I never thought I'd need IR repeaters again. Trying to figure out how to get rid of my Xantech stuff...

Had the first ever mishap with RF - a Proceed preamp/processor that transmits huge amounts of RF when the volume is adjusted or certain inputs are selected. I had the RF receiver 30+ feet away, then removed the antenna and still a bright light.

Used an Audioplex bug and so far it's working. Will let client test for a couple of days.