Zalman HD160 / IRTrans / Remote Issue

[ahedberg]

Just posting this for people who may have the same issue...

I have a Zalman HD160, which ships with an integrated IR Receiver and IRTrans Software. My issue was the remote would not work. Turns out that my plasma threw off so much IR noise that the receiver couldn't understand commands from a remote. I found other reports of CFL bulbs causing the same behavior.

The way to test if you have a simular problem:

1) Restart
2) Make sure IRtrans is running in the system tray
3) Right click on IRTrans logo in system tray
4) select 'display received commands'

This pops up a window which shows all of the IR traffic... you may see a bunch of commands (noise) - even though you are not pressing any remote buttons.

If you see a bunch of noise...

5) Put a single layer of standard masking tape over the entire VFD window
6) Check to see if the noise stops in the 'display received commands' window
7) repeat steps 5 & 6 until the noise stops.

Once the noise stops, test your remote. My worked from 8 feet away, but nothing further.

The fix - unless you want masking tape on the front of the case forever...

A) Find an old film canister and cut it into a 1/2 pipe (or ring).
B) Cover one side of the pipe with the same number of layers masking tape - we will call this the 'shroud'
C) mount the shroud over the IR receiver inside the case (the 1/2" x 1/4" black rectangle protruding from the VFD board)
D) button the case back up.

After all that, I was not satisfied with the 8' range, so I ordered a phillips remote that does media center over RF. It also has the benefit of interacting with your music on the remote (slideshow lite). List price is $200, but you can buy it at http://www.fadfusion.com/selection.p...er=20027000664 for $100. The concept of browsing playlists on my remote from another room or outside was too cool to pass up.