Remote controls

[karohemd]

I realised a while ago that IR remote controls seem to have changed.

I remember the first remote control we had for a TV (in the mid-seventies) could be pointed anywhere in the room (or sometimes even into the kitchen if you pointed it through the wide open door and stood to the side so the signal could bounce properly) and it would change the channel, while most modern ones need to be pointed directly at the device to work.

Has anyone else noticed this? Was this a different system? The old one was definitely IR, too. Maybe the beam is weaker and tighter focussed or something.

Comments

[xambrius.livejournal.com]

It's probably intentional. When I was a kid, I derived great pleasure from using our remote to randomly change channels on our neighbors' TV just by pointing it into their living room through the window, and I wasn't the only kid to play that prank.

--
Tim Harris
The Seeker
Time Lord

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Hehe, that might well be a reason.

[susanofstohelit.livejournal.com]

both of those sound right, plus I'd bet that individual remotes use a much smaller piece of the spectrum now. think about how many wireless devices you have compared to then. it would follow that everything gets a smaller piece of the pie.

[eryx-uk.livejournal.com]

I was about to say the same thing. Our first remote TV could be used to change next doors.

I used to have a musical doorbell as well, where if anyone with a similar model doorbell within about 3 doors also triggered theirs!

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Aha! That would be why my mum's doorbell used to randomly go off when there was nobody there not even kids playing knock knock ginger. Once the cat was sitting on the doorstep when it happened, which was confusing.

When I lived with daneel_olivaw in a thick concrete walled ex-council flat I had a mirror in my doorway so the wireless network signal could bounce off the mirror in the hallway, off that mirror and into my room. When I moved it, there was no signal! I had to browse the web with my door open.

[jupiter-jones.livejournal.com]

Wenn ich meinen Sat-Receiver mit der Fernbedienung umschalte, dann mache ich damit meist auch meine Stereoanlage an :-(

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Hey, Du lebst auch noch? Wie geht's denn so? :o)

[deborah_c]

Remotes are generally on the same frequency (or one of a very small number, anyway); generally it's the codes for individual buttons that differ between them, and the number space for key codes is far bigger than the number on a typical remote.

[pmoodie.livejournal.com]

It's an intersting observation. I hadn't really thought about it before, but I'm sure you're right.

I do remember that our very first remote control was actually connected to the VCR by a wire! LOL