IR blasting to new Sky Kaon NS1120 decoder

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mattyb

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Topic # 199099 4-Aug-2016 13:45

Anyone had success IR blasting to the new Sky Kaon NS1120 decoder??

I was able to obtain the hex codes and get the blasting working, but I'm finding the placement of the IR blast 'head' is very sensitive and can't get it to work reliably. Bit frustrating... I've tried moving it around, moving the box further back in the tv cabinet (to eliminate ambient light issues), nothing seems to make it work consistently.

Any help appreciated - thanks in advance.

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Reply # 1604348 4-Aug-2016 15:12

How did you get the hex codes? I find they change every button push (eg no two pushes of a key are the same).

mattyb

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Reply # 1604350 4-Aug-2016 15:17

tchart: How did you get the hex codes? I find they change every button push (eg no two pushes of a key are the same).

From this free driver:

http://www.chowmain.co.nz/mysky-driver

I use IR Server Suite to control IR blasting so was able to extract the hex codes from the download (rename as .zip, extract and view with notepad etc) and copy them into the *.IR files in IRSS. Worked perfectly, except it seems the new Sky box is extremely sensitive to placement of the IR blast 'head'!

richms

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Reply # 1604364 4-Aug-2016 15:51

Probably on the wrong carrier in that case. The bandpass filters in those sensors are pretty wide, so a 38kHz carrier will operate a 56kHz device if really close to it, but not from more than a couple of CM.

Richard rich.ms

mattyb

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Reply # 1604375 4-Aug-2016 16:16

richms:

Probably on the wrong carrier in that case. The bandpass filters in those sensors are pretty wide, so a 38kHz carrier will operate a 56kHz device if really close to it, but not from more than a couple of CM.

Not sure I follow. I have the IR blast head taped to the front of the decoder, so very close. Is there any way to make it better/more reliable?

richms

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Reply # 1604383 4-Aug-2016 16:43

You need to make sure that whatever is driving the blaster is outputting the correct carrier frequancy for the sky remote.

I dont have sky so cant chuck the remote on the oscilliscope to look at what it should be, but I am suer you will find it documented somewhere.

Richard rich.ms

JimmyH

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Reply # 1605147 5-Aug-2016 18:12

You could always email Sky and they might tell you what you need, but they aren't good at answering this type of question in my experience.

Another other option might be to email the makers of the box (ie Kaon) directly, or check their website, to see if the codes and technical specs for the box can be obtained there.

A was also contemplating doing this to get around the inability to book programmes for an external recorder like you could on the old decoder, and have the necessary hardware, but never quite got around to it.

mattyb

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Reply # 1606232 8-Aug-2016 10:08

richms:

You need to make sure that whatever is driving the blaster is outputting the correct carrier frequancy for the sky remote.

I dont have sky so cant chuck the remote on the oscilliscope to look at what it should be, but I am suer you will find it documented somewhere.

I can't remember make and model of the USB IR receiver/blaster I have but I'll check tonight - then I can check what carrier frequency it uses for blasting. Have had a look around but can't find the frequency of the sky remote specified anywhere either - any suggestions??

mattyb

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Reply # 1606240 8-Aug-2016 10:15

Found this while google searching...

http://www.jamware.co.nz/media/tech_docs/66-40005-IR_Repeater_Data_Sheet.pdf

The second sheet indicates there are problems when IR blasting to a MySky - though the image looks like the older MySky decoder rather than the newer Kaon NS1120 model I have - and suggests using an infrared filtering tape over the emitter/receiver to help eliminate interference. I've emailed the company to find out what the tape is and perhaps I can find some to try.

mattyb

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Reply # 1606344 8-Aug-2016 14:14

Jamware came back to me stating that 'unexposed developed camera film is an alternative'.

Now to find some of that to try....

wingbat45

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Reply # 1606638 8-Aug-2016 22:38

mattyb:

Jamware came back to me stating that 'unexposed developed camera film is an alternative'.

Now to find some of that to try....

you can get IR stickers for the aperture of the IR receiver for the sky decoder. Sky won't post them out but most techs carry them **edit most techs I work with **

mattyb

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Reply # 1626588 9-Sep-2016 14:46

mattyb:

Jamware came back to me stating that 'unexposed developed camera film is an alternative'.

Now to find some of that to try....

Update: got around to trying this but still can't get it to work reliably....

@wingbat45 - how could I get a hold of some of the IR stickers you mentioned? Do you know any techs that I could call direct?

TankDriver

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Reply # 1626967 10-Sep-2016 12:38

Hi Mattyb

I posted a reply but it didn't appear, so i'll do another.

We have both Kaon and a black mysky decoder sitting in the same server rack, both of which are controlled by IR system.

We use a blue-eye dual channel system.

I found that the Kaon decoder was very sensitive to IR flasher placement. I used a 'yell down the hallway to a kid trying to change channel, while i move the the flasher around until it worked' approach. Once we had the correct location I taped it into place using electrical tape to ensure no errant IR signals get to the other decoder.

See attached pic for flasher location on the Kaon.

Cheers

Jamie

mattyb

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Reply # 1627693 12-Sep-2016 08:50

TankDriver:

Hi Mattyb

I posted a reply but it didn't appear, so i'll do another.

We have both Kaon and a black mysky decoder sitting in the same server rack, both of which are controlled by IR system.

We use a blue-eye dual channel system.

I found that the Kaon decoder was very sensitive to IR flasher placement. I used a 'yell down the hallway to a kid trying to change channel, while i move the the flasher around until it worked' approach. Once we had the correct location I taped it into place using electrical tape to ensure no errant IR signals get to the other decoder.

See attached pic for flasher location on the Kaon.

Cheers

Jamie

@TankDriver - brilliant! I think I've got it. I tried all sorts of positions previously but I was focussed more on the left side where the indicator LED was flashing, foolishly thinking this was where the receiver must be.

Will monitor over the next while but seems to be working well so far. Thanks a lot!!!

JimmyH

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Reply # 1640875 26-Sep-2016 18:43

So, mattyb, just to close the loop on this one, did you manage to get IR blasting working consistently and reliably in the end?

If so, I would be interested in what you did.

mattyb

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Reply # 1641039 27-Sep-2016 08:01

JimmyH:

So, mattyb, just to close the loop on this one, did you manage to get IR blasting working consistently and reliably in the end?

If so, I would be interested in what you did.

I haven't put the Media PC into service 100% just yet, as when Sky updated our decoder they gave us three months of Mysky so we've been using that as our primary recording device. This runs out next week. However I have been using it occasionally and it's probably been about 98% reliable. I think it's missed a channel change once.

I have three layers of unexposed developed camera film over the IR window on the decoder, then I've positioned the IR blaster head in the location roughly shown in the pic by @TankDriver's post.

I'm pretty confident that once the Mysky runs out and we start using this 100% that it will serve our needs fairly well. It's still really annoying that the new box doesn't support automatic channel changing like the old one, as there will be no 'backstop' for recordings that you really don't want to miss.

Hope that helps. If you have any specific questions let me know.

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