Hauppage IR Blaster fixed

[dvester]

After hours of trying to figure out why my wintv-150 Hauppage IR Blaster wouldn't change channels on my dish network STB, a dish 5000 (including having Dish send a new DP501 out), I finally decided to replace the LED in the blaster supplied by Hauppage.

I tore apart an old remote for some equipment I no longer had, and removed the Infrared LED from it, and soldered it onto the end of the Hauppage IR Blaster cord in place of the visible red LED they use. Problem fixed, it now changes channels fine.

Why they chose to use a visible red LED instead of an Infrared one is beyond me.

To do this, pry apart the blaster's LED housing with your thumbnail, and remove the 3 mm led from the housing with the cord still attached. Check the LED, and note which side of the cord is attached to the part of the LED with the FLAT on it. One side of the cord has a rib running down the length of the cord, the other side of the cord has no rib. When you solder the replacement IR LED on, make sure you attach the LED lead next to the FLAT on the LED to the same wire as the FLAT on the old LED was attached to. If you don't, the LED will be hooked up backwards, and won't work (but you won't know it because you can't see Infrared)

My replacement was a 5 mm LED, which wouldn't fit back in the blaster LED housing, so I just taped the bare LED sideways onto the STB IR receiver window. If you can get a 3 mm IR LED, it can be put back into the original housing to make a neater looking installation.

Anybody else do this to fix their's?

[#66]

I'm on my 3rd Hauppage blaster. They stop working for some reason. One fix that helped me was to mount the LED inside the STB behind the curvd tinted glass. This makes it look cleaner and seem to work better. Can't stop it from sometimes triggering the menu so I get recording with an channel overlay menu! Not good for the WAF! Also my 1 year old found it fun to pull the LED off the STB!

Looking forwards to dumping the STB and getting a sat card when SUB impelments CAM's, hint, hint!

[spaceghost]

Did that make blaster IR ouput stronger? The standard blaster IR output is so weak - you have to be precise in the placement of it on the stb.

One easy way to check if a nonvisible infrared remote or blaster is working - look at it through the lcd viewer on a digital camera when ir device is transmitting. They can see IR - typically. Helped me resolve a remote control not working issue.

[soccerdad]

Thanks for the post. DOA Haupauge blasters is a known problem. They can be dead even if they blink. There are a host of posts on this board about the emitters. You can extend them, change them, etc. Try searching if you need more information. They will send you a new one if you call or e-mail them. I also have used an old remote LED. This does make the signal much stronger. It will even allow you to be 3 feet away from the device. You can also just buy the LEDs from Radio Shack, etc for a couple of bucks.

[martint123]

Yes, I put an ex-remote IR LED on mine. Initially I missed the visible winking, but now I'm working remotely with the PC three floors away, my IR extender blinks in sympathy so I got my winking back!.