# RF Remote Converter from WeaKnees



## bpratt (Nov 20, 2004)

I have a HR10-250 and a ReplayTV installed in a closet about 15 feet from where I watch TV. I have been successfully using a Radio Shack Room-To-Room IR repeater to control both the HR10-250 and the ReplayTV.

Because my wife does not like the Room-to-Room transmitter sitting on top of the TV, I decided to purchase the RF Remote Converter from WeaKnees. The transmitter for this device is located in a replacement battery that fits inside the remote control. The battery is fully charged.

It seems to control the ReplayTV fairly well, but not as well as the Room-to-Room, but is very unreliable when controlling the HR10-250. Sometimes I will have to push a button several times before anything happens. I'm using the original remotes for both units.

Has anyone had success with the RF Remote Converter controlling an HR10-250? Is this thing a POS or do I just have a bad unit?


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## Gomer Pyle (Feb 1, 2001)

I have one too, that does not work... I returned it saying it was defective. They tested it, said it was OK, and offered to return it or refund it. I had them return it, and it still does not work.

I think I have too much RF interference (actually they asked about that). I have a set of RF speakers, probably the RF transmitter swamps the remote receiver.

The weird thing is it works fine using the little wired transmitter, but if I hold the main transmitter right on the receiver, it still doesn't get a signal...


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## chris_h (Dec 17, 2003)

I am not sure if this will be helpful to your situation or not, since I have not seen that exact setup. I have the X10 pyramid remote extenders. When the receiver has the antenna fully extended, it picks up a lot of interference and does not work properly. When the antenna is extended only about half way, it works great.


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

More likely, there is IR interference. I tried the RR200 and had a problem with it working in conjunction with a wired remote extender. They interferred with each other. Originally I had the IR emitter for both the wired remote and the RR200 next to the TiVo. Having the two IR emitters next to each other in the basement just confused it. What I ended up doing is have the RR200 transmitter next to the wired receiver that then sent the signal to the TiVo in the basement. Now everything works just fine now, until the little battery gets low. The newer RR300 has a rechargeable battery, I believe.


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## dvdude (Aug 25, 2003)

If it helps anyone, I became rather frustrated with IR/RF converters so I ended up with a solution that uses the coax to send IR signals back to the TiVo in the living room. It's made by Xantech. I've had it now for almost 18 months with absolutely zero issues. No placement concerns, no dropped commands.


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## bpratt (Nov 20, 2004)

Well I have fooled around with this thing for 2 days now and I'm having no more luck than when I installed it on the first day.

I don't believe RF interference is a problem for me because the light on the unit that indicates it is receiving an RF signal stays off until I press a button on the remote.

The unit works flawlessly with a ReplayTV unit, but that is not what I purchased it for.

With the HR10-250 remote, the unit only responds to about 1 out of 3 button presses and sometimes it more like 1 out of 20. I have tried using the remote within a few feet of the receiver with no improvement. The RF light comes on when I press the buttons on the remote, but the HR10-250 does not respond most of the time. I have also tried positioning the RF Remote Converter receiver at various positions and distances from the HR10-250, and also used the little IR blaster with about the same success.

The Radio Shack Room-to-Room IR repeater works flawlessly with both the HR10-250 and the ReplayTV, so I guess I will just stick with that and send the weaKnees unit back.


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## Gromit (Nov 4, 1999)

I've been using a product called 'Hot Link Pro' to route my remote signals to the TiVo in a cabinet (along with other devices). http://www.smarthome.com/8225.html

I don't think it's as bad as what you've been experiencing, but the HD TiVo drives me nuts because it seems like a lot of my button pressing isn't getting sent to the TiVo. The indicator light blinks every time and my Denon receiver works great, so I just assumed it was the TiVo.


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## bpratt (Nov 20, 2004)

> I don't think it's as bad as what you've been experiencing, but the HD TiVo drives me nuts because it seems like a lot of my button pressing isn't getting sent to the TiVo. The indicator light blinks every time and my Denon receiver works great, so I just assumed it was the TiVo.


But my TiVo works perfectly with the IR repeater from Radio Shack.


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## Mike Greer (May 19, 2004)

I had problems with both the battery replacement RF/Extender and the Radio Shack Room to room extender... The fix for me (with both of them) was to move the IR transmitter away from the HD Tivo. I put the IR transmitter across the room and it works perfectly.

I think the HD Tivo puts out more RF interference than any of my other components.


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## bpratt (Nov 20, 2004)

> I put the IR transmitter across the room and it works perfectly.


Across the room in a closet is about 2 feet away. I did place the IR receiver on an upper shelf in the closet and then put the IR blaster at several locations in front of the TiVo, but I still could get no reliability from the unit.


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## Gromit (Nov 4, 1999)

> _Originally posted by bpratt _
> *But my TiVo works perfectly with the IR repeater from Radio Shack. *


Maybe I should try that. I suspect that my batteries might be low on the Hot Link. I'm going to try fresh batteries this weekend to see if that helps. It really only bothers me when I surf through the channel guide and I do that so rarely that it hasn't been enough of a pain to force me to do more than grumble about it.


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

> _Originally posted by bpratt _
> *Across the room in a closet is about 2 feet away. I did place the IR receiver on an upper shelf in the closet and then put the IR blaster at several locations in front of the TiVo, but I still could get no reliability from the unit. *


 I have noticed that if I put mine not stright in front of the unit but about 45 degrees off to one side it works much better. I still have it pointed at the unit, it is just off to one side.


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## Mike Greer (May 19, 2004)

> _Originally posted by bpratt _
> *Across the room in a closet is about 2 feet away. I did place the IR receiver on an upper shelf in the closet and then put the IR blaster at several locations in front of the TiVo, but I still could get no reliability from the unit. *


If I put mine that close to the Tivo it won't work either.

With the Radio Shack one I can see the LED flicker as get within about 3-4 feet of the Tivo and it stops working... If I move back it works fine.


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## humbland (Aug 25, 2005)

hi guys,
i have the same problem with the rf extender on a sony universal remote (VRM-9000). it works every other component perfectly (including another tivo), except the HD tivo. reception is intermittent, works sometime, other times i have to input 10 times before a response...
has anyone solved this problem? does weakknees have any ideas? the HR10-250 works well with the original remote, so the extender is the issue. has anyone tried a universal remote with variable command timing? this issue is driving me crazier.
thanks,
eric


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## bpratt (Nov 20, 2004)

Still using the Radio Shack IR repeater with no problems after 14 months.


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## humbland (Aug 25, 2005)

bump,
i tried to contact weaknees, but their email is down.
any further suggestions WELCOMED.
thanks,
eric


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