Remote control is a pain.

M

Meister

As much as I like the Foxsat HDR I do find the remote control a right royal pain in the a*se sometimes.
It can be very slow to react to inputs and is very fussy about how directly it is pointed at the box.
I removed both plastic films from the box when I first set it up so I must assume it is just a bit rubbish.

A real shame because it lets down what is otherwise a great product :(

Steve
 
really ? I find mine OK, maybe you need to replace the batteries. I can t remember if Humax supplied batteries with the remote but often the "free" batteries are just plain rubbish and sticking in something decent does the world of good.

Note I normally use a logitech 555 programmable remote control with mine. But keep the humax remote handy also since i find it quite nice to use.
 
A harmony universal remote is a good investment. :) 100% agree it's not very good and they get worse after about 6 months or so. (The most used buttons become very unresponsive and you have to push very hard to make them work)
 
I like the harmony 555 since you can program it so that it will switch on multiple devices and set the correct video input on the TV at the press of a button. It makes thinks very easy. A really good bit of kit and not as expensive as some of the Harmony range.

The only thing that I dislike about the 555 is the "clicky" direction wheel. It makes a cheap & nasty clicking sound which is irritating when panning around the EPG. The hummy remote is much smoother.

I do need to replace by 555 - after 3 years of abuse by the kids the 1 and 2 keys are virtually not working and the screen has bitemarks on it :mad:. I'd buy another 555 if they are still available.
 
You can make me an offer for my barely used Harmony 555. Bought it, tried it, hated it. Went back to my OFA 7556.

The OFA controls TV / Topfield Freeview PVRs / HDD/DVDR / VCR / AV Amp but that used up all the buttons and memory to set it up just right so I also use the Foxsat remote to control the HDR / TV / Blu-ray / AV amp. The buttons are not very positive particularly the most commonly used ones such as Exit and Schedule and sometimes the HDR does seem to be pre-occupied doing something else rather than re-acting to commands.
 
I agree, the reaction to the remote control is sluggish, to say the least, but I think it's probably more a matter of sluggish firmware than anything else. Apparently, it sometimes helps to remove the various bits of protective film from the front pull-down panel and on the transparent front of the clock. I did this, but can't say I noticed much difference. This box really needs updating in a number of areas, this being one of them, but Humax don't seem to be forthcoming!
 
Thanks for the comments guys.
As said in my OP, I have removed the plastic films from the Foxsat ..... did it as soon as I got it after reading reports about it.

I don't see how the batteries could be a problem .... after all it is electrical and either works or doesn't work (if that makes sense) plus I have already changed them to Duracell anyway.. Perhaps the comment about it being a firmware issue is spot on?

I will have a look at the other remote controls mentioned.

Thanks again for the input, always good to get feedback.

Steve
 
Thanks for the comments guys.
As said in my OP, I have removed the plastic films from the Foxsat ..... did it as soon as I got it after reading reports about it.

I don't see how the batteries could be a problem .... after all it is electrical and either works or doesn't work (if that makes sense) plus I have already changed them to Duracell anyway.. Perhaps the comment about it being a firmware issue is spot on?

I will have a look at the other remote controls mentioned.

Thanks again for the input, always good to get feedback.

Steve

I've been using the Harmony 600 for a month or so and like it a lot. There are some posts on the net about the 650 (same as 600 but with colour) spontaneously rebooting but the only time mine did that was when I dropped it on a tiled floor from some height, so I can't hold that against it. Worked OK since.

Iain
 
A harmony universal remote is a good investment. :) 100% agree it's not very good and they get worse after about 6 months or so. (The most used buttons become very unresponsive and you have to push very hard to make them work)
Mine was so rubbish I gave up using it after a year and got a Logitech Harmony. Humax were nice enough to replace it just before the two year warranty was up.
 
I've been struggling with my HDR for nearly two years and finally gave up and phoned the shop. They replaced it with a new one and now it's working great (as it should)
The only problem I had with the new remote was that the codes to operate the tv, dvd & audio are different. The new remote only needs three numbers where the old one needed four.
Stroggy
 
Mine is incredibly sluggish too. It cannot be the battery, or the buttons, or the plastic film. If I press a button on the remote (e.g. "schedule") and then wait sometimes for as long as 10 seconds without pressing anything before the box responds, it can only be the firmware that is causing this.

It is extremely frustrating if you are in a hurry to record something...grrrrr...
 
That is indeed extremely sluggish. Mine reacts pretty much straight away, but nonetheless with a short delay that I seem to have got used to, but it could indeed be snappier.
 
mine works very quickly indeed - no issues with sluggishness at all. In fact it is slightly better than my harmony remote.

Maybe there a a bad batch of remotes (or relievers) out there.
 
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