|
 I was inspired by an Instructable I read recently. (original Instructable here ) Neodudeman talks about his Sony remote control being underpowered. Instead of spending cash on a Radio Shack repeater, he decides that a little added boost via a mirror could do the trick.
I was skeptical. I had a similar issue myself, in that when the remote was on the table I had to pick it up to aim it at my DVR/DVD/TV. Well that was too much work for my frail body. This is how I fixed it.
 This how to will show how I opened up and modified my Time Warner cable
DVR remote control. The process will be similar depending upon your,
"ahem" cable provider and whatever remote you plan on modding. I imagine Time Warner would not be thrilled about discovering a bunch of people are hacking open their remotes. I know they do charge you for a replacement if yours goes belly up. In short, this actually isn't a Warner remote I am working on, it just plays one on TV.
Nothing much to ponder here, just jump right in and crack that case open. Take the back cover off, remove the batteries, and remove the single screw hidden in there.
You can pretty much guarantee that you will break some retaining clips. I broke at least three on one side. On the up side they are overkill and I have had no issues without them. Make sure if you break any to remove the little plastic bits so you don't have a baby-rattle remote control when you are all done.
 Also make sure you do not shove your screwdriver too far into the case when prying the remote apart. As you can see on this pic I magically found only spot on the entire internals of the remote with a capacitor. If I had shoved it 1/4 deeper I would have broken something. (why does that sound familiar?)
Alright. the remote is apart, albeit in a few more pieces then it should be, but apart nonetheless. This remote has 2 LEDs in it. The high tech reasonn for this is...is...well....shit I don't know. If I knew that I would not have to do this ghetto hack.
I wanted to use a dollop of hot glue but the woman has that under lock and key for some reason. Silicone or anything else would take too long and I gotta watch tv soon.
Instead of taping a reflective item inside the remote, I got my favorite tool out. 3m spray adhesive. I have used this for years for everything from automobile enclosures to mustache affixers.
I gave the remote a generous, but not too crazy, hosing of the liquid love.
 Now I simply pretended I was applying gold leaf to my hooptie and mushed the tin foil on the insides of the remote control. I only did the insides of the cavity where the LEDs where. That would be the left and middle cavity. Mush it in there smooth and lightly. You don't have to be a neat-nic about it, but the sloppier you are the hardier it is to see whats going on.
 A nice healthy shot of man Goo Gone removes all the excess sticky stuff from the remote when you put it all back together.
The finished nose. There is still some sticky stuff on it. I had to wait to let the adhesive dry a bit more and rubbed the rest of with a dry thumb.
|
|
Here of course is the obligatory video that all articles must have
nowadays.
This shows me pointing the remote control at myself instead of
the DVR and everything still works.
Channel changing and volume action
is actually a tad better then it used to be when sitting on the couch.
I am very pleased with this mod and would suggest it to anybody that DOES NOT have a Time Warner remote, and is in need of a range boost.
|
Trackback(0)
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Digg
Delicious
Stumble
De.lirio.us
Fark