new sky box in cupboard - remote?

ljl56

Hi all

Hoping someone can help me. I had a sky box in a cupboard and had a magic eye so the remote would work. I recently upgraded to a sky+hd box and there is no-where to plug the magic eye into. Anyone know of a way I can get the remote to work with the door closed? I don't want to drill a hole in the door

swoofer

well as with everything new SKY are not silly, they have introuduced a gadget you can use but I am not sure if it is availbale yet, there was some delay. Its 25 quid but on ebay they were 80 quid. Have a look here its the io link you need.

http://accessories.sky.com/

ljl56

great, thanks a million

steveon

You need what is called a global i/o link. There is a scarcity of these around at the moment due to only the one manufacturer.

I notice alot of people have just doubled their prices as a result but here is what you need...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/BUYME-GLOBAL-iO-LINK-NEW/dp/B00CELXP6O/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1380547279&sr=1-1&keywords=global+io+link

basill

There are other more elaborate solutions as well which will only be limited by your budget. You can get wireless remotes from manufacturers such as Logitech to name but one. There is a small base station that converts the wireless signals from the remote to infrared that the likes of your skybox, amplifier, bluray etc understands. You plug in a series of ir blasters to the receiver unit and the other end usually sticks onto the device over where the ir port is. The remote is setup on your pc via usb and you give it each and every device you want to control (down to exact model numbers) and how you use them in your setup eg: tv on hdmi 1, amp on sat/cable, skybox on etc. Basically one touch of the remote turns on all the relevant devices and the remote will then replace the sky one.

Liameter

There's also the X-Ray Remote kit that converts your Sky remote to a wireless device.

Note that the IO-Link is not without its problems. If you plan to use it with an amplifier, read this:
http://www.satcure.co.uk/reviews/satcure_blog_182.htm#04

(Below the breathalyser.)

JDxtra

Personally I wouldn't put a Sky HD box in a closed cupboard. They can get pretty hot, so watch your ventilation.

ljl56

Thanks all, I got my hands on a global io link but now I don't know how to connect the magic eye :-(. everything on google seems to be about connecting to another tv so im confused. I plugged the io link into the back of the sky+hd box, I connected the 2 pieces of the magic eye to the back of that. I did the RF power on thing on the sky box and there's a red light on the magic eye and when I press the remote, the red light flashes on the eye itself. It does kind of work, but I might have to press it 10 times before it responds. Any ideas?

Peter Rhea

ljl56 wrote: »

I plugged the io link into the back of the sky+hd box, I connected the 2 pieces of the magic eye to the back of that.

2 pieces of the eye? You only need to connect to the port labeled 'tvlink': male connection on IO module to female connection on tvlink.

ljl56

the eye I have has a little box (silver, with SX link and a red light) and then a second connection on a loose wire beside the silver box. I have tried just connecting one of these connections (tried both) but nada

steveon

put a cable from the output of I/o link into the input of the magic eye.. not the output...and simply put the sensor outside the press....and you should be sorted...

ljl56

sorry, still struggling - forgive me, I'm technologically challenged! Do I need a cable to connect the 2 devices? I just have the SLXlink box connected straight into the adapter?

steveon

U need to plug the I/O link into the box then take a cable from that marked 2nd tv from memory to the input of the magic eye....

steveon

from this image you take a wire from the connector on the right to the input of the magic eye..round connector with a tail connects into the back of the sky box...

Peter Rhea

ljl56 wrote: »

Do I need a cable to connect the 2 devices? I just have the SLXlink box connected straight into the adapter?

You don't need a cable. Presumably with your previous box, you just had the link unit plugged into the Sky box RF2 socket? Do the same now but with the link unit plugged into the port on the IO module labeled 'tvlink'.

steveon

Peter Rhea wrote: »

You don't need a cable. Presumably with your previous box, you just had the link unit plugged into the Sky box RF2 socket? Do the same now but with the link unit plugged into the port on the IO module labeled 'tvlink'.

u will need a cable to connect the i/o link to the magic eye. Female connection at one end and male or f connector at the other depending on the input of the magic eye.

ljl56

yeah, that's how I have it and when I press a button on the remote, I can see the little red light flashing but nothing's happening

Peter Rhea

steveon wrote: »

u will need a cable to connect the i/o link to the magic eye. Female connection at one end and male or f connector at the other depending on the input of the magic eye.

Isn't there plenty of room around the inputs of the IO module to connect the tvlink directly with no cable? Male connection on IO module to female connection on tvlink?

steveon

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Isn't there plenty of room around the inputs of the IO module to connect the tvlink directly with no cable? Male connection on IO module to female connection on tvlink?

U could do that but weight could break the socket over time hence why I suggested using a small cable..

Peter Rhea

steveon wrote: »

U could do that but weight could break the socket over time hence why I suggested using a small cable..

What weight? Why would you leave it set up so the tvlink was hanging in thin air?

ljl56

yeah, that's what I've done now and the little red light flashes in the sensor when I press the remote but nothing happens on the tv.

steveon

do u have a cable connected from the box to the tv? and tune it in? using the eye connected to the tv or by using a hdmi cable

ljl56

the box is connected to the tv by a hdmi cable and all working fine, remote works on box when I have the cupboard door open. the eye is connected to the box using the port

Peter Rhea

ljl56 wrote: »

yeah, that's what I've done now and the little red light flashes in the sensor when I press the remote but nothing happens on the tv.

Post a photo of what you've done: might help clear things up.

steveon

ljl56 wrote: »

the box is connected to the tv by a hdmi cable and all working fine, remote works on box when I have the cupboard door open. the eye is connected to the box using the port

bring the sensor on the eye outside the press and you should be sorted...hence why Ive sugested using a cable to connect the eye to the i/o link.



Sensor in this picture is on the right so youd take it out of the cupboard for it to work correctly.

Peter Rhea

steveon wrote: »

bring the sensor on the eye outside the press and you should be sorted...

You seriously think ljl56 doesn't know to do this? Having already used this setup with the old box?

The 'eye' is the sensor btw.

Ronnie Raygun

ljl56 wrote: »

I did the RF power on thing on the sky box and there's a red light on the magic eye and when I press the remote, the red light flashes on the eye itself. It does kind of work, but I might have to press it 10 times before it responds. Any ideas?

If the red light is on, the remote sender must be getting power & that would mean you have it connected right. Don't know about the light flashing though.

Are you sure the DIN connector is plugged in properly? (This is the where the IO link plugs into the Sky box.)

ljl56

I've taken a pic but of course now I don't know how to put it here!!! Yes, the sensor is outside

Peter Rhea

You can attach the photo file to your post: click on 'Manage Attachments' in 'Additional Options', below the reply box.

If you want to use the

ljl56

2013-10-08 08.21.21.jpg

thanks, hopefully pic attached now

Peter Rhea

Yes, as was already mentioned a few posts back, it has to be connected properly for the light to come on. The only wrong way of connecting IO link & tvlink, would result in no power getting to the tvlink.

I can't think of anything else to do atm, apart from what was already suggested about making sure the IO link is securely plugged into the Sky box.

dobsdave

ljl56 wrote: »

the box is connected to the tv by a hdmi cable and all working fine, remote works on box when I have the cupboard door open. the eye is connected to the box using the port

So this makes me think you have the TV source set to 'hdmi'?
Needs to be 'tv' or the equivalent.

ljl56

yes, I do

Peter Rhea

dobsdave wrote: »

So this makes me think you have the TV source set to 'hdmi'?
Needs to be 'tv' or the equivalent.

How would selecting 'tv' as source have any bearing whatsoever on the problem here?

The tvlink is only in use to provide a remote control signal, as the IR sensor on the box is blocked, due to it being closed inside a cabinet. Box is connected to tv by HDMI.

dobsdave

Peter Rhea wrote: »

How would selecting 'tv' as source have any bearing whatsoever on the problem here?

The tvlink is only in use to provide a remote control signal, as the IR sensor on the box is blocked, due to it being closed inside a cabinet. Box is connected to tv by HDMI.

I presumed the eye was being used to watch the output rather than just switching channels.

steveon

Im presuming this is the type of magic eye you have????

Have you taken the eye sensor outside of the press??? As in the circle part ??

Ronnie Raygun

"Now with indicator light to show remote control operation" Must be the flashing light the OP referred to.

ljl56

Yeah, the sensor is outside the press and when I use the remote, there is a little red light that lights up in the sensor. There is also a red llight on the silver rectangle bit and that is on also

Ronnie Raygun

Maybe you have some kind of interference issue? Mightn't be a bad idea to try separating the IO link & tvlink with a short cable.

steveon

Hmmm strange..only other thing I had to do with them once everything is inserted to its correct spot is to unplug the box and reboot it...and once it rebooted they all worked fine for me...unless your eye is faulty