IR Blaster to control Shaw gateway box

[jimjaarsma]

I just bought a new Sony TV XBR800g and hooked it up to my Arris Gateway box and reprogrammed the Shaw remote and everything works great. My problem is that I want to put the Shaw box in a cabinet below the TV which has a door on it. The remote won't control the box if the door is closed. The TV came with an IR blaster and has a jack to receive it. The Gateway box also has an IR blaster jack. Nothing I've tried so far works so I called Shaw and the rep had never even heard about this blaster. I hadn't either. Any instructions I've seen suggest that I plug the blaster into the TV and then put the little pods in front of the Shaw box but that doesn't work. I've tried plugging the blaster into the Shaw box but that doesn't work either. Any ideas?

[shaw-valerie]

@jimjaarsma Do you have the Gateway HDPVR, or the Gateway and portal(s)?

[mdk]

> I want to put the Shaw box in a cabinet below the TV which has a door on it.

I would not do that, unless you have really-good ventilation, to dissipate the heat that will build-up inside the cabinet.

Especially with summer approaching, until you air-condition your home.  Lacking A.C., the device will get very hot (and maybe its fan will get louder).

[jimjaarsma]

Not sure of the distinction. I have the Gateway main machine which records plus I have four portals.

[jimjaarsma]

It's a fairly large cabinet and I cut a hole in the bottom of the shelf it's sitting on so as to improve circulation to the fan.

[rstra]

Sounds like you have the Gateway PVR, it can accept an IR tether. If it is a portal, the MP2150 will also work with an IR extender. If you don’t have one, you can get them from Amazon for about $10, or wait until the Shaw stores open up again, they should have them.

[jimjaarsma]

I have two - one that came with the TV has two pods on the end of the wires and one that a friend gave me who previously had the same Gateway box that I have now and it worked fine for him. I had a chat with a Shaw tech person and under his direction I tried the blasters on two portals and then even switched boxes and that didn't work either. He suggested that it had to be the blasters that weren't working and that I should contact Sony. It's brand new so I'm not sure how that will help. I did talk to them about switching to Blue Curve because apparently that uses FR which won't be affected by the door being closed and the negate the need for the IR blaster. The point is that I want to use the Shaw remote because that's what I'm used to. I'm not sure whether I can program the Sony remote that came with the TV to operate the Shaw box but that's the one thing I haven't tried.

[rstra]

So, the Shaw remote will control the cable box but not the TV? FYI, these aren’t blasters, just extenders so you can place the cable box out of line of sight.

[jimjaarsma]

I'm not sure what the difference is - blaster or extender.  I programmed the Shaw remote so it could control the TV and when the cabinet door is open everything works perfectly. When I went to the Sony site they called it a blaster but showed it being plugged into the TV with the little pods on the ends of the wire being placed in front of the Shaw box IR sensor. But I would assume that then the TV remote would have to be programmed to operate the Shaw box. I don't know how to do that but generally would prefer to use the Shaw remote.

[rstra]

Then you need an ir extender, plug it into the cable box and place it outside of the cabinet, then you will be able to use the Shaw remote.