I have a Sony DA90ESG Digital Receiver, and have tried about a dozen universal remotes with no luck. I even purchased the Sony Universal Learning Remote that is $130 and it did not work. I have to use the original remote that came with it, and it only works when you are very close to it? Does anyone have any suggestions?

The problem is your receiver is a visiontouch, see these threads;

explanation; [Link: remotecentral.com]

might be a solution; [Link: remotecentral.com]

You didn't define "very close to it". We talkin several inches, feet, yards, 150 yards? Most should be good for at least 12 feet, if you're only getting 6 feet or less, I'd be pretty concerned. Weak signals could be a result of weak batteries, bent IR emmiter led, or a generally faulty remote. It would also be a factor in learning remotes being unable to learn it's signals. You may have been too quick to blame the other remotes when it may well be a problem with the "teacher".

Narrow down that it wasn't something with the oem remote causing your problems first. 1. try good fresh batteries, especially if the oem only uses 2. 2. check the sending led and see if it isn't bent one way or another preventing a good straight shot at the device, or part of the remote's case is blocking a good part of the signal. Most often, the emmiter led is soldered to the pcb, and the legs are supposed to be bent at a "good" 90 degree angle respective to the pcb. If you consider that the "strong" signal area is roughly 30 degrees (15 any direction from straight out), a bent led can easily be put into the fringe area of it's transmission arc. A "good drop" could easily cause this condition (Not neccesarily since you've had possession either). I think your notice of having to be "close" to the receiver to get the oem remote to work properly should have been a major clue as to what's possibly going on.

Jim

Hi Edmund,

That totally explains it. I will purchase the RTI remote. Thanks a bunch for your help. I have been trying to figure this out for about 3 years.

If I understand this correctly, the problem is that the original remote uses an infrared signal that runs at 455kHz, which cannot be learned by other remotes.

However, there is an upgrade in the JP1 world which will make a One For All remote send the 455kHz signal. So, if a One For All (or Radio Shack) universal suits your needs, this might be an option.

Rob
http://www.hifi-remote.com

It should be noted that Sony learning remote controls can capture normal 455kHz codes (like B&O) just fine - their remotes are spec'd up to 500kHz. The problem is that VisionTouch's code format is not standard, thus normal remote controls can't learn them (even the RC2000 MkII, which is capable of learning up to 1.2MHz).

UEI's preprogrammed code upgrade is unique - they're the only company (besides the far more expensive RTI) to have taken the time to come up with a solution for VisionTouch owners (the current Pronto/cable solution is actually a workaround, rather than something that works with VisionTouch specifically).

I keep bugging Sony as to why their remotes won't work with their own equipent! :-)