Is it possible to damage an IR repeater with a bad protocol?

[kroyster]

Hello all - first post here after several days of reading and researching this site...

I have a DirecTV HR21-700 satellite tuner and an LG media center behind cabinet doors that are receiving IR signals via an IR repeater (Channel Vision IR-5000). My new URC-10820 remote does not have the codes for operating the HR21, so I purchased a JP1.2 cable and spent a couple of days here searching for and testing code upgrades.

After several initial failed attempts, I finally found this experimental protocol for operating the HR21 via the URC-10820. To use it, I generate a device upgrade code via RemoteMaster as usual, but I use the protocol upgrade code from that post instead of the one generated by RemoteMaster. Although I haven't tested every button yet, this one finally does appear to operate the HR21. However, here is the weird part...

As soon as I attempt to use the URC-10820 to control the HR21, my IR relay seems to stop working on the HR21. Maybe one out of every 10 button presses on either remote is recognized by the HR21. Eventually the repeater recovers - for example, after "damaging" it last night, all seemed to be working again this morning. Should I be worried about permanently damaging the repeater?

Here are a few more details...

• * Prior to using the URC remote, the original DirecTV remote works fine via the repeater
  * After using the URC remote, BOTH the original DirecTV remote and the URC-10820 stop working via the repeater
  * BOTH remotes continue to work correctly when pointed directly at the HR21, bypassing the repeater
  * Only the HR21 seems to be effected - the LG media center works fine via the repeater at all times
  * Power cycling the repeater seemed to help it recover faster, but it was not an immediate and full recovery after just one power cycle
  * Some of my earlier failed protocol attempts "locked" the URC remote. Upon pressing a button, the power button on the remote remained permanently lit. I had to remove batteries to kill it.

Any thoughts on whether this could cause permanent damage? Also, any known fixes or work-arounds?

Thanks!

[kroyster]

I think I may have fixed the problem. I put the original DirecTV remote in RF mode, and then switched it back to IR mode, and now both remotes seem to be working OK via the IR repeater. I'm guessing that one of the earlier attempts with a bad protocol somehow put the HR21 receiver into a weird state, and toggling the RF/IR modes somehow cleared that. A power cycle of the HR21 might have done the same. Although if the problem was with the HR21, it's weird that the problem only manifested itself via the repeater. Let me know if you have other theories.

Actually, now that I think about it, I bet I was just toggling the DirecTV remote, not the HR21, so this all makes even less sense as to why that might have fixed it. But I know it wasn't working immediately before the RF/IR toggle, and now it is.

Weird.