Question
Where is the remote sensor for the 250gb Sky+ HD box? I have got a sender and transmitter, so I can have Sky upstairs in my room, but I cannot get the remote to change channel. I cannot find the sensor on the box for love nor money. Any ideas?
Submitted online by Andy
Our Answer
We’ve only been asked this one the once, making it a rare question. It was also one we didn’t have an immediate answer to, and we had to do some research.
First off, it’s important to note that there are lots of different Sky boxes out there, made by different manufacturers, so there’s no one quick and easy answer.
Our Sky+ HD box is one of the newer models made by Amstrad, and here’s where the IR sensor is located on our box.
Sky+HD Box with me pointing to the IR sensor location
How did we find it?
Ahh – Some trial-and-error. We needed something that blocked infrared signals from our Sky remote control. We first tried using a metal tray, but it wasn’t accurate enough, so we switched to tin foil.
We found that the signal from the Sky remote control is quite powerful. It seemed to be leaking into the Sky box from a number of places in the casing. We had to weaken it a bit, and we did this by pointing the remote control in the other direction, and bouncing the IR signal off the painted white wall.
With the signal weakened, and our strip of tin foil, we held down the “i” information button on the Sky remote and covered up parts of the front panel. We eventually found the sweet spot where we could no longer get the Programme Information box to pop up. Here’s a picture of our Amstrad Sky+ HD box showing the tin foil in place.
Sky+ HD Box with tin foil covering the IR sensor
This seemed to prove to us where the pesky little IR sensor for our make and model was hiding. If you’re reading this, we’re guessing you’re on the same quest as the original poster, and we hope this is of some help.
If you have a different model of Sky box, and know where to find your sensor, please add the information as a comment below, to help the wider Sky community, and to save on the Bacofoil!
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