Remotsy works but Echo and Alexa causes a problem
For Remotsy PCB Infrared Blaster
The Remotsy hardware and software works exactly as advertised, but for me it was completely useless as a voice controlled TV remote control. The problem is, the Echo needs to be in the room with me and the TV so Alexa can hear my voice, but the sound from the TV set overwhelms the Echo and Alexa can't hear me give the Remotsy commands. I either have to turn the TV volume down to a whisper, or stand near the Echo and shout as loud as I can. Or, I can bend over the Echo until I'm only a few inches away and speak directly into it. I don't normally have a problem with Alexa hearing me, not even when loud talking or music is coming out of the Echo, because the Echo seems to have a local voice-cancelling circuit built into it. Local voice-cancelling has been built into telephones for decades to keep a person from hearing his own voice, and there seems to be something similar to that in the Echo, so it can hear people speak when sound is originating from the Echo. The problem is, the TV sound does not originate from the Echo, so the TV sound is not cancelled in the Echo, and the result is the Echo gets over-loaded by the TV sound and Alexa can't hear me give Remotsy commands unless I shout as loud as I can. Alexa hears me just fine if I turn the TV sound down very low before I speak, but then I have to use the TV remote control to turn down the TV volume before I give Alexa a Remotsy command, which defeats the reason for having voice control. Yes, I can turn the TV sound down so low that Alexa can hear me over the TV sound and then leave it that way. Or, I can mute the TV sound and turn on closed captioning and just read the dialog. I've tried both of those solutions and the Remotsy works when I do that, but I can only stand to do that for a few minutes before I give up and turn the TV volume back up to a normal level. The people who built Remotsy made a product that does what it's supposed to do, but it doesn't work for me, because the Echo is not good at picking up my voice with the TV set playing at a normal volume. This is probably why other voice controlled TV remotes are hand held. I had to stop using my Remotsy and for me it was a waste of money. But, if you happen to be one of those people with extremely good hearing, who likes to keep the TV sound turned down to a whisper when you watch a show, then Remotsy may work for you.
