Remote controls use IR for communication. I haven't come across any that use UV though there may be one somewhere.
Why isn't UV used for remote control?

 

for a couple of reasons

in 1970s there was no UV LED emitters at all AFAIK
UV LEDs are actually still visible and the FAR UV LEDs are expensive and the short wavelength UV is not exactly beneficiary to plastic it brittles all kinds of plastic materials quickly

I have some IR LEDs for sale now, theres kinds which have no filter in the epoxy and you could observe a faint glow in the dark, others have filter materials added and are invisible

Also theres no cheap 100mA UV LEDs and their forward voltage is about 3V while IR is 1.5V or lower

hope that answers your question dont know where you got the idea from UV should be used for remote controls?

 

UV rays may damage your eyes, so it will get hurts more serious than high bright led.

 

And even silicon photodiodes take IR radiation much better. IR emitters are more effective than ultra-violet ones.

 

Also, IR has a wider spread unlike UV and is more easily detectable.

 

So basically there's not a good reason to use UV for remote control and a lot of reasons not to.

 

So basically there's not a good reason to use UV for remote control and a lot of reasons not to.

Couldn't be any worse than the old ultrasonic ones.

The air brakes on a lorry outside made them change channel or any number of other things.

 

Couldn't be any worse than the old ultrasonic ones.

The air brakes on a lorry outside made them change channel or any number of other things.

That goes back a ways.
The ones I remember had a mechanical operated remote where the button actuated a spring loaded hammer. This would strike a small tuning rod/fork which output a particular ultrasonic frequency.
They were pretty basic with, I think, just on/off, channel up/down, and volume up/down, 5 buttons total, each one tuned to a different frequency.
All you could hear mostly was a thump when the hammer struck.

And since the receiver was likely tubes/valves, it probably used a fair amount of standby power.

Don't remember any false triggerings though.
But then there were no lorries nearby where I lived.

 

That goes back a ways.
The ones I remember had a mechanical operated remote where the button actuated a spring loaded hammer. This would strike a small tuning rod/fork which output a particular ultrasonic frequency.
They were pretty basic with, I think, just on/off, channel up/down, and volume up/down, 5 buttons total, each one tuned to a different frequency.
All you could hear mostly was a thump when the hammer struck.

And since the receiver was likely tubes/valves, it probably used a fair amount of standby power.

Don't remember any false triggerings though.
But then there were no lorries nearby where I lived.

Can't remember ever having seen a mechanical one, there might be a couple of electronic ones in my bag of spare remotes.

Valves hadn't quite started their decline by the time the TBA120 FM detector chip became widespread - several manufacturers used that chip to decode the frequencies. AFAICR: Thorn Consumer Electronics favoured the discrete component ratio detector.

The other Gilbert cell chip from those early days was the SO42P, but I don't remember seeing one in a TV remote receiver.

 

So basically there's not a good reason to use UV for remote control and a lot of reasons not to.

Yeah, that seems to sum it up. Thanks guys.
I have seen ultrasonic used but it was electronic not mechanical.

 

 

The ones I remember had a mechanical operated remote where the button actuated a spring loaded hammer.

I think I remember a Zenith brand remote with 4 notes. I called it a, "ding box" because it said, "ding".

That was when we had 4 channels: 3, 8, 10, and 13. UHF had not arrived.
But I did not own a TV until 1977. I only remember the TVs I repaired up until then. That video by nsaspook shows a TV with picture tube number 21FJP22. Big round fella with the cabinet defining the visible part of the screen.

That was when we had knobs for horizontal and vertical hold, and capacitors that failed by changing value with temperature.
The only way to be sure to get the picture to stop rolling in one house call was to shotgun all 3 vertical oscillator caps.
600 volt metal film, the Orange Drops recently preferred by audiophools.

The Zeneth TV I bought in 1977 had a better remote control. Electronic ultrasonic. It had a tiny speaker about 1/2 inch in diameter and about a dozen functions (if you count up and down as two functions). I replaced that Zenith in about the year 2000. Now I have infrared remote controls.

 

Here's a blurb I found about the Zenith remote.
It didn't have a volume control as I thought, only sound ON/OFF, so had four notes as #12 stated.
Another thing that added to the cost was the motor to turn the large mechanical tuner mechanism which selected from channels 2 through 13 (how could you possibly need more than 12 channels?)

The transmitter used no batteries; it was built around aluminum rods that were light in weight and, when struck at one end, emitted distinctive high-frequency sounds. The first such remote control used four rods, each approximately 2-1/2 inches long: one for channel up, one for channel down, one for sound on and off, and one for on and off.

They were very carefully cut to lengths that would generate four slightly different frequencies. They were excited by a trigger mechanism that stretched a spring and then released it so that a small hammer would strike the end of the aluminum rod.

The original Space Command remote control was expensive because an elaborate receiver in the TV set, using six additional vacuum tubes, was needed to pick up and process the signals. Although adding the remote control system increased the price of the TV set by about 30 percent, it was a technical success and was adopted in later years by other manufacturers.

The ultrasonic device was developed quickly, with the design phase beginning in 1955. Called “Zenith Space Command,” the remote went into production in the fall of 1956.

 

I could jiggle my keys in the air and change the channels on a TV with an Ultrasonic remote. Stations to stop was set by pulling out tabs. Yep, the mechanical tuner moved.

I do remember the mechanical remotes,

 

I think I remember a Zenith brand remote with 4 notes. I called it a, "ding box" because it said, "ding".

My grandma in Dallas had a set with the old 'Space Command' ding remote. I think it looked something like this inside (yes, I open it up at least once).

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=TVs&pin=519813981965792430&lp=plp

 

The mechanical remotes are the origin of the old name "clicker" for the remote (which hung around a lot longer than "ding box").

 

Remote controls use IR for communication. I haven't come across any that use UV though there may be one somewhere.
Why isn't UV used for remote control?

The IR are easier (and cheaper) to make.
Detectors for IR are easier to make and more sensitive.
IR has minimal dangers to users vs. UV (eye damage).
UV will consume much more power and you'll be changing batteries more often.

 

I could jiggle my keys in the air and change the channels on a TV with an Ultrasonic remote. Stations to stop was set by pulling out tabs. Yep, the mechanical tuner moved.

I do remember the mechanical remotes,

I've only seen pictures - and glorious contraptions they were too.....................

 

Couldn't be any worse than the old ultrasonic ones.

The air brakes on a lorry outside made them change channel or any number of other things.

My neighbor had one like that. The channels would change every time their big dog ran through the room jingling its metal collar. We all thought it was very cool, since we had no remote at all, but we could see it needed improvement.

 

My neighbor had one like that. The channels would change every time their big dog ran through the room jingling its metal collar. We all thought it was very cool, since we had no remote at all, but we could see it needed improvement.

At one time; ultrasonic sensors bonded to windows were popular on burglar alarms to detect breaking glass.

There was also a fad for automatic air freshener sprays that went off at intervals.

An enterprising burglar had the idea of planting one in the guttering above the window - the hiss from the aerosol periodically set off the alarm until the keyholder got fed up with the false alarms and turned it off.