Turning on my TV with smart remote is somehow turning on Echo Dot

[sparker]

I have a Sony Bravia TV that I operate with a Harmony One remote in my bedroom. I also have an Echo Dot (1st gen) hooked to an Amazon SoundBar in that same room. I have the Harmony One programmed to turn on the TV, set the input to HDMI, and choose Channel 7.1 (our OTA ABC station here in Denver). I've been using the same setup for years.

A couple years back I added an Amazon Echo with an Amazon 2.1 SoundBar and that's been working great as well.

The "problem"? In the last month or so, when I turn on the TV, it comes on like normal, but the Echo also starts playing Denver 7 news (the same as the station I have the Harmony One switch to when the TV powers on).

I have no idea how that could happen. I understand that the SoundBar has an IR receiver, but I've never heard of a case  where it would receive signals, and talk to the Echo about them. And I'm 99% sure the Echo doesn't have an IR receiver on it. How could the Echo possibly wake up and play the Echo news when I turn on the TV.

Any thoughts, ideas, experiments would be appreciated.

This afternoon, I'm going to reprogram the Harmony One remote to tune to our OTA NBC station, and see what the Echo does after that. I'll update this forum as I go.

[jwlv]

Could your echo dot be playing Denver 7 news continuously but you don't hear it until your TV/remote turns on the sound bar?

[sparker]

Could your echo dot be playing Denver 7 news continuously but you don't hear it until your TV/remote turns on the sound bar?

Nope. It's when I wake up in the AM and turn on the news. Both the TV and the Echo come on. And... I've never asked Alexa to listen to that particular station. It's not in my Flash Briefing either. I'm really baffled by how it knows...Now I'm trying to "hide" the remote as soon as it sends the signal to the TV too. I'll keep experimenting until I figure this out, but it is "curious"...

Steve

[tuicemen]

Sounds to me like the remote has somehow paired to the sound bar.
I doubt the echo is being turned on. One way to tell for sure is unplug the echo.

[sparker]

Sounds to me like the remote has somehow paired to the sound bar.
I doubt the echo is being turned on. One way to tell for sure is unplug the echo.

Tried that, but knew it wouldn't really help, since when this happens, I can say "Alexa Stop" and the audio stops.

If the Dot is unplugged, TV works as expected. Plug in the Dot, and Alexa plays my local ABC station when I turn on the TV. When I find the software to reprogram the remote, I'll change the sequence  to have it auto-tune the TV to NBC (instead of ABC) and see what the echo does. I still blown away that something is talking to the Echo behind my back. I didn't think that was possible (there's no IR receiver on the DOT that I'm aware of)

[jwlv]

Is it actually the Dot playing or is the Soundbar paired with the TV via Bluetooth? One way to find it is to disconnect the audio cable from the Dot to the Soundbar.

[sparker]

Is it actually the Dot playing or is the Soundbar paired with the TV via Bluetooth? One way to find it is to disconnect the audio cable from the Dot to the Soundbar.

My Bravia TV is too old to have Bluetooth (from Sept 2008). The Soundbar is not playing what's on the TV, it's the KMGH TV station that I could add (but haven't) to my Flash Briefing playing through the Dot. If I say "Alexa stop", it stops just like normal. If I look at my Alexa history, there's no history of it turning on at all. I can see the "Alexa Stop" but before that is commands from other devices in the house.

There's no audio cables anywhere; the Dot connects to the Soundbar via Bluetooth. But that does bring up an interesting experiment. I'll disconnect the Soundbar from the Dot and try powering everything on and see if the Dot starts playing the station.

It really appears that the SoundBar is somehow receiving the IR signal from the Remote, and telling the Dot to play that staion. I have no idea how, but that's what currently makes the most sense to me (not that any of it makes sense).

Steve

[sparker]

This morning it came on playing BBC News from TuneIn which is on my Flash Briefing list. "Alex Stop" still stops it, but I cannot figure out how it's starting up when I turn on the TV. I'll keep experimenting.

[jvk of md]

I use a harmony hub and I noticed when I tell alexa to do a harmony routine thru the hub, my original remotes, which are nearby, also flash lights like it receives a backfeed.  Perhaps you have a similar action setting off things.  I also found that sometimes alexa app shows scenes and devices multiple times, perhaps some need to be deleted to get down to the bare minimum. 

I have a Sony Bravia TV that I operate with a Harmony One remote in my bedroom. I also have an Echo Dot (1st gen) hooked to an Amazon SoundBar in that same room. I have the Harmony One programmed to turn on the TV, set the input to HDMI, and choose Channel 7.1 (our OTA ABC station here in Denver). I've been using the same setup for years.

A couple years back I added an Amazon Echo with an Amazon 2.1 SoundBar and that's been working great as well.

The "problem"? In the last month or so, when I turn on the TV, it comes on like normal, but the Echo also starts playing Denver 7 news (the same as the station I have the Harmony One switch to when the TV powers on).

I have no idea how that could happen. I understand that the SoundBar has an IR receiver, but I've never heard of a case  where it would receive signals, and talk to the Echo about them. And I'm 99% sure the Echo doesn't have an IR receiver on it. How could the Echo possibly wake up and play the Echo news when I turn on the TV.

Any thoughts, ideas, experiments would be appreciated.

This afternoon, I'm going to reprogram the Harmony One remote to tune to our OTA NBC station, and see what the Echo does after that. I'll update this forum as I go.

[sparker]

This morning it came on playing BBC News from TuneIn which is on my Flash Briefing list. "Alex Stop" still stops it, but I cannot figure out how it's starting up when I turn on the TV. I'll keep experimenting.

OK Something even weirder. I turned on the TV the other day with the power button on the TV (the remote was on the charger) and Alexa kicked on. Now I'm really confused. Some signal from a TV with no modern comm methods (wifi, bluetooth, etc) is somehow activating Alexa. Now I'm wondering if there's a carrier wave on the audio of the TV broadcast that Alexa could be hearing. I know that sounds like a conspiracy theory, but I cannot imagine how this is happening.

Stay tuned. I'll keep on testing.

[renegade600]

This morning it came on playing BBC News from TuneIn which is on my Flash Briefing list. "Alex Stop" still stops it, but I cannot figure out how it's starting up when I turn on the TV. I'll keep experimenting.

OK Something even weirder. I turned on the TV the other day with the power button on the TV (the remote was on the charger) and Alexa kicked on. Now I'm really confused. Some signal from a TV with no modern comm methods (wifi, bluetooth, etc) is somehow activating Alexa. Now I'm wondering if there's a carrier wave on the audio of the TV broadcast that Alexa could be hearing. I know that sounds like a conspiracy theory, but I cannot imagine how this is happening.

Stay tuned. I'll keep on testing.

did you look in history to see what it heard.  you can also play what it heard too

[sparker]

This morning it came on playing BBC News from TuneIn which is on my Flash Briefing list. "Alex Stop" still stops it, but I cannot figure out how it's starting up when I turn on the TV. I'll keep experimenting.

OK Something even weirder. I turned on the TV the other day with the power button on the TV (the remote was on the charger) and Alexa kicked on. Now I'm really confused. Some signal from a TV with no modern comm methods (wifi, bluetooth, etc) is somehow activating Alexa. Now I'm wondering if there's a carrier wave on the audio of the TV broadcast that Alexa could be hearing. I know that sounds like a conspiracy theory, but I cannot imagine how this is happening.

Stay tuned. I'll keep on testing.

did you look in history to see what it heard.  you can also play what it heard too

As always, the only thing in the history was when I said "Alexa Stop" to get it to stop playing. No record at all of what it thought it heard, just me telling it to stop.

[sparker]

I don't know why, or how, or exactly when, but I haven't see this activity since that last post. Hopefully this was a transient thing, and won't come back. For for now, I'm wanted to let responders know it hasn't recurred, and seem to have vanashed.

Steve

[renegade600]

I don't know why, or how, or exactly when, but I haven't see this activity since that last post. Hopefully this was a transient thing, and won't come back. For for now, I'm wanted to let responders know it hasn't recurred, and seem to have vanashed.

Steve

glad it is fixed.  it was a weird issue.