How to pair two Sonnet processors on the remote fine tuner?

[Rita Marquez]

I am bilateral with two Sonnet processors..  Does any one have step-by-step instructions on how to put both Sonnet Processors on the fine tuner remote?  I still can‘t switch between processors on the tuner without taking off the processor and re-pairing it with the tuner.  

Here is what I have tried so far. I did  this on my old tuner from two years ago.  I also did it on my new tuner from my new kit for my new processor, so the battery is fresh.

-I press the left arrow

-Open the battery cover and push back on

-Lights come on, I press the plus button.  The left light and the middle red light comes on. 

Then I can control the left processor.  

I repeat these steps with the right processor using the right arrow button and the light on the right side flashes with the middle red light. Then I can control the right processor. But if I press the left button, access to the left processor is no longer available.  I must be missing a step.  Any advice would be greatly apprecisted.

[Mary Beth]

Actually it should be easier than that.

Regardless of which processor it is just turn the processor off, attach the coil to the Fine Tuner magnetically and while attached turn the processor on.  You will see lights flash.  Do the same with the other side.

If the Fine Tuner can not control both L and R processors simultaneously, check with your audiologist that each processor has been assigned to the correct side.  I know someone whose audiologist accidentally assigned both internals to the same side.  That needed to be fixed for the Fine Tuner to operate both simultaneously.

[Rita Marquez]

Yes, I think I got them assigned on opposite sides from one another.  I just can’t switch between them as the arrows on the tuner seem to imply.

[Mary Beth]

Hmmm.... @Rita Marquez

Run a test.  Pair one processor to the Fibe Tuner again.  Then select the arrow for that side and press T.  If the processor responds, it will go to T and the processor mic will be off.  If the processor does not respond, something is wrong.

Then do the same with the other side’s processor.

This way you will know if each processor can work separately with the Fine Tuner.  They must each work separately in order to both respond when you use the bilateral button.

My friend had no idea one of her internals had been assigned to the incorrect side.  It became apparent when she could not use the buttons correctly on her Fine Tuner.  It got sorted out.

[Mary Beth]

 

[Rita Marquez]

16 hours ago, Mary Beth said:

Hmmm.... @Rita Marquez

Run a test.  Pair one processor to the Fibe Tuner again.  Then select the arrow for that side and press T.  If the processor responds, it will go to T and the processor mic will be off.  If the processor does not respond, something is wrong.

Then do the same with the other side’s processor.

This way you will know if each processor can work separately with the Fine Tuner.  They must each work separately in order to both respond when you use the bilateral button.

My friend had no idea one of her internals had been assigned to the incorrect side.  It became apparent when she could not use the buttons correctly on her Fine Tuner.  It got sorted out.

It seems like I have one on each side because when I start by pressing the arrow corresponding to the side I want the yellow light at the top of the remote on that same side lights along with a red light in the middle when I close the battery cover and then press the plus sign. (Someone advised me about the plus sign earlier.) 

I wonder if that light in the middle being red is a sign of a problem.  Maybe it should be green.

Once I synch a processor on that side, I have control over it on all buttons.

Could there is another combination of buttons to push to “lock it in?”

 But after I synch the other processor on the other side, the arrow buttons do not respond to switching back and fourth between the processors.  I tried it on my two-year old remote and my new remote.  Same problem.

Could there be a button combination for switching sides?  

Maybe I’m not making my question clear.  It’s hard to describe in words.  

The only alternative I can think of at this time is to use both remotes, one for each processor.  That will be harder to store in my pouch.  I’d have to take my bank cards and extra batteries  out and rearrange my currently organized system.  I should really only have to use one remote.  The arrow buttons on the remote make it look designed for that.

[Rita Marquez]

15 hours ago, Mary Beth said:

 

I watched this video.  The new thing I learned is how to unlock the remote.  I tried that, then did the synch on each side again.  Still, I have the same problem as before.  The video says I can control both processors on one remote.  But so far, I have not found one video on adding a second processor.  Plus, I’d think just pressing the left or right arrow would switch sides between processors.  It doesn’t.  That could be happening because I lose the first synch when I add the second processor.  Maybe there is a combo of buttons for putting it in double processor mode before synching.  Guessing.  There is a secret to it that I have not found yet. 

[Mary Beth]

@Rita Marquez

There is no secret and synching processors with the Fine Tuner does not require pressing any buttons.  The processor is programmed as a left or right processor and the Fine Tuner stores it as such.  The only time we have to press the left arrow, right arrow or both arrows is when using the Fine Tuner to give a command.

I just played with my Fine Tuner and watched the lights.  I have both processors synced to it.  When I hold the Fine Tuner up in front of my nose and press the button with both arrows, the Fine Tuner’s left and right lights at the top both turn orange/yellow.  Does that happen for you?

The only two times the red light lit up for me were when the Fine Tuner battery was low and when I had left the Fine Tuner in my car for a few hours on a cold winter day.

We can use one Fine Tuner to control two processors from different sides.  The Fine Tuner syncs to only one left and one right processor simultaneously.

The red light you are seeing may indicate a problem.  The fact that both of your processors seem unable to be controlled by one Fine Tuner may indicate a problem too. 

Sorry we can’t seem to troubleshoot this.

Are you able to reach out to your Med-El rep, in-house audiology at Med-El or your clinical audiologist for help?

[Rita Marquez]

Maybe it’s the battery. Even my brand new fine tuner gives the red light in the middle.

I’ll change the battery.  See if that works.  Thanks.

[Mary Beth]

@Rita Marquez

If that doesn’t work......and I am doubtful it will work because both of your Fine Tuners are doing the same thing.......think about contacting your CI audiologist or Med-El reps in your country.  It really should be easy to sync and use the Fine Tuner so something may be amiss.  Keep us posted.

Other than your difficulties with the Fine Tuner, how are things going for you?

[Rita Marquez]

When I press the left or right arrow, shouldn’t a light come on?  The upper left or right light comes on when I press any other button.  I took tge battery out of the new one and put it back in.   I wonder if that resets it.

[Rita Marquez]

I give up. 🙁  I have to carry two fine tuners - one for each processor until I meet the right person that can fix it.  I will buy two CR2025 batteries and see if that helps.   I can’t believe my brand new one is already low.

[Rita Marquez]

I e-mailed my Med El rep for an appointment.  I’ll see what she says this week.

[Mary Beth]

@Rita Marquez

After changing the battery I would expect that you have to sync the processors to the Fine Tuner again.  When I press and let go (not hold down) the left arrow on my Fine Tuner, the yellow light at the top left flashes.

[Rita Marquez]

My Meniere’s attack seems to be done.  I hope it stays that way.  I just did my last day of steroids.  I am going for mapping on Wednesday.  I hope I can get more volume in my new implant.  I’ll see how tolerant I am.  Maybe this audiologist can synch my processors on one fine tuner.  I will buy new batteries tomorrow and try again.  These fine tuners act like the arrow keys are entirely inactive.  Maybe Med El will replace one under warranty. If the audiologist also has trouble, I will probably have an appointment with the Med El Rep.  I should hear from her this week.  

[Rita Marquez]

Right, mine doesn’t flash.  Either something is wrong on both fine tuners or both batteries are low.

[Mary Beth]

I hope your audiologist gave you access to those 3 Fine Tuner buttons.  Audiologists can control our access to these buttons.

Glad your Meniere’s episode is winding down.

I’m making a short video so you can see how my buttons/lights work.  It is trying to upload.

[Mary Beth]

@Rita Marquez

I apologize for the quality of this video but it does show you what should happen with the Fine Tuner lights when you press left arrow, right arrow and both arrows.

 

 

[Rita Marquez]

5 minutes ago, Mary Beth said:

I hope your audiologist gave you access to those 3 Fine Tuner buttons.  Audiologists can control our access to these buttons.

Glad your Meniere’s episode is winding down.

I’m making a short video so you can see how my buttons/lights work.  It is trying to upload.

Really?  Then my audiologist should be able to correct it on Wednesday.  The day of my activation, the regular audiologist with Med El training was on vacation.  Her less experienced colleague was there.  She probably didn’t know about giving me access to the arrow buttons on the fine tuner. The Med El rep that was there did not step up.  She probably assumed the audiologist had it all covered.  It’s good to know that the audiologist controls access to the arrow buttons.  Most likely, mine aren’t activated on either of my fine tuners.  On the older one, it didn’t matter because I only had one processor. On the new one, the audiologist didn’t know how to do it.  Mary Beth, I think you found the andwer to the problem.

[Rita Marquez]

11 minutes ago, Mary Beth said:

@Rita Marquez

I apologize for the quality of this video but it does show you what should happen with the Fine Tuner lights when you press left arrow, right arrow and both arrows.

 

 

 

Yeah, mine doesn’t do that with the lights.

[Mary Beth]

@Rita Marquez

Don’t get your hopes up too much because I think full access to the Fine Tuner buttons may be the default setting.

Your difficulties remind me a lot of my friend’s difficulties.  Her first internal was assigned to the incorrect side.  Her second internal was assigned to the correct side.  This left her with two internals assigned to the same side.  She had to use 2 different Fine Tuners until that got solved.  I hope your issue is a faster fix!

[Rita Marquez]

Internals?  Does that refer to the implants, themselves?  I thought it was just about the processors and the fine tuner.  I sure hope they can activate the arrow buttons.

 

 

[Mary Beth]

 

@Rita Marquez

Yes the Synchrony or Concerto internals.

I think it works something like this....

When we are activated our audiologists create a Maestro software file for us.  One of the items seems to be RIGHT or LEFT side.

When our audiologists program a processor (Sonnet or Rondo) for us it is matched with the correct internal and knows ONLY to work with that internal.  This is why if we accidentally place a processor on the wrong side, it just doesn’t work,

So the processor stores the correct internal which knows left or right side by how our audiologists created our activation file.

Fine Tuner recognizes the LEFT or RIGHT side of paired processors through this info and will only sync with ONE left and ONE right processor at a time.

My friend had to have things sorted out so her incorrectly sided first internal was changed to the correct side in Maestro.  This was done by a skilled audiologist at an appt and took awhile to do.  After that was fixed, my friend could use one Fine Tuner to control both processors.

[Mary Beth]

@Rita Marquez

It’s a good thing to clarify that everything is set up correctly for left and right sides at your upcoming appointment because any possible error in that would cause Fine Tuner problems and AudioLink problems as well if you plan on getting the AudioLink.

[Rita Marquez]

15 hours ago, Mary Beth said:

 

@Rita Marquez

Yes the Synchrony or Concerto internals.

I think it works something like this....

When we are activated our audiologists create a Maestro software file for us.  One of the items seems to be RIGHT or LEFT side.

When our audiologists program a processor (Sonnet or Rondo) for us it is matched with the correct internal and knows ONLY to work with that internal.  This is why if we accidentally place a processor on the wrong side, it just doesn’t work,

So the processor stores the correct internal which knows left or right side by how our audiologists created our activation file.

Fine Tuner recognizes the LEFT or RIGHT side of paired processors through this info and will only sync with ONE left and ONE right processor at a time.

My friend had to have things sorted out so her incorrectly sided first internal was changed to the correct side in Maestro.  This was done by a skilled audiologist at an appt and took awhile to do.  After that was fixed, my friend could use one Fine Tuner to control both processors.

I think the stand-in audiologist didn’t know how to do all this.  The one on vacation would have.  So, I will see if my audiologist can do it tomorrow.  If not, I will get an appointment with the Med El rep.  Thanks for the info.