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Any Experience with remote IR Remote Controls?


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By this I mean, I wish to extend control of my speakers/amp to other rooms in the house, and was wondering what kinds of experiences people had with the products that allow you to extend remote control of your amps/speakers to other rooms. Xantech is one of the companies under consideration.

Thanks!cwm28.gif

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Amp: Integra 7.2

DVD: Toshiba SD4700

Fronts: RF-7

Centre: RC-7

Surrounds: old Advents!

Sub: None

TV: Dreaming of Plasma

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my uncle had that setup in his house. little IR receivers put around the place, i can not see where they are... works pretty good but the volume moves so slowly, or the IR's are just slow to respond, that i will often mess up and think i am pointing towards the wrong area.

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-justin

A technical help site created by me and my fellow Klipschers

promediatech@Klipsch.com /1-888-554-5665 - RA# 800-554-7724 ext 5

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I built my own wired (not RF) IR repeater system. I just got the circuit built and have done some testing. I hope to get it installed soon. All the stuff I looked at, including Xantech, cost WAY too much in my opinion. With my BSEE background I was able to build my own IR repeater (to handle at least 4 rooms and control up to 4 components) for less than $50. I have a Recoton IR repeater that uses RF but it doesn't work all that great. A wired system should work better and be less susceptible to noise.

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He means that a wired IR system would transmit the received commands over wire to the receiver etc with much less chance of noise problems than if the same signals were sent back to the amp via an RF connection. This is generally correct, as long as you don't have the wire running through bundles of 120/240V wires which would likely impart considerable noise, especially on low voltage/current signals on thin non-shielded wire....

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Amp: Integra 7.2

DVD: Toshiba SD4700

Fronts: RF-7

Centre: RC-7

Surrounds: old Advents!

Sub: None

TV: Dreaming of Plasma

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Thanks STL.

I too could sit down and replicate what they do- I just don't have the time to tinker these days.

cwm36.gif

The cost point is ridiculous, and since my amp has an IR in anyway (separate from the C Bus stuff), I may just try that route some day. The key is to obtain the ir receiver and ensure that it can drive the signal back over an approximate 50' distance without amplification. If I can get something that does that, then I need only worry about merging 2 separate IR receivers to one input on the receiver. Then later on figure out how to split that final receiver end into multiple ir transmitters. Again, drive will be the issue.

Can you post back how you did this, and the problems you encountered? The silicon/passive components shouldn't be hard to obtain, even as samples. So, it's coming down to the wisdom you build....

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Thanks!

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Amp: Integra 7.2

DVD: Toshiba SD4700

Fronts: RF-7

Centre: RC-7

Surrounds: old Advents!

Sub: None

TV: Dreaming of Plasma

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I used a CMOS 555 timer along with some assorted basic transistors. The timer is tuned to around 40kHz and the input from the IR rec'rs drive its Reset line. This gives you a cleaner signal than trying to amplify the IR signal itself. Here is a source of cheap IR rec'rs:

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=280&item=IRD-8&type=store

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I hate to even mention Radio Shack in these hallowed pages but, they have a set of RF repeaters that work just fine for what you need. I think they cost around $30. or so.

I've used them on a set up where all of the HT equipment was in a closet in the back corner of a room and the repeater up front, a good 35 ft or so, worked very well.

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Jim McClung

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I too have heard that the powermids work better then the recoton units (even though it looks like their functionality would be the same). I think you can find the recoton units for $30-40 but the powermid/RS units cost $50 (not $30). Those costs are per room too so if you want more than one room done it can start to get expensive.

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Thanks everyone!

Hobbit, while I wouldn't use some RadioShack things like speakers in a situation where I'm being a purist, that attitude certainly doesn't pertain to things like jacks, and IR repeaters. Hey, if they work is all that I care about. RadioShack rules!!

And to some of the other posts, yes I too noticed that a lot of X10 stuff is simply rebranded through RadioShack. Again, as long as the functionality is there, I don't care.

Thanks again to everyone for giving me a good range of options, as well as earned wisdom.

Toodles!cwm11.gif

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Amp: Integra 7.2

DVD: Toshiba SD4700

Fronts: RF-7

Centre: RC-7

Surrounds: old Advents!

Sub: None

TV: Dreaming of Plasma

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I'll second the Radio Shacks.

When I needed to do the same, they were cheap and did what I needed.

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Mains: KLF 10's

Center: RC-3 (I know--doesn't match mains)

Surrounds: Quintets

Receiver: Denon 3802

DVD: Toshiba 3109 and 5700 (5700 goin back-stinks)

TV: Sony 36XBR400

MIT cables throughout

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Here's something else to consider. The Recoton units operate at a frequency of 418Mhz, one of the radio data freqs. A lot of low power telemetry items work at this frequency including remote temperature sensors for these "so called" Atomic clocks as well as many wireless control kits. I had the experience of having the Recoton receiver captured, full time, from who knows where making this unit unusable. The Powermid operates at 433Mhz. It too is a data freq, but seems to be far less used, at least in my area. So far, no interference. Hope this helps.

Mike

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Thanks everyone!

I went the radio shack recoton unit route. A couple of observations:

1) Overall, seems to work acceptably. My system is in my home theatre in the basement, and my remote is upstairs in the master bedroom- so that's 2 floors above the basement.

2) I have noticed that the basement receiver/ir transmitter has it's led blinking almost continuously, but at a much reduced output level. This could be it picking up those 418mhz random signals, but it is intriguing that the output level is very low as compared to when the remote unit talks to it- then the led is very brightly lit. I don't seem to have any side effects with unwanted system changes.

3) I have noticed that some remote control features work perfectly, while others may require several attempts. Channel, Volume seem to work great. Setup, actual cable numbers etc seems to be less than perfect.

I also need a remote unit in my main floor living room, and am wondering what happens if I get a second receiver/transmitter pair, and simply use the same basement base station. Are all sets working on a slightly different channel, or would this work??

Thanks!

------------------

Amp: Integra 7.2

DVD: Toshiba SD4700

Fronts: RF-7

Centre: RC-7

Surrounds: old Advents!

Sub: None

TV: Dreaming of Plasma

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