IR repeaters for audio/video equipment

[Tom Adams]

Ok gang...time to access your collective knowledge.

My new A/V cabinet should be installed within the next two weeks and I need some info concerning IR remote controlling. The design of the this cabinet results in all of my equipment being behind solid doors and I would like to be able to control various components via remote control without having to open doors. Has any of you tackled this issue? I'm assuming I'll need some type of IR repeater/sensor, but have no idea how they need to be hooked-up or where to get them. Any help would be most appreciated.

TIA

Tom Adams

[fini]

Good morning, Tom! How are your socks? Well, enough chit-chat. As a carpenter mainly installing cabinetry and finish material, I did once install such a piece of equipment in an AV cabinet. I don't recall the brand or model (I can probably find that info somewhere), but it was a pretty cool thang. The installation involved drilling a hole through a part of the cabinet that was visible to the remote when the doors were closed. Into this hole was inserted a snug fitting, inconspicuous IR sensor with wires coming off the back going to a wiring block tucked in a corner of the cab, behind doors.

Why doncha post some pics of your cabs? And can you please get those socks in the shot?

So you like Acoustic Alchemy, too, eh? Ever see 'em live?

Cheers, fini

Oops, just reread your post. Haven't installed 'em yet. What kind of cabs are they? Custom built, knock-down in a box, stock parts from a store? Maybe you could still post a pic from a catalog, or a website. Seeing them would help in advising where to put the sensor, if you want the help. fini

This message has been edited by fini on 08-20-2001 at 09:26 AM

[Tom Adams]

Hey fini - First of all, you and everyone else here can be assured that ALL photos of my gear from now on will have my socks in there somewhere. Maybe I'll offer a prize to the first person to find them.

BRAHAHAHA......

Anyhow, if you can find out the brand name of the IR sensor device you saw installed, I would appreciate it. BTW, you said the sensor had wires on it that went to a wiring block. What did that block do and was it connected to anything else? I'm wondering if that "block" just sprayed (for lack of a better term)the inside of the cabinet with IR light???

As for the cabinet, it is a custom built unit made by the same folks that did the kitchen cabinets in our new house. They're not going to be anything real fancy since we wanted the cabinet to blend in with the room. The cabinet maker is very familiar with A/V needs and is including access/provisions for wiring/cabling and heavy duty roll out shelves. The goal was to achieve a built-in bookcase look that also accomodated inconspicuosly the audio equipment. And yes, I fully intend to have photos (including socks ) posted once the unit is installed. I went this custom route because of the length of wall I had to work with and because we never found anything that we really liked or felt would work. And FWIW, I was blown away by the price. Most A/V units we looked at in furniture stores and catalogs were running around $3400 to $3600. My unit is $2100 complete & installed!

Nope - never seen Acoustic Alchemy live.

Tom Adams

[eq_shadimar]

I know that Harmon Kardon sells a remote extender that will plug into the back of their amps and allow it to be controlled from other rooms. Maybe your equipment will have the same option.

Look at this link too. I had a freind who got one and it seemed to work. Poke around the site a bit too they have lots of neat HT gagdets. Remember thou your socks can't cover up the transmitter. Nothing works then :-)

http://www.homs-smarthome.com/8220a.html

EDIT:

This link has a good picture of what you want to acomplish (I think)

http://www.homs-smarthome.com/images/hdsigdgmtext.gif

Laters,

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Harman Kardon AVR 510

Hafler P505 (running sub)

ProMedia 4.2 v400 for PC

This message has been edited by eq_shadimar on 08-20-2001 at 10:45 AM

[avman]

avman has the answers!! xantech is a manufacturer whose ir repeater systems i have used/installed many times, also check out niles. the xantech stuff has a couple of ir 'sensors' or pickups; one is about as wide as a cigarette pack, and sets on top of your tv, or beside it, or in that general area. another type is the same size as a 'peephole'like for a door, and should be drilled and mounted, BUT i've had some angle/range problems w/that style; the last is a 'decora' j-box style that mounts in a j-box like a light switch, that is the least likely style to fit your application. the other potential problem w/the xantech system is the 'stick-on' mouse emitters that 'flash' the ir signal to your equipment MAY come unglued w/the heat generated in these closed cabinets, AND you have to stick them right over the ir pickup for the equipment you want to control. the niles system that we sell doesn't use a stick-on type emitter, it floods the area w/ir signals. the connecting block that you hook these devices to just makes a junction so everything can work. finally, you may just want to use an ir/uhf/ir 'powermid' repeater system-simple to install,simple to use, an inexpensive. hope this helps, i sell this kind of stuff also. avman.

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KLIPSCH-So Good It Hz!

[Tom Adams]

Thanks for the link eq. They've got some pretty cool stuff and exactly what I was looking for - the HotLink Pro.

http://www.homs-smarthome.com/8225.html

Most excellent!

Tom Adams

[Tom Adams]

Ooooops - sorry avman, shoulda read your post before I posted.

Hmmmm....your point about having to stick the emitters directly over the IR receiver is a good one. I'd prefer the type that floods the area with IR. Your comment about the "peephole" units has me reconsidering that as well. We may have to talk some more.

Thanks for all the good info/suggestions.

Tom Adams

[fini]

The kind I installed, I guess, was the peephole type. As I recall, the mounting block had wires to the individual components, probably the stick-on-the-front-of-the-component type (I hope you can follow this highly technical jargon...).

Alas, I defer to the experts, here. Gotcha covered on cabinet issues, though.

I saw Acoustic Alchemy in Healdsburg, CA last year. Awesome. Really nice guys, too. After the first set, my wife and I stood in line to get some CD's signed. When we got to the front of the line, I asked them if they wouldn't mind saying to my wife, "Do I make you horny, baby, do I?" (They're English, ya know.) "She just really digs it when British men say that!" They all laughed, and my wife didn't take her face out of her hands until halfway through Otmar Leibert's set. (Side note: He wasn't wearing socks.)

I'll be out of town for about a week, Take care, fini

[WMcD]

I can only think that the repeater is going to have an IR source inside the cabinet.

But how well will this be reflected around in there. Hard to say. If the inside of the cabinet is painted white, or whatever is white to IR, maybe there will be enough dispursion.

I see the problem as being that the high fi units have an IR sensor facing forward will be looking at the back of the doors. On the other hand, the internal IR sender will be relatively close. If there is a white interior, including the back of the door, plus some clearance between the shelves, it might all work.

Pasting on aluminum foil seems too cludgy, but might be an alternative for testing.

Gil