Putting Extender in the closet - best way to control it remotely

[personalt]

I am looking to put my HD Extender in my equipment closet. Eventual plan is to use CQC to control. But in the short term I would guess that I want to extend an IR signal?

I have 2 ununsed RJ6 and 2 unused CAT5 at the TV. Is there a something I cut put there that would let me me control the extender remotely?

[jrog]

Hmm... maybe this would work for you.

http://www.hometech.com/infrared/coax.html

Although, if it's just a temporary solution, would it be better to just leave the extender next to the TV temporarily?

[pat_smith1969]

What you want is called an IR hub. You buy sensors of different kinds, they run a wire in the wall to the hub located somewhere else. That hub repeats the signal to each of your different components hooked to the hub via either a flasher or via direct input. A lot of newer audio equiptment have inputs that directly read the hub signal so you dont have to use a flasher with them. Here is a link.


http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...194550&tp=1069

[personalt]

The tv is up on the wall.. so really too easy to mount the extender somewhere but I do have the CAT5 for it..

I will check out those extenders.

[valnar]

What's the cheapest setup I can buy to extend the IR capabilities a matter of a few feet? Something small and unobtrusive would be preferrable.

My HD Extender lives in a StudioTech Ultra U-22T. The grilling on the front of the cabinets is supposed to pass IR signals, and they work okay for all my other components (receiver, dvd, vcr) but the HD extender has a problem. Since the IR on the HD extender is touchy to begin with, it makes it worse being behind a grill, even one that usually passes IR okay.

I only want to stick something on the top of my cabinet to capture the signals and use a transmitter point-blank inside at my HD extender.

Robert

[paulbeers]

What about this:

http://www.amazon.com/Next-Generatio.../dp/B000C1Z0HA

I just ordered one. Should be here next week. Has some amazing on line reviews and since it converts your IR to an RF frequency, you don't even have to worry about pointing your remote at an IR receiver (I have those before and they are a pain).

[valnar]

Originally Posted by paulbeers

What about this:

http://www.amazon.com/Next-Generatio.../dp/B000C1Z0HA

I just ordered one. Should be here next week. Has some amazing on line reviews and since it converts your IR to an RF frequency, you don't even have to worry about pointing your remote at an IR receiver (I have those before and they are a pain).

Interesting.... not sure I like the battery idea. I really don't need RF though. My only use will be for this point application because of the deficiency in the HD extender's IR receiver. Heck, a transmitter and receiver node on two ends of a 10' cable would be sufficient!

Robert

[Mitch G]

I have no idea how well this works, but it's something I book marked in the past:
http://www.hot-link.com/hotlink_pro.htm

[snapdaddy]

Originally Posted by Mitch G

I have no idea how well this works, but it's something I book marked in the past:
http://www.hot-link.com/hotlink_pro.htm

I've used the above device for the last couple of years, and it's worked flawlessly. I use it to control devices behind the closed door of a wood entertainment cabinet.
I ran a 25' RCA cable through the wall so I could mount the receiver up by the plasma and the commands are sent to the equip in the cabinet.

YMMV, of course.

[CollinR]

You can get a buffalo IR setup for pretty cheap and run it over your Cat5.

Me personally... I bought a FireFly RF based remote and it works everywhere in my house. I love it and it's only like $40. The real credit goes to EventGhost though it handles all the logic from the remote's input.

[malbec]

Harmony 890 remote with the RF extender?

[valnar]

That Hotlink looks nice. I wish they made a cheaper one with less outputs.

I may have to get it.

[Mitch G]

buy.com sells it for $69.95, but they appear to be out of stock for the time being.

[valnar]

Still searching.... I'm getting cheaper..... still more than I need.....

http://www.accessories4less.com/make...ver-Kit/1.html

[sainswor99]

I had the Next Generation device; it worked great,except for when the batteries ran out. Unfortunately, I wasn't home when the battery ran out, and my wife changed the batteries in the remote (I think you know where this is going....); what do you do with dead batteries?

After that I switched to the Hotlink Pro; it's fantastic. Very simple to use, doesn't seem to be bothered by the different IR frequencies like the IR-to-RF converters.

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by sainswor99

I had the Next Generation device; it worked great,except for when the batteries ran out. Unfortunately, I wasn't home when the battery ran out, and my wife changed the batteries in the remote (I think you know where this is going....); what do you do with dead batteries?

After that I switched to the Hotlink Pro; it's fantastic. Very simple to use, doesn't seem to be bothered by the different IR frequencies like the IR-to-RF converters.

Thanks for the heads up on the Next Gen device. Glad to hear it works (and that I didn't just buy a big turd ). I'll make sure to set the ground rules on it!

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by personalt

I am looking to put my HD Extender in my equipment closet. Eventual plan is to use CQC to control. But in the short term I would guess that I want to extend an IR signal?

I have 2 ununsed RJ6 and 2 unused CAT5 at the TV. Is there a something I cut put there that would let me me control the extender remotely?

Are you extending the HDMI to the TV as well? If so, you can get an HDMI over CAT5 extender that also carries and IR signal from the guys at Xantech:

http://www.xantech.com/products/hd_d...n/HDMIC5IR.htm

2 CAT5's and you are done. Some friends just centralized all their DirecTV STB's with these and they worked well. Made it easy to zone the IR as well.

[sic0048]

I too have used a hot-link pro for many years without one problem. I used it since my entertainment center had solid wood doors and I didn't want to leave them open all the time just so the remotes would work the lower components.

However, that cheaper Channel Vison product should work great too. I seems to have fewer IR repeaters, but I never needed more than about 3-4 anyway.

That being said, since personalt (the OP) said he may eventually use CQC to control his system (CQC is a software based home automation control system), I personally would recommend going with the normal expandable IR systems like Xantech. It may be a little more expensive now, but you will be able to continue to use it with your CQC system should you ever go that route. I don't think the other products will allow you to do this. For example, I still use my Hotlink Pro, but it isn't tied into my CQC system and I really wish it was.

Something like this: http://www.smarthome.com/8165.html

[IVB]

Pity the IRMan/RS232-single zone IR receiver is no longer sold - you could have gotten one of those for ~$35, run a CAT5 wire to your PC, then have CQC control the HDExtender via the IP driver.

Cheapest, simplest, and works with your long-term path. If it was still sold, that is.

Otherwise, any other RS232-linkable IR system will do.

EDIT: Hey now, the IRA-3 is only $25! http://www.home-electro.com/ira3.php...9f35892777a62a . Supported by CQC too - that is the cheapest route, i think it should work fine. You gotta put that in the room somewhere, though, and run the cable back to the PC.

[personalt]

Can the IRA-3 or similar control the sagetv HDExtender without CQC? I am not production ready for CQC yet. My next step is getting sageTV all set up and then I want to get CQC to control it down the road(hopefully not too far down)

If I bought a RS232 linkable IR can I go direct to controlling the sagetv HDextender?

Originally Posted by IVB

Pity the IRMan/RS232-single zone IR receiver is no longer sold - you could have gotten one of those for ~$35, run a CAT5 wire to your PC, then have CQC control the HDExtender via the IP driver.

Cheapest, simplest, and works with your long-term path. If it was still sold, that is.

Otherwise, any other RS232-linkable IR system will do.

EDIT: Hey now, the IRA-3 is only $25! http://www.home-electro.com/ira3.php...9f35892777a62a . Supported by CQC too - that is the cheapest route, i think it should work fine. You gotta put that in the room somewhere, though, and run the cable back to the PC.