HDHomeRun IR Receiver

[gordo]

I ordered an HDHR off New Egg this weekend and haven't received it yet, so I may be jumping the gun here...

What exactly is the IR Receiver for? Do I need to run the IR receiver from th server to the HDHR to change the channel? Or does channel changing happen over ethernet?

My plan was to put the HDHR in the attic where I have cable/CAT5e and was planning on putting an antenna. I'd return it before taking on the task of running the IR receiver from the basement up to the attic. Has anyone else done this? Any problems with heat/cold/moisture? I live in Atlanta, GA.

Thanks,
Gary.

[-=Jeff=-]

Channel changing happens VIA ethernet.. I have power, COAX and Ethernet only plugged into the HDHomeRun..

I am not using IR for anything..

[gordo]

Thanks Jeff, thats the answer I was looking for

If anyone has any experience/advice on heat/cold/humidity etc. in the attic I'd still be interested in hearing that.

Gary.

[stanger89]

I'd probably not stick it in an attic, personally, it doesn't really seem like the type of ruggedized device that would be happy with that.

[btrcp2000]

you could certainly leave the antenna in the attic and then just find coax anywhere in the house that you can link to the hdhr. My four year old's room doesn't have a tv, but it has a cable outlet. That room is the best positioned to get hd signals ota, so i hooked an antenna up in her 2nd story room, and the hdhr is in the basement. Just had to figure out which cable run was hers.

[pjpjpjpj]

gordo,

Although I considered the attic and was worried about the temperatures, my biggest concern with going directly in the attic was the dust and dirt. So I put in a small shelf for my HDHRs in our second-floor linen closet, about a foot below the ceiling (attic above). It is working out great.

I had power in a junction box in the attic above so I just pulled a wire off of that and installed an electrical outlet in the closet to plug them in. I have two antennas in the attic, and I ran the coax (only about 10' or so) over to that spot and poked it through the attic floor (closet ceiling) to connect to the HDHRs. I also have my CAT5e in the attic (long story but I had to go there to distribute) and I poked it down through as well.

Now, I'm not in Atlanta (lived near there, know what it's like ), but my HDHRs have been through a few 20F-ish days at the end of last winter (when I got them) and this past summer (had a few days approaching 100F), and they never had an issue at all. And it probably approached 85-90F or so in that closet at some point. Of course, having them in the house "envelope" helps greatly reduce humidity.... that might be your biggest concern. Do you have a closet that you could use as I did? I literally just bought two "L" shelf brackets and used a piece of scrap plywood, about 16"x8", for my shelf.

With regards to btrcp2000's post, coax is very lossy, so depending on your OTA reception (or whether you want to mess with installing amps in your line), you want the HDHR as close to the antenna as possible. To me, that is the biggest benefit of the HDHR... being a network device, you can put it close to the antennas.