Ahanix iMon remote?

[Archerkit]

Hi all. Is anyone using the Ahanix iMon remote with Sage? Up until recently I was using the X10/Lola. That stopped working after I upgraded my PC - the range is reduced to (at best) a couple of feet.

I tried all possibilities - USB extension, powered USB hub, batteries, lengthening the antenna to 32cm (1/2 wave of 433mhz, which the X10 receives), a PCI USB card. No improvement whatsoever. I suspect there's something else causing the interference, and I'm done with it!

So I'm going back to IR (which was always a faster response than the RF) and am thinking of the Ahanix iMon. It's $43 at NewEgg, and the IR receiver can even get data from all IR remotes. So for the same price as a USB-UIRT, I'm getting a remote too.

One of the things I read was that the joystick can't be programmed, like all of the other buttons. So I'm not sure if it can do the up/down/left/right cursor movement in Sage, versus using it as a mouse. Not sure if this has changed with new drivers..

Here's some info:

NewEgg link


Any comments would be great! thanks!

[Archerkit]

Well, I'm responding to my own post. I was just about to order the new remote. I realized I would still need extension cables, because the CPU is about 20' (cable-wise, when you count going through a closet and such) away.

I was worried that with all of the problems I had trying to get the X10 to work, I'd face similar problems with USB cabling and the IR. With a USB cable-length limit of 15' (discounting repeaters or hubs) there would need to be some experimenting.

Anyway I went to a local computer show, picked up a 15' A-B cable for $5.99. And a 10' A-A extension for $3.99. (never buy cables from retail stores if you can help it, they're WAY overpriced!)

I figured this would let me connect a hub at the end of an A-B, and use the A-A if I needed it.

On a whim I connected the old X10 RF to the new contraption. Amazingly, it worked! So my $6 Lola remote is running again. Amazing that it needed that much cabling to overcome whatever interference was going on.

Whew!