Infrared Repeaters

[George Stolz]

What brand repeater have you used and had success with? I've been using the Niles brand stuff, and it irritates me. You aim the remote 45? from the sensor, and it works - aim it directly at the sensor and the little LED indicates it's getting a signal, but refuses to pass it along to the transmitter.

I'm curious to see what others use.

 

[egnlsn]

What brand repeater have you used and had success with? I've been using the Niles brand stuff, and it irritates me. You aim the remote 45? from the sensor, and it works - aim it directly at the sensor and the little LED indicates it's getting a signal, but refuses to pass it along to the transmitter.

I'm curious to see what others use.

Not saying they're the greatest, but I've been using the same system (actually, two of them) from Rat Shack for fifteen years with no issues.

 

[LarryFine]

George, this is by far the simplest and easy to set up unit I've seen: http://www.smarthome.com/8225P/Hot-Link-Pro/p.aspx

 

[George Stolz]

Can that system be extended to be in another part of the house?

For example, let's say there is a central DirecTV box supplying a TV in the kitchen upstairs and a TV in the basement. I would need a receiver in the basement and kitchen and a transmitter at the DirecTV box.

 

[egnlsn]

I bought 2 separate systems for that very purpose. One target is in the living room and the other is in the master bedroom, with the emitter being in the stereo closet to control my DirecTV DVR, A/V Receiver, HD DVR, Blu-ray Disc Player, OTA Receiver, and Matrix Switcher.

 

[LarryFine]

Can that system be extended to be in another part of the house?

For that, unless you have extra wire pairs available, I'd recommend an RF repeater. The R. S. Powermid would even work. You'd only need two transmitters (that pick up the IR in the TV room) and one receiver (that broadcasts the IR.)

 

[Stallzer]

http://www.xantech.com/

 

[nhfire77]

http://www.xantech.com/

I second that link.

 

[dbuckley]

I third Xantech

Except.... The Buffalo Electronics IR-100 zone box spanks Xantech both in price and performance. Highly recommended.

I've used a few other Buffalo components over the years and they've all work well.

 

[brantmacga]

Can that system be extended to be in another part of the house?

For example, let's say there is a central DirecTV box supplying a TV in the kitchen upstairs and a TV in the basement. I would need a receiver in the basement and kitchen and a transmitter at the DirecTV box.

George, I just did a job similar to this. There were 5 DTV receivers in the mech. closet.


Since the HO didn't need control of other components, we ordered RF remotes from directv instead of using repeaters. They're working great so far. The remotes were about $25 each. The furthest one gets used from a receiver is about 30'. When I called directv, they were able to give me the distance limitations but I do not remember what they are. You can call their tech support and ask.

You can program multiple remotes to a single receiver. Each receiver has its own code that you program into the remote. Its very simple.

Lastly, make sure their receiver is capable of utilizing an RF remote control.

If you go into the settings menu, look for the 'remote' button, and if it has an option for IR or RF control, you're good to go. directv can assist w/ this also.