Controlling a gear that's behind a wall via remote?

[Erin Hardison]

If this has been covered, I"m sorry. Not sure how to search for this. If it h as, please lilnk me and close thread....


Alright, fellas. Long story avoided... how would I go about controlling a receiver/dvd player that's on another side of a wall from one room? I'm wanting to locate my receiver/dvd player in another section of my HT room that can't be accessed directly from my HT room. It will be in a component rack in a makeshift closet to hide the gear.


The gear will be directly in front of me but hidden on the backside of the wall. I don't think the IR would go through two layers of drywall, and additionally the gear will be facing the opposite direction. Don't want to cut the wall due to support beams; would be no sense in doing that if I can't remove the supports.

Would an IR repeater do the trick, or is there another option?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Erin Hardison]

Anyone? :(

[mperfct]

You could do an RF repeater. I use one on my Harmony 1000 setup. All of my equipment is in a closet. If you don't have an RF capable remote, you can get an IR repeater with a long cord and just tuck it around the baseboard and into the space where your gear is.

[Erin Hardison]

Thank you!

The remote I currently have is a harmony 550, iirc. I hadn't planned on buying another to replace it, really. But, I might.

I'll look into the two options.

The RF isn't line of sight, is it? Do you mind just quickly saying how you have the setup connected? I'll google this as well, but knowing what you have should be all I need since you're doing what I want to do.

[mperfct]

I bought my Harmony 1000 and RF base for $350 off of someone on AVS. I don't think it'd be that hard to replicate that deal.

RF stands for radio-frequency, which will get rid of the line-of-sight requirement that IR has, since radio waves can penetrate walls and such. Basically, the Harmony 1000 can transmit either IR (which I use to control my PJ) and RF (which transmits to my base). When the base receives RF signals, it converts it to IR and can either blast IR out the front of the base, or it has 4 IR jacks (looks like headphone jacks) and send it through wires to either IR emitters that stick on the front of your components or to jack directly into components (some higher-end receivers have this, as well as other components).

I like this setup because it offers you great flexibility (I control my lights with it via Lutron Spacers) and the GUI is easy to use. To do some more of the complex things takes a little trial and error, but it's not too tough and Logitech's customer service is extraordinary.

That all being said, there are LOTS of options out there. This is just the one I chose.

[bandphan]

The ir repeater system would work fine. The Harmony would also work, the Rfs20 from URC would work and is under 100 dollars. the Harmony and this urc RF works great for one room and no duplicate gear, if its whole house and like gear other solutions would be better

[Erin Hardison]

Thanks, guys.

It seems the IR repeater is pretty much what I need. Any suggestions for something cheap to get the job done?

I'm planning on needing to control a Denon receiver, Panny BD player, a projector (or TV, maybe), and a Wii.
The projector will be overhead, the TV (if I go this route instead of FP) would be in front. The hidden components would be the wii, denon, and panny BD.

[GlocksRock]

This is exactly what you need....

http://www.amazon.com/Terk-Technologies-LF-IRX-Leapfrog-Extender/dp/B000069EV0

I have the older now discontinued model and it works great.

Mine also came with a transmitter that plugged into it as well, so you can use it with gear that may be hidden.

[Erin Hardison]

you actually just jogged my mind a bit. I need to check into the DVR situation at my house, too. We may not want to purchase a second DVR if I can just run wires to the receiver upstairs and control it from the HT room.


That piece looks like it might just do the trick. Reviews are either really good, or really bad, though. :/

[GlocksRock]

I would be willing to bet that the bad reviews are from people who don't know what they are doing, but then again if you buy it from amazon, and you aren't satisfied, you can return it at no cost to you, just follow their return procedure and since the original shipping is free, you won't be out a single penny.

[bandphan]

Imo the niles audio msu systems work flawless, speakercraft makes nice units also depending on your exact gear some offer control thru hdmi and internal repeaters.