Do I need IR equipment??? Clueless!!!

[mod]

I have a couple of months before I set up my equipment so I have some time to learn more about all of this. I had a plumbing failure in my house and it's being renovated now. Anyway, I have a Panasonic plasma, a cable box, a Toshiba A30, and I'm getting a Yamaha vx663. I need advice on controlling the components if they are blocked behind the doors of a tv credenza. I know nothing at all about IR signals. I'm in temporary housing while the repairs are being done and I've noticed that the tv will turn on and off even if the remote isn't pointed directly at it, but the cable box seems to require line of sight to operate. I'm using the cable remote for both right now. If my components get installed behind a credenza door will I need something to get the signals to them? I don't really want to have to open the doors every time I use them. If there's a site I should go to to learn about this please refer me.

Thanks

 

[adk highlander]

Hi Mod,

There are a couple of ways to get the IR signals to inside your credenza. You could use an IR repeating system where you have a IR receiving "eye" that would be placed in a wall or attached to your TV. This transmitts to a main system unit which then distributes the IR signal to flashers which are attached to the front of each device. I have used this type of system from Niles (www.nilesaudio.com) for a few applications and it works very well. I would have pasted links to each part but the Niles site seems to down.

Another alternative is RF (radio frequency) systems that will take the RF from the remote and turn it into IR and distribute it our via flashers to the components. These are nice because you don't even have to be in the same room to control your equipment. You can get this type of system from Universal Remote, Harmony or a Pronto.

Hope this gets you started. Sorry to hear about your flooding and housing issues.

Cheers.

 

[mod]

Thanks ADK Highlander. The Niles IR repeater looks like what I need. The RFI stuff appears to be more involved after reading discussions from installers. I appreciate the recommendation

 

[mod]

A related question on IR. Without an IR repeater will the signals go through glass to operate the equipment. If so, will they go through frosted glass, or clear only? We're considering glass doors but don't know if we want clear glass.

 

[adk highlander]

It is hard to say. Some of my gear will take an IR signal reflected off a piece of glass or mirror while others I need to point it directly at it to work.

It would have to be a very light frosting to the point where you would still see the lights on the front of your gear. If you are going to buy your credenza locally you could bring a dvd player and place it inside and see if it responds.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I'm going to add a bit here that's off subject and on subject.

1. If you are putting gear into a credenza, make darn sure your credenza is designed properly for A/V gear and isn't just a hack job piece designed to look good, but with no clue at all about electronics and proper cooling. In my experience, about 10% of gear installed inside of a solid door front credenza has had heat related failures due to lousy design.

I would make sure that you have a shelf for each piece of gear going in there, plenty of space around the gear, and air in-take and out-flow so that cool fresh air can get to the gear at all times. Also, provision for fans to possibly be necessary.

2. Clear glass is no issue for IR. IR is light, simple as that. You gotta have line of site with light beams, but you can also reflect the light off of other things. So, clear glass is good, frosted glass likely will interfere with the light to much to make it reliable.

I personally would recommend, if it is a straightforward setup, a Harmony Remote with RF capabilities. Forget the IR repeater system, but go this route and put the RF receiver inside the credenza. RF (radio) is not line of site and requires no specialty cabling. You put IR emitters on the front of the gear in the rack, and the remote takes a few hours for a novice to program and they have solid technical support to call if you get confused.

 

[mod]

Thanks BMXTRIX. Would that be the Harmony 890 ($350) and the RF extender ($100)? That's a bit pricey for me right now. I guess I'll need to look for a low tech solution.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I think there are other Harmony solutions that are out there, so please don't think that's the only one. Ask in the main forums about RF enabled remote options from Harmony. I think they have several, some of which are a fair bit cheaper.

Keep in mind a decent IR repeater will typically run no less than about $100, then you have to wire it all in and add a universal remote.

 

[itschris]

I think there are other Harmony solutions that are out there, so please don't think that's the only one. Ask in the main forums about RF enabled remote options from Harmony. I think they have several, some of which are a fair bit cheaper.

Keep in mind a decent IR repeater will typically run no less than about $100, then you have to wire it all in and add a universal remote.

I only know of the two Harmony RF options, the 100 and the 890 mentioned above. I've searched high and low looking for a solid RF solution and the 890 seems to be about the best for the money. The remote looks good unlike the lower end models from URC and Pronto which seem to look kinda dated in my opinion.

I keep reading the rumors that the 890 is going to be replaced and bascially be an RF version of the Harmony One. I hope this happens soon.

 

[mod]

After reading more closely, the 890 includes the RF and I don't need to buy the extender separately. BB has it for $280 now.