Trigger for Electric screen?

[rolyasm]

Setting up an electric screen. I know I need power.
What else do I need to wire so I can use the screen with a universal remote? Can I run some kind of a trigger from an amp or receiver? If so, can I run a generic wire and cap it with the correct plug after, or do I need to buy a 12 ft. trigger cord and run it, if they make such a thing. I know for my amp/pre I use a single/or stereo jack. Is it the same for Screens? Thanks.

 

[jcPanny]

Powered screen.

There are probably several ways to wire the screen, but here are a few ideas. You might be able to get a high end AC wall switch with IR input.
If the screen has a 12V DC input for control, you could connect it to an output from the projector, receiver, or other gear that will be powered on when the screen is in use.

My receiver didn't have a trigger output for use with my amp so I took a 12V wall wart from an old cell phone, connected a 1/4" jack on the end and plugged it into the switched output on the receiver.

 

[rolyasm]

The last parts sounds interesting, but confusing. Do you have any pics/diagrams of how you did that? I undertand the switched output, but from there, what was between that and your screen power plug? Thanks.

 

[BMXTRIX]

The most common way to trigger a screen is using the 12V output from your projector. If your projector doesn't have this, then you want to provide 12V to your screen some other way, OR - get a screen with an IR trigger for up and down.

If you are at stage zero, and have no receiver, no screen, no projector, etc. then you have an open blueprint to get whatever you want to take care of this.

What to do? Run a piece of CAT-5 wire between the rack location and the screen location and then get a screen which has the type of trigger you are interested in. IR controls are excellent because your universal remote can handle it easily. 12V is nice, but isn't much better/worse than IR.

To deliver 12V, you can use a transformer plugged into a switched outlet, or into your receiver, or into your cable box. You can use a 12V trigger output from your projector.

The ends of the 12V trigger are typically 1/8" mini mono plugs which you can put on yourself, or just clip off another product and wire nut it on.

http://www.radioshack.com/sm-1-8-mini-mono-phone-plug--pi-2103989.html

 

[rolyasm]

So just to be safe on a pre-wire, it sounds like it would be a good idea to run a cat 5 from your rack location and the screen, and another wire for the 12 v trigger from the screen to the projector or rack. What wire would you run for the 12v trigger? Thanks.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Cat-5. You can buy like 500 or 1000 feet of it for around 50 bucks. Then just make multiple runs of it. That stuff is incredibly versatile! Anytime I think I may want to control anything, anywhere, I throw a piece or two of CAT-5 into the mix. If I'm doing an installation, and want to protect a customer against something silly - like the Wii IR transmitter that goes under the display - then I just run a piece of CAT-5 when I run the center channel speaker cable. Give it to em for free, or for just a few bucks. Always a good plan!

Anything low voltage, such as 12v or 24v can be carried over Cat-5 without issue.

 

[rolyasm]

Okay, good. So then, final step. So the cat 5 is run and I need to put on the mono mini plug. Do I strip all the wires on the CAT5 and just twist them together, then insert and secure the tip? Thanks a ton.
Roly