Universal Remote to Projector

[SMM]

I have a MX-850 with and MFR-300 and plan to program it to control all of my components which are located in a closet along with the projector which is on the ceiling. The MFR-300 will handle the components in the closet, my question is how to handle the projector which has the IR receiver on the front and its sitting in front of my seats. To use it I'd have to stand up and face the projector so I get line of site for the IR. How can I control the projector from my seat?

 

[Tom Andry]

Sometimes you can bounce the ir off the screen. You'd have to try it to be sure.

 

[MDS]

The base station also allows you to connect emitters to the back. If the projector is on the ceiling it might be tricky to run an emitter up the wall so it is in close proximity to the IR eye on the projector but it can probably be done. If you can at least get it near, then as Tom said, you could try to bounce it off something else. The emitters on the MX series remotes and RF base station are very powerful so you might not even have to get that close to the projector.

 

[BMXTRIX]

If you can run another wire to the projector, you can run the IR straight from the RF receiver to the projector using a regular piece of cat-5 or some other cable with at least 2 conductors (like security wire).

I ran cat-5 to my projector as a standard part of my install and recommend others do the same just for this reason.

Otherwise, IR tends to bounce very VERY well off of screens and should work fine with you pointing the remote at the screen and bouncing it. Unfortunately, you lose the cool 'non-directional' ability that RF gives you.

 

[SMM]

Fortunately I have a conduit from the projector back to the equipment closet so I should be able to snake another wire in there. What is the practical distance that the wire can be run? I have to go approx. 40 feet.

Some of my components clearly mark the IR receiver on the front display, others don't. How do I determine where to mount the IR Flasher on those that don't identify the IR receiver?

 

[Audioholics]

Just get another MRF-250 and put it at the front of the room. Use the built in IR blaster to beam it to the projector from the front of the room. Set it to a different address so it's not firing off when your other gear is.

 

[brown123]

I second the suggestion to see if the signal will reflect off the screen and reach the projector. I have a similar setup with all equipment in a media closet with IR receiver/emitters, with the projector mounted high on the rear wall with no IR emitter, and my Harmony 880 works fine with the projector reacting to signals reflected from the screen.

John

 

[SMM]

Just get another MRF-250 and put it at the front of the room. Use the built in IR blaster to beam it to the projector from the front of the room. Set it to a different adress so it's not firing off when your other gear is.

I think running the cable from the existing MRF-300 to the projector will be the easier (and less expensive) approach. I'll try it and see how it works

 

[BMXTRIX]

Fortunately I have a conduit from the projector back to the equipment closet so I should be able to snake another wire in there. What is the practical distance that the wire can be run? I have to go approx. 40 feet.

Some of my components clearly mark the IR receiver on the front display, others don't. How do I determine where to mount the IR Flasher on those that don't identify the IR receiver?

I don't know what the practical limitation is with the electrical signal for IR. Since the flashers literally are little IR lightbulbs, it is an electrical current, so it depends on the wire in use. Over CAT-5 I have run it well over 100 feet without issues.

For finding an IR location on a piece of gear, use a small flashlight, like a pen light or something similar and put it on the black face of the gear. It can be hard to see, but typically in the 'clean' face behind the black, you will light up an IR receiver which is typically a small round object that looks similar to an LED light. Only, it is black most often. Sometimes you make mistakes and it IS a LED - so some testing and playing with it may be in order. When testing for IR receiver location, I often will program a remote with just the power toggle for that device and move the IR emitter around while pressing the button until I find the exact location to put the IR bug onto.

More often, I don't like IR emitters on the front of my gear, so I open up the piece of gear, find the IR emitter inside of it, and tape/glue the emitter and wire inside the device (DVD, VCR, cable box, etc.) and then put the case back on. With just the wire coming out the back, it keeps it clean and you don't mistakenly knock an emitter off - or have a friend 'pull' it off when they shouldn't.