Infra Red

[MrSpeed]

What is the best way or equipment to distribute infra red connectors trough the house to control tv's and stuff back in the media room?

 

[gatchel]

http://www.xantech.com/

 

[Dave X10]

I like [and use] the simple little IR re-sender units. I use the X10 brand as well as Phillips and Jensen brands. They work the same and talk to each other. I also use a [PC controlled] USB-UIRT which blasts its IR signal into one of the IR re-sender units so I can control IR devices by macro (without using a remote control). The re-sender units IR signal is strong enough that the unit can be placed on a shelf and control most devices across the room (makes rearranging furniture simpler).

Admittedly.... these aren't the cool built-in units. But they don't cost hardly anything and aren't hard to hide or work around.

 

[sic0048]

+1 on the Xantech systems. They offer such a huge amount of devices that you can generally find exactly what you need for the situation.

 

[aartech]

Channel Vision has some decent IR products available and Audioplex has both single and multi-zone IR product available, LCD/plasma friendly too.

 

[apostolakisl]

One of the threads in here speak of a little gizmo that replaces your batteries in the IR remote. It detects the infrared command via some very weak rf frequency that the remote makes while generating the ir signal and amplifies it sending to its mate which converts it back to IR. It is pretty slick becuase it hides away inside your IR remote.

Also, Harmony 890 is a nice RF remote that converts back to IR at the base station. That is how I run my equipment.

 

[twilo123]

for straight IR runs xantech is the best solution although you may still need to keep in mind how the IR passes back to the media room because of IR interference issues many times in the room where you are actually using the remote.

if you want to go wifi you can look at various IR products such as this example Bitwise IR Hardware. it is hardwired ethernet but you can just connect it to your local wifi router. also global cache has a straight wifi piece itach.

 

[mstarks01]

I have clipped the wires from the IR sensor and crimped on a CAT5 end to them, then sent them through the regular network for about 50 feet. It worked fine.

 

[sic0048]

I have clipped the wires from the IR sensor and crimped on a CAT5 end to them, then sent them through the regular network for about 50 feet. It worked fine.

Me too - took a regular cat5e patch cord and cut it in 1/2. This created two pigtails that I use at each end and I 0connect the IR receiver to one end- plug it into the cat5e network - and out from the patch panel in the basement where my IR blocks are located. My runs vary in distance - but might even be longer than 50'. Works just fine.