Separate room/closet for A/V equipment

[Riff Magnum]

I see most people who use projectors have a separate room for all the av equipment. Now this might be the stupidest question ever, but can the signal from a remote find it's way through drywall to the location of the receivers?

[My_Two_Cents]

You'll need an RF remote or RF to IR repeater.

[Riff Magnum]

Can you spell it out a little more for a poor illiterate soul?

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by Riff Magnum

Can you spell it out a little more for a poor illiterate soul?

Sorry. Your typical devices are operated by infrared (IR signals), which require the remote to physically see the device in order for the signal to be received. Radio frequency (RF) remotes broadcast codes on a radio frequency, which can travel through walls to a receiver. The last time I had DirecTV, my box came with an RF remote. It was nice because you don't have to point it at the device in order for it to work. Anyway, they make RF to IR repeaters that allow you to use an RF remote to control your IR devices. You send an RF signal to a base unit that is placed in sight of your equipment. This unit recieves the RF signal, converts it to IR and beams it at your equipment.

[Riff Magnum]

Perfect. Thanks for humoring me.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

Sorry. Your typical devices are operated by infrared (IR signals), which require the remote to physically see the device in order for the signal to be received. Radio frequency (RF) remotes broadcast codes on a radio frequency, which can travel through walls to a receiver. The last time I had DirecTV, my box came with an RF remote. It was nice because you don't have to point it at the device in order for it to work. Anyway, they make RF to IR repeaters that allow you to use an RF remote to control your IR devices. You send an RF signal to a base unit that is placed in sight of your equipment. This unit recieves the RF signal, converts it to IR and beams it at your equipment.

Another option is an IR "sensor", that is mounted somewhere in your room that will simply "pass along" the IR commands to the equipment in the other room.

RF is the better way to go though IMO.

[TVguy86]

[QUOTE=Woody;1164262]Another option is an IR "sensor", that is mounted somewhere in your room that will simply "pass along" the IR commands to the equipment in the other room.

Its basically the size of a light switch on the wall. You just point your IR remote at it and it sends the ir signal to the av components. The only bad this is you need to run wires. Not a big deal if access to the area is easy but if you would have to rip apart the house not so good.

[Cossa]

Originally Posted by Woody

RF is the better way to go though IMO.

Can you elaborate on why you think RF is better?

I currently have an RF extender set-up with a Harmony 1000. I am not happy with the Harmony 1000 for various personal reasons. The selection of universal remotes that supports RF is limited. I was thinking about switching to an IR sensor/repeater type of setup, so that I could take advantage of traditional (IR-based) universal remotes. Namely the Harmony One.

However, I'm curious if this is a good approach, or if there are some limitations to using an IR repeater versus and RF extender.

Thanks for any feedback! Sorry to thread-jack.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by Cossa

Can you elaborate on why you think RF is better?

I currently have an RF extender set-up with a Harmony 1000. I am not happy with the Harmony 1000 for various personal reasons. The selection of universal remotes that supports RF is limited. I was thinking about switching to an IR sensor/repeater type of setup, so that I could take advantage of traditional (IR-based) universal remotes. Namely the Harmony One.

However, I'm curious if this is a good approach, or if there are some limitations to using an IR repeater versus and RF extender.

Thanks for any feedback! Sorry to thread-jack.

Excellent question.

There are 4 reasons for my preference, but they are mostly academic.

1. No Wires to run (as an above poster said)
2. No sensor to look at (again, it is not huge or ugly, just personal)
3. You don't have to "aim" the remote anywhere in particular
4. More customizable (could be irrelevant depending on your system)

As you have found, when you go RF, you are only as good as your chosen remote system. And it gets expensive.

RTI and URC have excellent RF solutions, but they get pricey for sure.

If you have the facility to run the wire, IR is still a solid solution. And you are not as "tied" to the remote system itself.