IR distribution over Coax - HELP!  

I suspect this has been covered a few times, but the search function does not work on "IR" for this board.

Can someobody please help explain to me how the Xantech (or any brand, for that matter) IR/Coax products work? The huge array of products is extremely confusing, and none of the sites that sell the stuff seems to have a tutorial/FAQ.

I simply want to take an IR signal in from several rooms, and transmit them at one (or possibly two) locations, over a shared coax line.

I don't understand the "Connecting Block" - They tend to have IR inputs and IR outputs and seem very overkill for what I would like to do.

I would just like to buy several IR targets that transmits received IR over the coax, and then a IR receiver that transmits IR from what it received over the coax.

What specific products do I need? I'm not parital to any brand of product.

Thanks!

I ordered the discontinued Sony MRD-D1 which is supposedly the same as the ChannelPlus kit. I had planned on ordering this anyway since I need a modulator that can broadcast on something other than 3 or 4. I have an MTS encoder that works on 3 but I also want to broadcast my other DirecTiVo on a different channel.

I have a feeling that the IR capabilities of the box aren't going to work right for the way my house is set up (the ChannelPlus box wants you to connect TVs directly to the outputs rather than split the outputs). Of course, my DirecTiVo is not located at a "central location", so I still may need to go with the Xantech kit for the IR stuff. I could move it there I suppose, but then I'd lose S-Video quality. I'll just have to play around with it and find out.

Does anyone know if the Xantech IR bypass kit works with the IR output of the ChannelPlus boxes? It looks like they both use DC but I can't really find any information about the ChannelPlus IR transmission protocol.

Marvelous. The Xantech DC bypass kit DOES in fact work correctly with the Sony MRD-D1/ChannelPlus targets.

The quality of the MR-D1 is fantastic. So good that I actually took the DirecTiVo out of the bedroom and now it lives in the garage along with the modulator. This way I can use the built in amplifier as intended with the outputs going to the various rooms, rather than trying to transmit the RF back down the line and split it out.

At the moment I have two DirecTiVos. One is directly connected to the HT system, the other is shared in all the rooms (including the HT room).

Here's how it's hooked up. I have a stacked DBS signal going from the LNB to a stacker. From that stacker, I go into a diplexer. I then pipe in the output of the MR-D1 into the DC bypass kit. Then from the output of the DC byass to the ANT-IN of the diplexer. Then, on the output of the diplexer, I merge the IR/RF back in. This is necessary because the diplexer expects to pass DC on the SAT signal, not the ANT signal.

At the other end I reverse it. From the output, to another IR bypass kit, to the diplexer, from the ant, to the IR combiner, to the ChannelPlus kit, to the TV's ANT-in. I tried just connecting the ChannelPlus IR target to the incoming stacked SAT signal but it apparently can't pass those high frequencies.

I'm contemplating cracking open the diplexer to see if it can't be "re-wired" to pass the DC to the other side, that would eliminate all of the DC bypassing I've been having to do. Normally the DC is reserved for LNB selection in a sat system, but on a stacked signal, DC is not used, leaving it free for me to fool around with IR distribution.

I also picked up a ChannelPlus 5601 stereo modulator. I was skeptical that such a thing would function (it seems bizzare that it can add in a MTS signal to a mono modulator through the A/V cables). The dip switch settings for the Sony MR-D1 seem to be different than the 3025. The 3025 settings result in very poor stereo separation. The "D-series" setting works perfectly, though.

Thanks for the help guys, this stuff works great :)