Direct TV RF to IR blaster

This is actually a very good question. I would have said no several months ago, but the new acoustic research xsight touch remote uses exactly the same frequency as directv rf. They even sell a base and blaster. I'm not certain, but my guess is the D* remote would probably work with the a.r. base and blasters. I think best buy sells them. The only catch is they're about 3 times the price of a next generation rf system.

EDIT: HERE it is at best buy.

The remote has to send RF signals to the basestation for it to change into IR, and the only RF signals coming out of the Directv RF remotes are for SAT receivers. All other types of gear programmed into the Directv remote are strictly IR.

How do you know this for certain? I don't think UEI would go to the trouble to send only D* RF. They would have to filter specific device codes. I just don't see them doing that. I bet it sends everything RF.

Edmund has it exactly right. To control multiple devices from different manufacturers would require them all to collectively sign on to an industry standard for RF contrl signals... there is no such standard.

The real problem with creating a remote that will send RF control signals to control multiple devices is that there is not a standard for RF control of devices. (There are a few manufacturers that have created an RF control standard for their own equipments... D* and E* are good examples. Blue tooth and Z-wave are also standards that exist within the RF regime. )

There are some remotes that can xmit both IR and also RF, but the RF is a proprietary control database that is unique to thaqt manufacturer's remotes.

A good example of this is some of the Logitech Harmony remotes. The Harmony remotes that are RF capable send an RF control signal to a remote Wireless RF Extender. This RF extender can be co-located in your A/V cabinet with your BD Player, your A/V Recvr, your PS3, X-box 360, etc.

The RF extender will receive RF signals from the remote and convert them to IR control signals for any IR devices in the cabinet. Again, the RF signal is proprietary to Logitech and will not directly control any other devices.

(Some Harmony RF capable remotes can also directly control Z-wave devices via that proprietary system. MY Harmony 890 PRO is a good example.)

GOTO: http://www.zwaveproducts.com/

Notice a "free" Z-wave lamp module when you purchase your 890. (I got two of them for the cost of shipping. )

I'm sure you can find your choice of Z-wave devices.

With the 890 you can create "scenes" IIRC. You can control lights or screens, etc, at the start of any activity.

For example, when I push the button to "Watch Blur-ray Disc" the following happens:
1) TV turns On if not already On
2) TV goes to appropriate video input
3) Play Station 3 turns On if not already ON
4) My A/V receiver turns On if not already On
5) My A/V Receiver goes to the appropriate audio input for the PS3
6) Unused devices turn Off (Wii, X-box 360, not my Sat Receiver which I never turn Off.)
7) My two lamps turn Off

You could have lights go On and/or OFF and could have a screen come down, or whatever.

I understand what you're saying. But the difference here is that it appears that AR uses D* proprietary RF for communicating with both D* devices and it's own base. Hence D* remotes could possibly function with the AR base since they all use exactly the same RF protocol. Edmund is saying the D* remotes only send RF for D* commands. I'm speculating the D* remote may send RF for all commands. I'm hoping someone can prove whether or not RF signals come from a D* remote when non-D* commands are sent.

All you have to do is read the D* manual. I Have E* receivers - a 622 and a 722k. Their remotes transmit RF only for the control of the receivers.

Sony, Pioneer, etc do not subscribe to a standard for RF control because no such standard exists.

Can you support this statement? Being in the same FCC approved frequency band is not the same as having the same (proprietary) control methodology.

"But the big improvement over the Harmony is the inclusion of built-in RF capability; add the $100 RF Extender Kit, and you can operate components outside your line of sight (such as those in a closed cabinet, or even in another room." http://reviews.cnet.com/remote-contr...-33488043.html
This exactly the scheme used by the RF capable remotes.

Neither the xsight remote nor the Harmony remote can communicate directly with neither the D* nor E* receivers.
EDIT: I stand partially corrected. Apparently the proprietary D* RF is not so proprietary.

I stand corrected and I edited my post above.

Several confirmations in THIS huge thread in the DBSTalk forum. We followed this for a long time. I was very skeptical as well. But it's true. Xsight works with native D* RF without a base. The reason xsight can use the same proprietary RF as D* is because UEI makes both xsight and D* remotes and apparently worked something out with them. I agree this is a unique situation, hence all my speculation. There is a possibility the xsight has 2 RF transmitters, one for D* and one for it's base, but I think this is unlikely. If all goes well, I'm gonna swing by best buy on the way home and pick up one of these puppies and try it myself.

This is an interesting discussion (to me anyway), but getting back to the ultimate OP's ultimate goal, the D* remote is really the last remote in the world you'd want to turn into a universal that does it all. It's so limited, it's not worth wasting any time on. It can't learn, you can redefine any keys, and it won't do macros besides the canned master on/off. There's zero expandability or programmability you'd find in any other universal, even ones costing less. I have $8 remotes more capable than the D* remote that I control my whole system (including lights) with today. My much more expensive harmony is more family friendly though, so it gets used most of the time.

The problem is the only possibly compatible base (which I hope to verify soon) costs $100. You could slap a next gen RF transmitter in the D* remote for $30 and keep D* RF as is and add RF to all your other devices. If there were a cheaper way to utilize D* RF with other stuff, I'd be right there with you.

The xsight actually handles discrete off just fine. As long as all your devices have them (I know D*, sony, panasonic, jvc, denon and many others do), they'll be in the UEI database. It's TOADs that are the problem, like samsung, some toshiba and a few others. I have an xsight myself, but not the RF version. That being said, it has other negatives, making the harmony better overall, IMO.

With Directv remote, whose directv device is set to RF mode, pressing any sat key lights up basestation for the UEI RF universal remote, like the one incuded with urc-9910. On the Directv remote when you switch it to AV1, AV2 or TV set non Directv equipment, and press a key the UEI basestation is dark, no reaction.

Thanks, Edmund. That's exactly the sort of info I was looking for. So, even if the D* remote could talk to the AR base, it would only work with D* signals.