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Remote Control of Distributed Video System

post #1 of 6
10/5/12 at 9:34pm
Thread Starter 
Hello,

We are just completing a new home build and I am stuck on the one final component of our Distributed Video portion. What I am looking for is a remote control system (RF or IR) which has the ability to control approximately 6 devices, two of which are identical. Does anyone have any suggestions as to which remotes to use for this?

We will be having 4 video zones so ideally I don't want to have to try and stick 4 separate IR transmitters on each of the devices. I will do this if needed however I'm assuming there has to be an easier way.

Just in case it helps, here is the setup I plan on using:
- All equipment located in utility room
- Audio zones controlled via Sonos amplifiers and through our iPhone/Android
- 4 HDMI Video zones
- 4x4 HDMI Matrix (Aten VM0404H)
- HDMI Extenders w/ IR pass through (Aten VE810)
- For the remotes I was looking at the Logitech Harmony One / 900 series. This I am very open to suggestions. It just needs to be easy to use for the family and I do not want to be forced to pay someone else to configure.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Where I am really stuck is a controller which will be able to manage the identical boxes (satellite receivers) without having to go to a home automation controller. I'm willing to listen to even some suggestions about some of the other components being used as well.

Thank you,
Shaun
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post #2 of 6
10/5/12 at 10:22pm
Which satellite receivers? DirecTV boxes have addressable remote IDs to deal with this... Other vendors may have similar selectable IR codesets.
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post #3 of 6
10/7/12 at 11:09am
I have a URC MX-850 with the RF base station. The programming software lets you designate which commands to send over each of the IR repeaters that come out of the IR base station. This way, you can send commands for satellite receiver 1 over IR repeater 1 only. The IR repeaters stick to the front of the device so even if they're in the same cabinet the command will only be received by the unit it was intended for.

If you like the URC products, check out Surf Remote Control. The owner Mike is very helpful and can probably help you pick out a good combo for what you need at a very reasonable price.
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post #4 of 6
10/7/12 at 6:24pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you both jautor & AutoEng!!

I have been looking at the URC equipment however a lot of the people selling it want us to go through the dealers to change the remotes. I will check in with the company you suggest.

As for the satellite receivers, this is yet to be determined however seeing as we are in Canada it will most likely be ShawDirect.

Thank you again to both of you! It is greatly appreciated!
Shaun
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post #5 of 6
10/7/12 at 6:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by s_long9 View Post

Thank you both jautor & AutoEng!!
I have been looking at the URC equipment however a lot of the people selling it want us to go through the dealers to change the remotes. I will check in with the company you suggest.
As for the satellite receivers, this is yet to be determined however seeing as we are in Canada it will most likely be ShawDirect.
Thank you again to both of you! It is greatly appreciated!
Shaun

(put your location in your profile, it helps with stuff like this...)

Check the manual(s) for whatever equipment ShawDirect uses to see if they have selectable IR code sets. That's by far the easiest way to solve it if your matrix doesn't support IR routing directly...

Jeff
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post #6 of 6
10/14/12 at 7:42pm
I'll again post my success in using the BOCS rf modulation system purely as a versatile RF remote controller. It's cheap ($99 base station + $50/remote) and simple. RF remotes have good range and for large houses there is a repeater available. The system is set up for 3 sources, but I think you can buy two base units and get control for 6 sources. I use mine (single base unit + 4 remotes) to control 3 sources + 4x4 Matrix Switch. Two of the sources are identical. The base unit has individual (weak) outputs for each of the 3 sources -- so the two identical sources are in a single cabinet. Both base unit and remotes can be taught IR codes and the remotes have some 'macro' capability. No LCD screen on the remotes means long battery life.

Actually the two 'identical' sources (TiVos) do have the capability to have separate codes -- but the base unit doesn't natively know anything except the 'common' code. I suppose I could 'teach' the base station separate codes for the two devices, but with the individual outputs there is no need.
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