any IR only over CAT6 adapters?

I just ran CAT6 to use with USB but then my extra HTPC died and I want to use an extender, that doesnt have USB.... so i would like to use the existing cat6 to extend IR...

i feel like this should be easy.....

It is easy . You don't need any adapters, since IR can easily travel natively over Cat 5/6, so you probably won't find any. You can just splice whatever IR wire you have right to the Cat 6. If you want a wall plate there are wall plates with IR jacks that you can terminate the Cat 6 to.

okay, so just cut the end off take any 2 wires and attach them to an IR extender kit

You got it! I would use the same color pair in the cable such as blue & blue/white, as opposed to one color of one pair and another from a different pair.

Could you give an example of an IR extender kit where this could be done to? I'm currently running IR over coax with a channel plus modulator; however i want to dump that solution for HDMI over CAT6 and I'd like to do the simplest IR extension possible. The current coax IR extension is nice since all I need is one 5v power supply for the whole shebang...

You are using a system which injects IR onto the coax, which is also carrying a broadband signal. If you are simply trying to get IR from point A to point B via Cat 5, you would simple use a wired IR repeater system. They are made by Xantech, Niles, Audioplex and others. They are usually going to consist of a receiver for the room and, and a connecting block and emitters for the equipment location. They are usually sold as individual parts though some are sold as kits.

Actually my coax run is completely internal for these TVs, only thing on it is channel 14 which is the modulated channel of my Tivo S3. Once I go to distributing my HDMI I was trying to see if it would make sense to just shutdown the coax w/the IR or move to something else; but it seems like those solutions would just require more wires and money, may be best to leave my current IR system in place, even if I'm not using the modulator.

I have used the Channel Vision setup a lot, and it works great. it needs 3 conductors, however I normally twist two wires together to get a better contact, so I use 3 pairs. I think the part numbers are:
IR Receiver - Channel Vision IR-2005
IR Controller - Channel Vision IR-1203
IR Emitter - Channel Vision IR-3002

There are many versions out there, but this has worked very well for me and very easy to set up. The receiver is a decor insert into a single gang box. you can get differnt receivers to attach to the side of a tv, etc.

That single modulated signal is still broadband and the IR is still injected onto the cable, so my statement stands.

Agreed, if the current IR repeating is working fine for you I can't imagine why you'd bother changing, it's not like you'd receive any benefits to moving IR to cat 5.

I understand that it has been awhile since anyone posted to this thread but I am looking for a few answers. I am curious exactly how IR runs natively over CAT6. I have a receiving "eye" with a 3.5 mm plug and I have a transmitting eye also with a 3.5 mm that are left over from a different setup of mine. Are you saying that I can just cut the plugs off of each and solder the wires to a pair of wires (lets say the blue pair) on each end of the CAT6 cable? I have to go about 75 ft, is that too far? I would really appreciate any help I can get.

I think I replied to the wrong post. Oops. Tying again...

I understand that it has been awhile since anyone posted to this thread but I am looking for a few answers. I am curious exactly how IR runs natively over CAT6. I have a receiving "eye" with a 3.5 mm plug and I have a transmitting eye also with a 3.5 mm that are left over from a different setup of mine. Are you saying that I can just cut the plugs off of each and solder the wires to a pair of wires (lets say the blue pair) on each end of the CAT6 cable? I have to go about 75 ft, is that too far? I would really appreciate any help I can get.

Probably. 75' is pretty far, but I think I've done that in the past. You can't just connect those two with wire. You need power for the receiver (eye). So you'll need a connecting block with power supply on the eye end. And instead of cutting the ends on, I'd solder (or crimp or punch down) mini-pin jacks to the ends of the cat6 and plug in the emitter and receiver into that. Xantech makes all the parts you need.

Exactly

You sure? Where's the power for the emitter going to come from? Every setup I've ever done for IR retransmission has a power supply in it.

It comes from the device sending the IR.
In my case a Control4 HC250. But it could be a Logitech harmony or something else.

Photo below of IR spliced into CAT5.

Attached Thumbnails

 

Oh, sure. But it sure sounded like the OP (for the resurrection of this thread) intended to connect the eye to the emitter via Cat6 with nothing in between. The eye will not generate enough current by itself to activate the emitter. It needs an amp in the connecting block. Or some other control device that's both sending and receiving. Like your HC250.

Thank you both very much for the information. First, a brief overview of my setup, TV is in the living room and all components are in the office about 75 feet away (might even be shorter). So, just to make sure I understand... I should buy a Dual Band IR Repeater, place the receiving eye next to my TV, plug the receiving eye into a punch-down keystone (like this one?) that is hooked up to a pair of wires in the cat6 cable, add a male 3.5mm connection to the other end of the Cat6 on same two pairs, plug Cat6 into receiver unit, and then the IR signals will be transmitted out of the transmitter "eyes". Is that correct? Or does the receiver unit (the box with the power) need to be on the TV side of the CAT6 cable? How would I go about adding a male 3.5mm end (if it is correct that I need to)? Thanks again for your help. This is a great forum!

Note: It won't let me post links until I have more than 5. I am going to post a few short messages in order to get to 5. Hope that isn't bad form, I am pretty new to forums.

One other question, could I use a 75ft 3.5mm stereo cable instead of the cat6 that I talked about in a prior post or does the fact that it is stereo mess it up?

I need one more post to be able to use links.

Here is the Dual Band IR Repeater that I was referring to and here is the push pin keystone jack that I was referring to.

I think putting the connecting block at the emitter (equipment) end will work. That's certainly the logical place for it. I'd lay it all out and test it before doing anything permanent.

A stereo minipin cable should also work. Probably more expensive than the Cat6, but by the time you get the patch cord from the wall to the connecting block, plus the keystone jacks, might be a wash. If you use the Cat 6, you'll only be using 1 of the four pair, so you might still be able to repurpose the rest of the wires for something else.

Thank you very much! I will give it a shot.

To clarify, since so many of the preceding posts over complicated things, an IR receiver can be extended using 3 conductors of a Category cable. An IR emitter can be extended using two conductors of a Category cable.

FWIW I have successfully extended a Control4 IR emitter over 320 feet using Cat5. I believe in that case I did double up conductors.

As was pointed out in a couple of other posts, I need to correct this slightly. Extending the emitter from the connecting block is only two wires. Extending the receiver (eye) is three wires, because the receiver needs power. But a stereo mini-pin cable will still work, since that's three conductors. And that's the connector that's commonly on the IR receivers anyway.

Just to verify, yes you can do this option. I've done both over cat 5e and a long 3.5mm cable, and both work fine. The 3.5mm cable is a bit cleaner. I used this 75' cable FYI, with the same Monoprice IR repeater you linked to.

Matt

Is there any way to tell which IR receivers are most likely to have a strong enough signal to extend?

I'm based in the UK which looks to mean no Monoprice options or Channel Vision (which were mentioned here!). And, unless I've misunderstood, it looks like the Harmony systems do way more than I need... unless I can justify it due to faster performance? (Some reviews of repeaters said they were slow, to the point of it being frustration using them)

(note: I mention the Harmony as another post (avsforum.com/forum/93-remote-control-area/1734177-extending-harmony-ir-mini-blasters.html) said they had great success extending it long distances)

I get the feeling the in-line types (amazon.co.uk/Neoteck-Repeater-Infrared-Amplifier-Satellite/dp/B01HAV9JCQ) would likely not support extending.

One I looked at was a Neoteck IR Repeater (amazon.co.uk/Neoteck-Repeater-Receiver-Emitters-Installation/dp/B07CV9M918). One review on Amazon said extending didn't work, but that they'd used a cheap cable (and no guarantee they were extending the emitter, or didn't have another issue, or whatever... but it's the best I have to go on).

I will obviously test any setup before putting it in, but would like to save buying too many of these things just to find out they don't work!

Questions:

1) How do I make a best guess at which repeater will support extending 15m (50ft)?

2) What's needed for a Harmony setup? Is it just Harmony hub and use existing remotes, or (as I suspect), a Harmony remote for each room, and hub?


Additional info on my setup:

I have a TV in the living room with Satellite box. I would like to be able to watch content from that box in two other rooms; the master bedroom (~15m away) and the cinema room (~12m away). I plan to run HDMI cables direct to each. I have existing CAT6 cabling that goes to a patch panel in the kitchen, but plan to run direct cables for extending the IR (as it will be a shorter distance, and I might as well as I have to route the HDMI the same way anyway). I will probably use a ready made 3.5mm jack (or whatever size they are) cable to extend.

I wouldn't have bumped a 4 year old thread to ask this question that's unrelated to the original post.

But, Xantech is one of the professional go-to products for IR repeaters. This isn't 'extension'. This is a repeater system where you put an IR receiver at your display location and then you put individual IR emitters on all the devices at your equipment location. Then, you use any remote and point it at the IR repeater system and it will take the IR and send it over to your equipment location.

I haven't used one in a while, but the last one I used was a Xantech in my home.

For a client, I think I just bought a cheap set off of Amazon.

If the system uses external power and a connecting block, it likely will work at 50' just fine. But, yes, you need to use a proper cable between the devices, which may be a stereo mini extension cable, but it may require the cable to be cut and spliced into a piece of cat-5e cable to work nicely.

I've done this in the past with similar kits. Just taken the IR receiver, cut the cable (which has 3 wires in it) and spliced those 3-wires onto cat-5e at both ends. Worked just fine.

And if one really did want IP to IR....that's what Global Cache products do. IP2IR device.

+1,except you don't need any 'proper' extension cable - the cat cable works fine

'external power' is the key here

I love these Wago connectors for splicing low voltage - speaker cables, IR, anything - idiot proof; not as good as solder and heat-shrinked, but close

Speaking of the best way to splice cables...

https://makezine.com/2012/02/28/how-...asa-standards/

It's the Western Union/Lineman's splice. Cover it with heat shrink, and it will last forever.

Takes a few minutes, so not often used by the pro installers. They will usually use a proper crimp (with a properly sized compression tool).

The Wago connectors are great if you have access to the splice, that is, not buried behind drywall. It's not as good as a proper solder connection (Lineman's splice plus solder), but this is AV, not mission-critical NASA stuff.

For larger gauge stranded conductors, the 'tinning' of the wires is tough, makes them hard to work with after. I don't often splice large gauge conductors.