[sacman11]

Hi,


I have been reading on this forum for some time and have not been able to get a simple answer to a setup similar to mine. I appologize if this has been answered a million times, but for a newbie starting with a fresh question and getting a direct answer seems to be the easiest approach right now.


I have the following setup -


Home Theater in the basement. Projector, AV Reciever, PS3 Bluray, 5.1 surronds, 4 Light zones, 2 audio zones.


I would like to add dimmable switches for lighting and a universal remote which can control everything from my couch. The AV equipment and Lighting switches will need to be controlled via RF or a control system since IR is not an option. I have the light switches pre-wired with 14-2 and Cat5e.


Any simple recommendations to be able to control the lights and AV equipment without IR options.


Really am looking for a Dimmer Switch which I can control with a RF universal remote, as well as hit a single Theater button which dims down lights, turns on Projector, PS3, and prevolume on the AV reciever.


Any suggestions?


Thanks

 

[brandonnash]

Try looking at some of the harmony remotes and the universal remote controls (urc). Also depends on your budget.

 

[39CentStamp]



Quote:
Originally Posted by sacman11 /forum/post/16948262


Hi,


Home Theater in the basement. Projector, AV Reciever, PS3 Bluray, 5.1 surronds, 4 Light zones, 2 audio zones.


I would like to add dimmable switches for lighting and a universal remote which can control everything from my couch. The AV equipment and Lighting switches will need to be controlled via RF or a control system since IR is not an option. I have the light switches pre-wired with 14-2 and Cat5e.


Any simple recommendations to be able to control the lights and AV equipment without IR options.


Really am looking for a Dimmer Switch which I can control with a RF universal remote, as well as hit a single Theater button which dims down lights, turns on Projector, PS3, and prevolume on the AV reciever.


Any suggestions?


Thanks

Universal Remote Control -w- compatible lutron, native lighting. RF communcation with a base station will give you IR control over all your devices. You have soft keys that can be labeled to represent any 'single touch' macro buttons you want.


If your sources have discrete IR commands you can have buttons on the home page called "PS3" "DIRECTV". When those buttons are pressed these commands will be sent.


Projector ON

AV Receiver ON

SOURCE ON

LIGHTS OFF


I am not aware of a AV receiver that will set a specific volume via IR. Plus you already have it so theres even less of a chance yours will do this. If your receiver has an RS-232 jack for serial control on it you might be able to set a startup volume. The 'base station' will be more expensive to add this feature.

http://universalremote.com/product_detail.php?model=157

 

[sacman11]

"RF communcation with a base station will give you IR control over all your devices"


Can you please clarify how this will work. My light switches are located outside of my home theater room and cannot be opperated via IR because of their location. Pointing an IR remote toward the the light switches or an RF repeator is not an option given the location of seating and light switches.


I need an RF remote that will essenitially be used in the theater room that will communicate with light switches in another room, with no direct point of view.


IDEAS?


Thanks

 

[39CentStamp]

First thing is that most of the remotes can do IR but you will want to disable that and use RF only. That means you never have to point the remote at anything. It will work the same if you bury it in the sofa cushion and press buttons vs pointing it at the TV. The remote sends commands via RF to the base station. The base station relays IR to the devices.


Your switches would need to be replaced with the ones i linked to. The new switches will communicate with a URC remote via RF meaning you dont need any wires and you dont need line of sight.


Distance may be an issue. I assumed that these switches were in or very close to the theater because you said you wanted to control them from the couch. I pictured a basement theater with stairs and a sitting area that had other lighting. Or a open floor plan family room where the kitchen and dining room are all part of one large room. Please describe your scenario in more detail. How many feet between the sofa and the furthest light? Same floor? Sepereate building like a garage?


The part you quoted from my response about controlling your devices.. I meant your Blu-ray player, your satellite or cable box, your TV etc.


So for the lights its totally wireless as the remote communicates directly with the switch. For the consumer elecronic devices the remote communicates wirelessly via RF (radio frequency) to a base station that receives the information then converts it to IR (infrared) to the cable boxes, BD players etc.

 

[Neurorad]

Stamp, can some IR switches be controlled by wire (IR extender system)?


That is, can an IR receiver, positioned at the front of the HT, be hardwired to an IR-controllable switch?

 

[AceCannon]

I am in the process of doing something similar. I don't know if you would consider this "simple" as you requested, but I considered this the most cost-effective option.


CQC: software to control my components via rs232 or IR


USB UIRT: CQC will use this to control my IR-only devices. For your projector, you may need an IR emitter to the projector location if it isn't serial-controllable.


lighting: ALC (cat5e). CQC will control the ALC switches directly via the ALC controller, or more likely via my Elk M1G. (I've already got 15 or so ALC switches installed and couldn't be happier)


Interface: I plan a Samsung Q1 Ultra to interact with CQC via WiFi.

 

[39CentStamp]

I dont know of any wired IR switches but i assume you could take an IR switch and put an emitter on it (using the cables he prewired). Not sure how this will look or whether or not it would be legal.

 

[Neurorad]

I was just too busy (lazy) yesterday to look up the specs on the Lutron Spacer system. I googled, found specs, and no mention of an IR jack.


You could run an emitter/blaster to the back of the in-wall Spacer switch (located anywhere), from the receiver at the front of the HT.


I searched and found an old thread detailing this on RC.com .


Of course, mixing LV and 110 in a box is a no-no, unless proper precautions are taken.

 

[sacman11]

First I would like to thank everyone for offering some advice.


Let me clarify my setup:


Home Theater setup in the basement:


Panasonic AE3000 Projector

120" Stewart Film Screen

Onkyo TX-SR806B Reciever

PS3 - Bluray

Bell ExpressVu HD PVR

Focal Speakers

Velodine Sub


No dedicated remote for the system yet. I am looking to add a RF remote to control all of these devices which will be stored outof site in a cabinet at the back of the Theater area.


The Home Theater area is not a dedicated area and is open on one side to the rest of the Basement. Part of the Basement is an entertainment area with Dart board and Bar.


I would like to be able to control all of my devices, and my lighting with an integrated RF Remote. I would like to be able to press a button on the remote and have the lights in the entire basement either dim, or go off and the Projector turn on, PS3 goto Bluray, etc, and ready to watch a movie. Then is movie is paused... lights dim on ... un pause and lights go off.


I have three main light areas (zones) on 4 switches:


1. Entertaiment / Play area (1 Switch) - 9 -50 watt halogen lights

2. Bar - 1 Switch - 5 50 Watt Halogen lights

3. Home Theater Area - 2 Swithes - 4 Sconets on Wall - 12 - 50 watt halogens.


All I really need is 4 RF controllable light switches that can communicate in a way where I can use my universal remote (yet to be purchased) to setup scenes, pause movie, lights on lights off, dim, etc....


I have read about CQC, Z-Wave, Insteon, etc and am wondering how much I really need. Can I get a way with a good universal remote and some Leviton RF Dimmer switches for this type of setup, or should I go the PC Software route with Z-wave and CQC...


Can someone give me a Z-wave solution (ie. What Z-wave products I would have to buy to get what I need)


Or someother integrated product which has swithes, remotes, software, etc.


I have a spare computer I could use to control this system...


Please make some suggestions, as well as what Hardware I would buy.


Thanks

 

[39CentStamp]

As long as your basement isn't to large i stand by the URC suggestion. Also you will need a 3rd part device for controlling the PS3. This link takes you to some of your options. http://www.remotecentral.com/reviews...dup/index.html


One thing i noticed about your last post..

Quote:
Then is movie is paused... lights dim on ... un pause and lights go off.

There really isnt a way to do this reliably with the play and pause buttons. What you will need to do is create a button like "intermission" and "resume". When intermission is pressed it would Raise the lights and pause the movie. When resume is pressed it would lower the lights and play the movie.


The light dimming commands will be easy to deal with but the play pause commands may give you some trouble. Some pause buttons are a toggle meaning they will pause or un pause. un pause is the same as play so if your Intermission macro's PAUSE command gets out of sync because of an IR misfire you will be raising the lights and the movie is still playing. If you hit intermission again it should then pause it so its not the end of the world but it could be annoying when you dont expect it.

 

[rgiron]

I would recommend control4. You can start off with a controller and add lighting loads as you go if you are on a tight budget. This will give the control you want with creating scenes during intermissions, when you hit play and such. Another nice thing about control4 is you don't need to run any wires to your switches or dimmers as it works on a mesh network and just becomes stronger as you add more devices. Control4 is a great product if implemented and designed correctly and in my opinion is designed really to shine with set-ups similar to yours. good luck.