[mxpxillini35]

Ok, so I'm have a large closet that will be housing all of my tech and av equipment. I bought a harmony with the hub to control via rf. Everything's working fine, but once I move everything into the closet (hub incliuded) I won't be able to control the TV. I bought a keystone ir target off of Amazon thinking I would have the ir blaster connected to the hub hit the target, then via cat5 send the signal to the 3.5mm jack keystone behind the TV. Then I would plug in an ir emitter from the Jack to the TV.

I hooked it up today and tested it on a blu ray player, but it didn't seem to work. Not sure if I have the wiring incorrect (just used the same colors on the +/-) or if my logic is flawed.

Can anyone provide me some assistance with this? This is the last piece of the puzzle before I can move everything into the room.


Sent from my Nexus 6

 

[rekbones]

Not sure what harmony you have but to the best of my knowledge they all can output IR just for your TV. In the setup menu for the TV set it for IR instead of RF to the hub. That's how my 890's and 900 are setup. The Harmony Home can also but its not as obvious in the setup.

 

[mxpxillini35]

I forgot to include that, my remote doesn't have an ir output, so that's not an option...

Sent from my Nexus 6

 

[mxpxillini35]

Just double checked and it's the logitech harmony smart remote with hub.

Sent from my Nexus 6

 

[mdavej]

I'm not familiar with that particular system, but sounds like you're missing a power source somewhere.

 

[rekbones]

Yes the Harmony Smart has no IR. If you are able to run a cable I would just cut and splice in a length of cable to the mini blaster, very easy to do.

 

[mxpxillini35]

Apparently I need to have 5 posts to post links...so here's one...

 

[mxpxillini35]

Here's the 5th...

 

[mxpxillini35]

Yes the Harmony Smart has no IR. If you are able to run a cable I would just cut and splice in a length of cable to the mini blaster, very easy to do.

I bought these:

IR Target to connect to a cat5 cable behind it, then that runs to behind the TV where I put this keystone in.

Then I run a standard emitter from that to in front of the TV.

Will this work? Am I missing a power source of some kind for the target (like mentioned above)?

If I use a simple jack keystone in both places will that work better?

Also, I noticed that the target I bought is a 3 conductor (ground, +, -) and the 3.5mm jack is a 2 conductor (missing the ground). Is that a problem?

Thanks for all of the assistance everyone!

-Fred

 

[mdavej]

I can't find any instructions or wiring diagrams for those. But I can tell you that it's impossible for an IR receiver diode or IR LED to function without any power source. My best guess is that +/- is for 12VDC power and S is for the signal output from the receiver. Normally with a system like that you get some sort of kit with a power supply and other blasters.

You don't need a receiver anyway. All you need is essentially to relocate one of the blasters from the hub and extend it with the wire of your choice (cat5, 2 conductor, whatever). To use the keystone, you need a power supply for the receiver and sender. I think you bought the wrong jack for the other end anyway if you want it to work with the receiver.

 

[rekbones]

The blasters should be using just 2 wires (anode and cathode ). The 3 wire ones are for stereo Left right and ground. That's the way all the older harmony mini blasters are can't vouch for the new ones.

 

[mxpxillini35]

I can't find any instructions or wiring diagrams for those. But I can tell you that it's impossible for an IR receiver diode or IR LED to function without any power source. My best guess is that +/- is for 12VDC power and S is for the signal output from the receiver. Normally with a system like that you get some sort of kit with a power supply and other blasters.

You don't need a receiver anyway. All you need is essentially to relocate one of the blasters from the hub and extend it with the wire of your choice (cat5, 2 conductor, whatever). To use the keystone, you need a power supply for the receiver and sender. I think you bought the wrong jack for the other end anyway if you want it to work with the receiver.

If I use these will these work?

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=104&cp_id=10426&cs_id=1042608&p_id=6576&seq=1&format=2

So I would connect the harmony hub to one keystone in the wall (using a 2.5 to 3.5mm adapter as I understand), then find a long 3.5mm audio cable into the other keystone behind the TV, then plug in an emitter to that keystone and run it to the TV?

 

[mdavej]

Anything like that should work fine. All you're essentially doing is making a longer wire. Plugs and wires can be whatever you're comfortable making, provided they have the correct number of conductors. I personally don't know exactly what Harmony uses (mono or stereo).

 

[mxpxillini35]

Anything like that should work fine. All you're essentially doing is making a longer wire. Plugs and wires can be whatever you're comfortable making, provided they have the correct number of conductors. I personally don't know exactly what Harmony uses (mono or stereo).

Is stereo going to be backwards compatible with mono? Or does it have to be one or the other?

 

[mdavej]

Is stereo going to be backwards compatible with mono? Or does it have to be one or the other?

The safest approach is whatever kind of jack the hub uses is what you need to continue to use. If stereo, keep using stereo (3 wire), if mono, then use mono (2 wire). It's hard to tell if it will be backward compatible because you don't know if the contact in the hub will touch after the first or second ring. If you're going to be making or cutting any cables, definitely ring out each to see what goes where, if you can't find any kind of wiring diagram.

 

[GreySkies]

I bought these:

IR Target to connect to a cat5 cable behind it, then that runs to behind the TV where I put this keystone in.
...
Will this work? Am I missing a power source of some kind for the target (like mentioned above)?
...
Also, I noticed that the target I bought is a 3 conductor (ground, +, -) and the 3.5mm jack is a 2 conductor (missing the ground). Is that a problem?

The way you've planned it won't work. That keystone can only be used with an emitter, not a target. The IR target with the three connectors (which is Signal, Ground and Power, not ground, +, -) needs to be connected to a connecting block like this one, connecting it to the blue section market V+, GND, SIG. The emitter is then plugged into the connecting block, and can have the mono keystone in the mix as emitters/blasters are a mono connection.

I've used these Buffalo units a couple of times without any problem, using Cat 5 to connect my IR targets, and a mix of emitters, blasters, and even directly wired to IR In ports on my gear.

Note that the IR-100 does not come with a power supply. If you buy an IR-100, make sure the power supply you buy says it'll work with the IR-100, as I purchased one (to save a buck and a half) that looked like it'd fit, but didn't.