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RF IR Blaster ?'s

1246 Views 2 Replies 3 Participants Last post by mslide, Feb 11, 2010

oil99

Discussion Starter · Feb 11, 2010

Hello all,

I'm in the market for a new remote and want RF capability. Mostly so I dont have to point but if its a big PITA then I'll skip RF. I just want to confirm I sorta understand this concept.

Likely options: H1100 (I'm replacing a 1000), H900 and now thanks to this forum considering the URC products...most likely a 450

My question is how far in front of the equipment does the IR blaster have to sit? I have my TV hung on the wall and the rest of my equipment about 18" below on a 2 shelf entertainment stand (center channel & PS3 sit on top of these shelves. The other components all sit flush with the front face of the shelves so I dont have any room in front to situate any IR blasters.

Only my TV (PRO-151) and BR player (BDP-95FD) have IR jacks. My receiver (Old skool Denon 3802) and PVR (Motorola DVR-530) don't. At this point I'm not worried about PS3 control.

So can I attach the TV and BR player directly via IR cables then use the blast and mini blasters to hopefully hit my IR sensors on my other components? Will they work beside the components or ...what seems obvious to me as I type this.... do they need a direct line of sight to the IR sensors?

Is this a viable option or should I just stick to IR? Any opinions on my remote selection is also greatly appreciated? Sorry if this is basic stuff but new to me... although seems very similar to starsight on my old GAOO

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thebard

· #2 · Feb 11, 2010

I switched to RF and I will never go back; I use some pretty lengthy macros, and the frustration due to missed commands will never be missed.

If you don't have more equipment than you listed, I would run individual emitters to the units; sometimes the ir receivers are labeled, otherwise you can find tham easily by running the emitter across the front panel while you send commands.

Another option is to enclose the shelves or use a cabinet; some people have had luck mounting emitters or blasters on the inside of the door, or adhering some reflective tape to bounce the signal to multiple pieces of equipment.

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mslide

· #3 · Feb 11, 2010

Run individual, stick-on, IR emitters (something like this ) from the RF base-station to each component. Whatever remote/rf base-station you get, they should come with a few. You stick them on to where the component's IR receiver is (I personally hot-glue them on as they tend to fall off eventually if you don't).

I personally would not use a base-station's built in blaster. Either run direct lines to components that have the ir input jacks or use the IR stick-on emitters.

Good choice in going RF. Once you try RF, you will never want to go back to an IR-only remote. Don't go cheap when going RF either. You get what you pay for. If you are going to go URC, get the best RF base station you can afford. It will cost you at least a few hundred dollars but I think it's worth. It looks like you're willing to spend some money here so I would buy the best RF base-station they sell (I use an MRF-350 along with an MX-810 and it works great). The only thing worse than an IR-only setup is a cheap RF setup that doesn't work all the time.

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