On April 27, 2017 at 10:14, audvid said...
Couple of questions.
I have Xantech 791-44 and 789-44
and multiple IR recievers such has xantech dl85k and two more in various rooms.
1. Can I connect the IR out of the 791 to the IR input (not via the IR in 3.5 but by connecting -screwing the wires in to the two wires marked ground and IR in on the black wiring block)? I will connect power separately or should I use the same 12 volts, so that they both have same ground? I have a large 12 volts and can use same 12 volt source for both.
There are eleven IR outs, so "
the IR out" isn't dead nuts clear, but I suppose you mean one of the outputs intended for LEDs.
The 3.5mm connector and the ground, 12V and signal are common. That is, that's just two different physical ways to connect an IR sensor to the 789-44 and the 781-44.
If you connect one of the 791's LED outputs to the IR input... of what you don't say, but you probably mean another 791... then things might work and might not. To cascade 791s you want to use the HIGH IR OUT to go to another 791-44 and the IR RCVR to connect either an IR sensor or the HIGH IR OUT of another 791-44.
2. Is there a good IR blaster, that I can blast IR to the entire equipment rack?
I have no idea. I don't think blasting the entire equipment rack is a good idea, especially when its operation can be brought to its knees by the end user, say, putting a DVD case on top of the DVD player and sticking out an inch or two.
3. I do have an IR LED blasting right now but it is not powerful enough. Should I connect the output of all four 3.5 mm output jacks to one IR LED?
Not powerful enough? You're coming to a conclusion without knowing for sure tha power is the idea. You have the symptom that it doesn't control all units, but it might be plenty powerful enough. I've had ambient light interfere with LEDs that were powerful enough on the equipment, but not when backed away from the equipment.
Stick an LED on each item.
Should you connect four output jacks to one LED? Let's look at what's in a 781-44 (which is what you're now talking about).
The 781-44 has two interconnected sections. The 12V, ground, and IR IN provide connections for a sensor.
The other section is the IR output section. There's a resistor between the IR IN and each LED output (4 resistors total). The resistor a) keeps the LED from blowing, which it would do if connected to the IR IN voltage, and b) is for current sharing so that each LED gets about the same output current.
If you connect an LED to all four outputs, you'd be doing the equivalent of dividing the value of the resistors by four. If you really want more current, get a bunch of resistors and an ammeter and check how much current you get with different values of resistance. Note carefully at what current level the LED turns into smoke and use at least twice that resistance. (The resistor value will be different for blink-IRs and IR-only emitters.)
Re the following: don't mix brands of LED stuff. For my money, there's Xantech, there's Niles (which I don't like as well), and there's crap from monoprice and others where the price is the main thing that works. It works for the seller!
4. Xantech 49010d Designer Micro Link(tm) Infrared Receiver is not working properly. I have to HOLD the button for a sec or two for it to react.
Again, you're seeing a symptom. Have you tested this with a phone or other IR sensing device and a timer so you KNOW you don't get an output from the receiver until an entire second, or two, have passed? This is a truly bizarre symptom!
Sudden thought: how much current is being drawn from your power supply for what you're doing? That could be a problem. Xantech used to have current draw in its specs but I haven't looked at their data for years.
I bought several non xantech cheap IR receivers from amazon, such as this
(link)and a
monoprice. None of these work. Only Xantech brand seems to be working. Even the dl85k is not working reliably. It works 80% of the time, but some times, it reacts with the feed back light but the tv channel does not change. I had older Xantech receivers, which worked very well. Only the newer xantech lcd proof models seem to be giving trouble. Suggestions please?
See if Xantech has a white paper outlining how to design systems and follow it to the letter. IR is irritating since you can't see it and you can't know what's happening -- you can just see the symptoms. Following exact advice helps make things work.
You're very welcome!
