Hi Cosmic,

In PEP, have you gone to Network Settings in System Properties and set them up? Have you added the extender? Does the actual extender have the same number as in PEP?

Playing around in PEP, I had to add a Dummy TV in the database and set it up as a serial component. Then I added a couple dummy commands. It took me a while to figure out that you can't add the commands in the top grid, you have to enter them in the box below. Duh! There is also a little down-arrow control that will add carriage returns, linefeeds, etc.

So then I added the Dummy TV to my project and set it to use the extender. On the extenders, you have to also set the ports to use. When I was setting up the Dummy TV(serial component), PEP would then show me the serial ports. If I was setting up an IR component, it would show me the IR ports. You may have to move the divider between the top and bottom of the screen up to see the port setting. I took me a while to figure that out.

When you see the busy light on the extender flash, you are communicating with it! This means you have gotten from the remote, through the wifi, through the network, to the extender!

I like to connect from my computer through an rs-232 cable directly to the tv, I then use a free program called Hercules to send the commands to the tv. It also shows the response back. Once this is working, I know the cable is correct, and all the parameters are also correct, and the tv is set to respond to the commands.

Rs-232 Parameters

Baud is comm speed, often 9600.
Data Bits is the bits in a word, 7 or 8, usually 8.
Parity is error correction, odd, even, etc. usually N for none.
Stop Bits is the bits that end a word, 1 or 2, usually 1.

You often see this as 9600-8-N-1, for example.

The extender and the tv need to be set the same.

RS-232 connectors are usualy 9 pins. There are 25 pin connectors, but I never see them used. Pin 2 is Tx, Pin 3 is Rx, and Pin 5 is Signal Ground. There are 2 types of cable, straight-through and null-modem (crossed). On the straight-through cable, Pin 2 on one connector is wired to Pin 2 on the other, Pin 3 to Pin 3, and Pin 5 to Pin 5. If you look closely, sometimes there tiny little pin numbers next to the pins.

On a null-modem cable, the Tx and Rx are crossed, so it's Pin 2 to Pin 3, Pin 3 to Pin 2, and Pin 5 to Pin 5. You can buy either type of cable already made, or build your own. There are also null-modem converters that you can add to a straight-through cable to make it null-modem. In a mind boggling twist, you can also add a null-modem converter to a null-modem cable to make it straight-through!

You also need to think through where you need female connectors and where you need male connectors. There are also gender changers, like null-modem converters.

Serial Port 4 on the RFX9600 is a special port. You connect TX, Rx, and Signal Ground wires to the screw terminals on a 3-pin Phoenix connector and plug it in. This is convenient if you are testing cables, making your own cables, etc. If the RFX-9600 doesn't have the connector anymore, check an electrical supply house near you, or A----n.

If you think you have everything correct and it's still not working, try switching the rs-232 cable. This often magically fixes the problem!


Good luck with your tv!