Yep... how about with this:


Or maybe the fact that you don't of the many, many ways to:


Off the top of my head both RTi (best) and URC (easiest for you) make solutions for your concerns above. I suggest you surf their respective web sites and compare your options. Others have already eluded to this, and it doesn't seem that anyone is trying to "one up" you.

As far as being beyond your depth... I've never installed anything for anyone other than myself, and I knew the potential answers to your problems. With that being the case, if I were you, rather than being confrontational, I'd except any and all advise, and be happy you're not being thrown off your desk chair by the flames that could be blowing out of your monitor. Especially seeing as you're posting on a "pro" forum.

Best of Luck...

Edit:

Here is the URC piece that could help:

[Link: universalremote.com]

And RTi's:

[Link: rticorp.com]

Keep in mind the above are just the quick things that popped into my head, and you would have to mate them with the appropriate remote option. There may be better solutions for your situation. But both pieces have RS-232 abilities for your matrix switch and IR for your other components if they are not RS-232 compatible. To be clear...I'm not a pro, but felt I could offer something helpful to your prob.

I am not trying to be confrontational at all. It just seems that everyone has jumped on the band wagon to flame me and tell me i don't know what i am doing when surely this is a case of the equipment not doing what it says on the tin?

To the people who have made pertinent comments and suggestions about what might be causing the situation and what might help to sort it out - GREAT - thanks a lot.

But i have never been on a "professional" board before that flames people and tells them they dont know what they are doing and they should go and do another job?? - whats that all about??

I started this thread putting my hands up and agreeing that the ball is firmly in my court and that the money will more than likely come out of my pocket.

Yes, i do know some of the ways to get the IR back to the source equipment but i am trying to minimize the work involved but put a solid solution in place. I was hoping for some friendly advice.

But, again, i feel my point is valid that - "why doesn't the equipment do what it says it can do? Surely the manufacturers have some kind of responsibility in this situation?"

anyway....

that MSC-400 looks very interesting... with that i think i could completely bypass the smart-e panel and do away with the ir problems..

MANY THANKS.. now to see if they are available and work in the UK...oh, and how much they are as well....

trev

the manufacturers have no responsibility for your lack of experience. you have put together a solution that just will not work.

any idiot knows that lcd's and plasmas pruduce so much stray ir that even with plasma/lcd ir recievers its still a major crapshoot if it will work at all.

so i say bullshit to your manufacturer taking responsibility. how about you takig responsibility for your actions.

you do not know what you are doing. that is why people are telling you so.

somehow i get the feeling you are a dyi guy in way over your head. no self respecting pro would even try to do what you are doing

more flames and abuse.... thanks a lot guys...

and a 30 minute phone call from me to help you out .....

Adam, thanks for the call.. it was very much appreciated...

i have called Winston and am awaiting a call back..

ill drop you a line with an update hopefully later today - fingers crossed

trev

You get flamed because you can't accept the simple fact that you used the complete wrong solution to your problem. Harmony remotes are garbage. They claim a lot of things. Many of them aren't true.

It seems like you cam e from an IT background. Have you never used a piece of software that claimed one thing and did another? Have you never had a resource conflict on a PC when everyone said it should work? When a PC crashes and you can't figure out why, do you expect Microsoft to send a software engineer from Redmond to help you figure it out?

Take the responsibility that is yours. You chose poor remote equipment and it is biting you in the ass. Continue to not take an responsibility and you will continue to be flamed.

You have been given at least two viable solutions to your problem along with all the deserved flames. Pick one and fix your issue. If you think a manufacturer of a matrix switch should send engineers to your job site for free because YOU can't get a POS remote and IR system to work, you won't ever be satisfied in this business.

It's a typical IT mindest...

"Here ya go, this will solve your problem."
"Um, I shouldn't have a problem in the first place. I read a bunch of spec's."
"Yeah, well you do have a problem and this will fix it."
"Why are you bad mouthing me and why is there a problem."
"Look, I'm not badmouthing you. Here's the solution. Go fix it."
"Damnit, there's a problem. These spec's say there shouldn't be one...f'n vendors."
"Dude, are you listening? This will fix it."
"So you're agreeing that there's an issue?"
"FIX THE THING."
"Why doesn't this work?"

...and so on, ad nauseum...

Trevor, good luck with your problem.

But, URC and RTI are available in the UK and used by (a minority in my experience) of CI's. If you have ever researched this they will come up again and again.

You really SHOULD have known about the IR coming from plasmas and LCD's. And you really SHOULD have tried out this combo (however ill fated in hindsight) at your office or home.

I know that Smart-e have a big marketing campaign but I also know that the best products (and services come to think of it) are the ones that are not advertised. It is tempting to try these products but researching the options open to you is the only way.

This forum is a good place to start. The knowledge and experience available here is priceless. Any opinions here are likely to be honest and to the point. Surely anyone would want that, especially if you need to solve a problem fast.

I understand you have money tied up in this and you are likely to lose money in the end. But I am sure you will learn a lesson or two along the way.

You must stop using Harm0ney remotes as they are mickey mouse. For future product selection why not try a distributor that you trust and get them to help. RGB are pretty good also try aldous.

Hi,

Thanks for the message.

I'm thinking of converting to the Nevo SL from Armour Home Entertainment in the UK- these seem to have a good reputation?

I'm also looking forward to tomorrow. Smart-e have adapted the Abitana IR receivers and senders to work with their panel and hopefully a combination of these 2 changes will solve the problem.

I'll let you know.

trev

dont do a nevo sl... the wifi sucks at best and then you will have to use ir and your back where you started.

you need to use a real rf remote

Don't waste your breath Ed. This dude obviously knows more than anyone else. He was given specific advice that is pretty much guaranteed to work ie RTI or URC. It seems, however that he would prefer to reinvent the wheel again and try another highly unreliable solution (wifi). Hey if Nevo says it works it must. And when it isn't reliable he can blame the manufacturer again. Then lose more time and effort and money trying to fix it a third time. Maybe after four or five tries, he'l listen and just put in an RTI or URC system.

Which? Nevo or Armour? I would say BOTH should be on your AVOID list! Armour look very much to me to be the kind of company that markets to inexperienced installation companies, hifi shops and electricians. If you are one of these then go for it.

Please Trevor, which part of the recommendation to use RTI or URC don't you think is very good? I use URC and others use RTI or both. For me the URC works well. My customers aren't quite ready for the threefold increase in price RTI offers.


Please do. I'm keen to keep an eye on how well Smart-e support their products.

hi stereo,

i've been looking into both RTI and UTC. It's not i don't think they are very good it's just that i can't see yet how to retro fit it it. I reckon RF is deffo the answer here but...this is the bit i can't get my head around yet...

in the rack, there are...in no particular order...

a cctv system being fed into the video matrix on vga
a Windows Media Centre fed into the matrix on vga
a Sky HD box fed into the matrix on component
a standard Sky box fed into the matrix on RGBS
3 other Digi Boxes beeing fed into the matrix on RGBS

So, and this is the bit i haven't quite worked out yet..

The RF solutions i have read up on seem to be from an eye to a cupboard where all sources listen to all IR signals. This might very well work as they are all from diff manufacturers and diff models but how do i break out to 7 individual IR transmitters like i can with the smart-e system?

the RCI RF IR transmitter seems be a "one to many" transmitter and not a "one to one"

hope the above makes sense...

trev

Ok. understood. so like stereo says. i should go "URC or RTI"?

Just need to crack this "switched IR" thing with the RF stuff i know about so far.

the rack is vertical with metal shelves in between all sources. i cant see yet how i can put a "one to many" ir transmitter into the rack...

the smart-e system has "switched" ir and i have been able to stick an ir transmitter on the front of each source and the smart-e video matrix pipes the ir to the relevant source.

trev