I'm working on this set up right now and I'm having some problems getting the system to work ... The system consists of 1 Niles ZR-4630 controller, 4 Solo keypads, 2 Solo keypads with IR, 1 RTI RP-6, 1 RTI RM-433 and 1 RTI T3 ... Let me give a brief run down on what we have done so far ...

* We only have 1 cat5 at each Solo Keypad. I found out from Niles that pin #4 (the blue wire) and pin #7 (the brown/white wire) are not used, so I was trying to use those wires for the IR signal coming from the RP-6.
* I found that the pin #2 (the green wire) carries data and pin #3 (the orange/white) carries the ground for the IR sensor. I substituted the blue wire for data and the brown/white wire for ground and terminated them on pins 2 & 3. We then plugged that into the IR sensor input on the back of the Solo keypad.
* I questioned whether or not we were getting the IR signal to the keypad. We hooked an emmitter to the blue and brown/white wires at the Solo keypad and it would flash, so I assumed the IR signal had made its way to the keypad. I don't know if the signal was weak or strong though.
* I set the T3 controller to output IR and was able to control the Niles ZR-4630 through a Solo keypad with IR. I assume my codes are good at this point.
* The RTI system is also controlling a basic media (5.1 surround) system. I used port 6 on the RP-6 and ran it to a IR connecting block. One emitter comes off the connecting block and connects to zone 6 of the ZR-4630. The rest of the emmitters go to the equipment (receiver, DVD player and cable box) in the media system. Everything works fine on the media sytem.
* So far, I have not been able to make the Niles controller respond to any signal coming from the RP-6.

I saw that Niles has an adapter cable [Link: nilesaudio.com] iPad%20Ci%20Keypads%20Accessories&categoryID=Multi zone%20Products&catcdID=2&prdcdID=FG00852 for connecting an IR sensor to the Solo keypad ... Do you think that piece might help me? Am I missing something else? Any and all suggestions/comments are welcome! Thanks guys!

The Data/Ground pins on the IR Sensor jack are typically connected to the output of an IR sensor, so I'm thinking the IR emitter output from the RP6 is probably too weak.

Try connecting pins 2/3 directly to the RP6 Signal/Ground terminals.

I think you should leave the six conductors that are used alone. Just terminate the unused 2 conductors to an RJ45 jack and into the IR input on the keypad. The RP6 is sending it's IR to the keypad's input, then the keypad is operating the ZR like normal.

lowvoltguy,
I have e mailed you a tech document that should help you solve your problem. Good luck!

Your on the right track having to control the keypad via your IR output.
But running that data all the way out to the keypad, just to drive it into the IR input on the keypad is a mute point. Your going to run into possible Data/Voltage issues.

You can just inject the IR onto the Data and ground wire at the head end, score the CAT5 jacket and don't cut the conductor but stip the sheath off each and inject the DAta and gound onto it, and this can be done at the head end..Yes it can....

Here is a qick diagram, different control method, but same principal..


this should solve your issues...

Remote Collector may have already sent you it, but there is a integration diagram on RTI's dealer site addressing these very issues.

I am currently installing a T4 with XP-6 in a system that has the ZR-4630 for six zones. If I understand correctly I don't have to send the IR to the keypads; I can just control the main unit directly by inserting IR on pin 2 and ground on pin 3 of the Cat5 port on the XR-4630. I can then use the routing feature of the XP-6 to control each zone independently. I am using these:

[Link: amazon.com]
with short cat5 cables connected to these:
[Link: summitsource.com]

Any potential issues? Has anybody actually got the ZR-4630 to work in this way?

That is incorrect. The ZR-4630 is not operated with IR directly. The Niles zone keypads are the only devices that can control the individual zones of the Niles ZR-4630. You can route Niles IR commands to these individual keypads to accomplish what you desire. You cannot eliminate the keypads altogether.


Yes, I got this to work using a URC IR routing RF base station. There is an RJ-45 connection for an IR sensor on the back of each keypad, pin 2 = data pin 3 = gnd. You can connect at the keypad location or splice in at the zone receiver location. Either way the Niles IR commands will be received by the keypad which will then send a network command to the zone receiver for control.

Actually, that is exactly what I am trying to do; I am keeping the keypads. I just was not sure if I can insert the IR directly at the receiver end or I have to go through the keypads. I did try to control the receiver with just the XP-6 on pin 2 and 3 at the receiver end and it was not working. I guess it needs the "status" line from the keypad as well.

I tried to do the exact same thing and could never get it to work. After hours of time by me, and frustration by the client, I convinced him to switch to a different amp. He was happy and I was able to move on to another project.

That is correct. The Niles keypads communicate and control the ZR-4630 using a CAN network ([Link: en.wikipedia.org]).

When the keypad receives a Niles IR command it sends the matching control command on the CAN network to the ZR-4630 which then provides status back to the keypad on this two-way network.

IR commands can be sent from either the keypads built-in IR sensor, an external IR sensor connected to the IR connector on the back of the keypad or an IR signal spliced into the keypad cat5 wire on pin 2 +3.

I am not my desk at the moment.  Sometimes in the summer last year, I successfully integrated Niles ZR-8630 with URC MS-400 and 4 MX-980.  

Do the search, I'll post the link once I get back to my desk. 

LowVoltGuy,
Here's link to similiar situation I've encountered.  [Link: remotecentral.com]; Thanks to ILO and Robs contributions.

Yeah, the damn thing can't even be used as a multi-channel power amp without keypads to tell where to send the signal.

I have two of these things if anyone needs them, and several keypads to match. This is not, of course, an advertisement.

Ernie, You've got mail.
I have a client who needs to replace a few 4 source keypads and accessory keypads on the V1 model.