I'm doing a room that will have 2 plasmas and 1 projector. 10' screen in the middle and a plasma (or dlp) on either side. (pretty cool huh)
The goal is to be able to watch any channel on any of the 3 displays. I could simply use 3 different sat receivers and have no IR issues but, I want the guides to all be the same to ease operation.
I'm not using Crestron or any other type of control system. I'll use a 6000 or the i6400.
Is there an HD Sat receiver that will link together like the CD Juke boxes do?
Or is there some type of system that could be integrated that would allow me to assign I.R commands to each individual receiver? (Crestron is out of the budget)
Thanks,
CMack

Two plasmas and one projector and crestron is out of the budget? How about an elan VIA vallet and SC4? You could controll via rs232.

At first glance, it looks like an IR router would do what you'd like. Xantech rt-8 would fit the bill.

CMack,

You could just use a RF Extender with different channels for each HD Sat.

Talk to you soon,

Glenn Sheridan
Pronto Programming

I have a Niles IR router that I would be willing to sell cheap. Send me and E-mail if you're interested.

This is one of my pet peeves....... You are abviously designing a pretty cool high end system here and you are leaving out the single most important feature of a system like this..........

FUNCTIONALITY.

Please stay away from the i-Paperweight in a situation like this unless you want to be married to this job for the next year or so while philips gets all the bugs worked out.

A 6000 Could work, but its goint to take multiple RF Receivers, and the amount of page flipping is going to drive the client insane.

This kind of project really calls for a Crestron or AMX system. Program it once, (Or source it out) and the system WORKS, and continues to work.

I second what Impaqt says here. My company has done a handful of the IR-router based systems, and they are slow, hard to program, easy to overlook bugs and logic errors on, and clunky at best. A better control system contributes to functionality, which is how people measure a system after paying the bill and beginning to use the system.

"Gee, that vintage Vette is wicked fast. Now, if we could only start it every time we wanted to take it out. What a shame; the weather's great, the friends are over, and it won't crank...."

Impaqt,
I totally agree with you on the fuctionality issue and believe me I want the best for this client, but unfortunatley it comes with a major price tag or atleast so I've been told.
The budget is already blown. They were wanting to stay around 35k and I'm at about 53k just for all the gear.
Thanks for the advice on the i6400.
What would a complete control system run for a single room like this?--Turn Key
CMack

Just looked into the I.R router and it's cheap and looks like a good choice but I'm a little concerned about how slow it may be.
Anyone have any good experiences with these.
Thanks,
CMack

Hate to pile on here but i feel i must. Your customer has Smoking products, but without proper controls its not going to be fun for him or for you. Ask him, "Would he put Pep Boys generic tires on a new Porche?" Spending a bit more now will more than return to him when he has a bulletproof, system that wows friend and foe alike!

Here's my take on this.

You had the ability to sell the system so far, why would selling Crestron to control it be any different?

Selling the 'components' without selling the the 'control system' is really an incomplete 'system'.
Kinda like selling a new car without the shifter control, steering wheel, and pedals. Sure it could be driven, but what a job it's gonna be to control it.

I think all anyone is saying here is, it's going to be a nightmare for you and the client to get the functionality your looking for here.

Just my 2 cents,

JJP

If he wants to stay cheep, just spec the Hughes E-86. It has 8 different IR codes available. If he wants Dish Network instead, the 6000 has 15 different codes available.

53k in parts.......hmmm... A Basic Crestron or AMX control system is going to run about 4k in parts.

I've found that the Control of the system is the most important part of a system like this. Drop the Current equiptment down a notch to open up the 4k and get the control system in there.

A System that cant be controlled or is clunky to control will NOT generate you repeat business or referals. 2 things that are extreamly important now-a-days to stay thriving in this business.

Once you install a real control system into a project like this, you will become a believer of what everyone here is saying and will start calling up past clients to get them into it as well.

A Client who walks into a shop with a 35k budget in mind certainly has the resources to go to 70+. Very few consumers really know what a real theater or media room will cost so they arbitrarily pick a number.

If you can still find them the Hughes E86 has 8 addressable command sets and the supplied remote is addressable also.

If you decide to go the IR router method, there is another Xantech product to consider, the CC62. It is six DPDT relays controlled by IR. Earlier discussions have shown that about the only difference between using the RT-8 and just switching the IR through relays on the CC62 is that the CC62 can only switch the IR to one output at a time without some kind of impedance or loading problem. I don't think you need to send more than one IR signal at a time, so this should work for you. Besides, one of the relays can be used to drop the screen....

I have used the CC62 in two systems in one home, to do multiple things including dropping the screen and controlling when IR goes to different places (i.e. which fireplace gets turned on, and when).

The CC62 is indeed clumsy, you can hear the relays click, and you have to add the time to turn a relay on and off to each command -- thus every command is a macro. But it works.

The simplest way to do this that I have seen, I invented about seven years ago for a sports bar with five identical receivers. We placed five Xantech IR sensors about eight inches back in separate rectangular tubes just slightly larger than the cross-section of a satellite remote. You stick the remote in the tube belonging to the satellite you want to control, and hit the buttons. Pure simplicity!