I agree with Matt, you shouldn't have any problems. I have done that many times and always worked fine. If you still have doubts call Xantech they have the best tech department and are always helpful.

This message was edited by zinon on 05/09/02 10:22.54.

My situation ocuured in a room that had one window and had a shade over it about 90 percent of the time.

must have been the other 10% that caused the problem.

Just a bit of an update. I hooked everything up *outside* of the cabinet. Components in a stack, IR pickup sitting on top. Everything seems to operate normally when both the "remote" pickup and the built-in pickups are enabled and receiving IR commands.

That being the case, I'm going to try it without any kind of interrupt switch and see what happens. I can always go back and change it later--but this way there is one less thing that can fail.

Cool, it's rare that that scenario wont work well. Couple of things create problems with IR. Stray RF, some old TV's really emit that, plus the new plasmas suck for IR interferance, but they make 'plasma proof' IR receivers now. And sunlight, totally block out IR (in most cases). Another one comes to mind...I had a strange problem with TV's turning off and on randomly at a bar I serviced, turns out there was some red neon close by that was emmiting the correct frequency to trigger these televisions. Cover up the IR port, or turn of the Neon and it never happened again. Strange....

David Z: Glad you're resolved with no extra "whizbangs" or bandaid patches.

zinon and your experience with the test setup tell the truth -- with a Xantech system in place, it will not matter if you send a signal through the Xantech AND directly to the components. I have done this many times, as well as using multiple IR pickups in the same room, with total success. (Niles stuff will not work with multiple pickups in the same room. They can't give a reason that makes sense.)

As for the confusion when you are using a rear input, well, that is another matter. Sometimes a rear input disables the unit's IR sensor, but it seems odd that the front and rear signals would compete or confuse.

VinnyBag, what model Sony DSS had that problem? I don't remember seeing rear IR inputs on Sony DSSs.

As for the red neon story, my personal favorite was the guy whose IR system did not work for about an hour every day.

He lives in Malibu, which faces due south. When the sun is in the right position, the millions of reflections off of about a square mile of ocean wave crests make an IR signal that overpowers any IR that is more than about an inch from its component. He can't draw the shades, either -- they are IR-controlled Makitas!

The Alarm switch idea is a great one...I was thinking along the same lines, but using a door contact switch to disrupt power to the Xantech when the cabinet door(s) opened.

Fred

Hi,

I have experimented, and found that you do not need to interrupt the Xantech system when the doors are open.

Hope this saves you some hassle.... although I was a little disappointed I didn't get to use my alarm switch ;)

Gentlemen,

Just to put this to rest, the reason that Xantech, Niles and other IR Repeater manufacturers make blocking covers for emitters IS NOT because the components get confused when there are two signals. As David Z proved with his test setup, audio video components respond just fine when they get the command directly and through the repeater.

However, if there is any kind of EMI or OPTICAL interference present in the system, a very unusual kind of problem can occur if the IR SENSOR is close to an EMITTER. The interference pattern is emitted by the EMITTER, detected and amplified by the IR SENSOR creating an OPTICAL FEEDBACK loop. The blocking covers for the emitters are included by the manufacturers for this reason.

Now, as others have mentioned in their posts here, interference can occur from dimmer switches, a microprocessor in a satellite receiver, dvd or laser disc player, from unknown exterior to the house RF sources, from sunlight reflecting off swimming pools, oceans, curtains and walls, from quart halogen and other exotic desk lighting.

However, as David Z discovered, many installations are reasonably clean and have no interference.

When you do run into a problem and, it is good practice to make sure that all emitters are low power/non blaster types and that none are placed close to the IR Sensor. If you must place an emitter close to the IR Sensor, follow these steps:

Xantech: Switch the emitter housing for the completely OPAQUE housing included with the emitter package (it is identifiable via the pinhole in the bottom). Don't bother with the opaque cover for the component's IR window unless the sensor is less than a foot away.

Niles: "GLOM" (that's a technical term for self-adhesive) the huge horrible opaque black mask over the emitter. It may look ridiculous, but it works.

Someone in this thread commented that the sensors are often part of the display and the opaque cover would have to cover the entire display - a better installation solution is to switch that components position in the rack with a component whose IR sensor window can be covered - typically only one component will require the window cover - the component one foot or less from the IR sensor...

Hope this helps!

Best Regards,

-Eric

Eric Johnson
www.hometheaterpro.com

1-800-247-7001

How about mounting the emitters to the back side of the cabinet doors, where they would be in front of each component's IR window? When the doors are open, they're removed from the position where they can be 'seen'. Just make sure to route the wires where they won't get pinched.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

You said you have mostly Yamaha equipment let that talk to itself via its ir ins and outs. use the xantech to control the head unit.
You won't have any problems using xantech with the doors open or closed . If you do it is something else creating interferance. (switch is a good idea if you are using blinking emmiters) that way you dont have to see them blink when the doors are open.