Hi Guys,
I just started putting together my home theatre and am pondering buying the Harmony RC. My situation is I need to put my AV equipment (Yamaha) in a closet behind the tv (Pioneer Elite). But I want to be able to control these devices via RF. What kind of hardware is out there and where might I go to find such hardware? Iam not looking to break the bank or anything. Just a simple setup that allows me to control 3 or 4 devices.


Thanks in advance..


Bocephus

Have you had any exposure to the Philips Pronto Remote? Coupled with the RF Extender has served me well on several systems.

Good Luck

mx-800 - (Bank breaker maybe) worth it for its ease of programming and changing of programming

mx-600 - cheaper and harder to program

OR any universal remote with an ir extender, xantech dinky link or Audioplex. make sure you get one that is plasma friendly. (Read that as expensive)

you can find IR extenders in many places (i.e. Radio shack and many places on line)

they come in two flavours RF and cabled) they more or less work the same way. there are two devices an IR receiver that goes in the room and a second box that goes in the closet. The RF version sends an RF code while the wired solution has a cable going from the first device to the second one. Either would work with a harmony

The other solution (like oex said, is to go with a remote that does RF to a base and then the base sends out the IR code.) there are many such remotes (Prontos, HTM MX-600/800/3000, HTMs URC line of remotes...... but none from Harmony yet)

Bocephus,

I know you talked about RF, but there are some good IR products that sound like they'll do what you need, and will work well with the Harmony Remotes.

I would suggest starting your search at:
http://www.xantech.com/

You might try looking at Demo #1 on their Demo page. Their system applications page might be of interest as well.
[Link: xantech.com]

I think these solutions will be less expensive than any RF repeater solutions.

Hope this helps!

keep in mind that cheap ir repeaters may not work in close proximity to the plasma. Is it a plasma ???

Wow...thanks for all the info guys. Very helpful. FYI this is not a plasma. I will be sitting about 15 from the AV gear. There is one wall seperating us. I like the Harmony due to its ease of use. Not to mention cost. I dont see how IR could work for me though?

If you go with a Harmony, IR will have to work. They don't currently have any models that transmit RF.

What everyone is reccomending is that you put in an IR repeating system with a target in the viewing room and a termination block/repeating system in the equipment closet. From this system you attach an IR transmitter to each piece of equipment.

The other suggestions, for the URC MX-800 or MX-600, were for a remote control, other than the Harmony, that is capable of transmitting an RF signal to a receiver that converts the incoming RF signal to IR and outputs it via the same type of IR transmitters as the above scenario.

The URC remotes have a little higher learning curve to program, but if you like to use a lot of the extra functions of your equipment, like specific DSP modes or changing speaker configurations for different source material, the URC gives you more flexibility with less hassle in the programming than the Harmony.

Don't get me wrong, I sell as many of the Harmonys as I do the MX-700, but the Harmony is more of a novice remote. It has a very easy setup interface, and the smart sensing technology purports to keep track of your toggle powered components. It does not perform macros, and it is difficult to set up the specific device control buttons in the order that you think they should be. It is a great remote for someone that wants a point and shoot remote for one button activity selection that works more than 75% of the time. For the other 25%, they have the help button with the walk through of what components are on, and what their settings are. If you have a remote component location, this help function is useless since you cannot see the device to determine what state it is in. If you take away the help and the inability to do macros I would go with the URC stuff in a heartbeat.

Your best bet would be to do your research and buy as many components with proven discrete power codes as possible, then use a URC MX-700 with an IR repeating system or an MX-800 with the RF. If you go with the MX-600 (that has RF capability) or the MX-500 you lose the computer based programming capabilities.

Either way, you are going to spend extra dough. You just need to decide if it goes towards a good IR repeating system for your Harmony or MX-700, or if it goes towards an MX-800 RF setup.

I would vote for the latter.

Sorry for the ramble, but it seemed like the good info in the posts above still left you a little confused.

John