Hi,

I have an IR cable (IR eye) attached to the front of my Plasma TV. The cable is controlled by my Pronto RF Extender. Now I would like to hook in the IR output from my HomeTheaterPC into the first IR cable because I don't want two IR eyes on my TV.
My guess is that I can't just splice the two cables together cause I would probably short circuit something and ruin the RF extender. So how do I build this Y connection in the right way?

See pic for more information:



Thanks//D

I'm sure someone will come along and recommend a diode isolated method, but I would just put in a dual zone connecting block (CB).

Xantech makes a ZC21 dual zone CB that has dedicated IR outputs for each signal coming in, as well as the common IR out you need.

MSRP is $55-60 from any Xantech dealer, but it's likely to be a special order.

Thanks for your quick reply, $55-60 sounds a bit expensive considering its not a pro installation plus the fact that I live in Sweden so finding that part can be hard I think.
Any DIY solutions out there?

This should do the trick. It's about 10 bucks.

[Link: speakercraft.com]

Wow, thanks! :)
Not that I'm cheap or anything like that but since I live in Sweden I'm not sure I can get hold of it here.
Can you recommend an online shop that sell these things and ship them internationally?

Another question; has anybody built one of these? If anybody has an instruction and list of components I would appreceate it, building it would be pretty cool too!

//D

I got this off the speakercraft website.

Sweden, Altavox Infotainment AB +46-(0)322-125-16

As far as I know, it's just a "y" jack with a diode in it.
You could email speakercraft, tell them your delima, and see if:

1), they can tell you how to build it.
2). tell you where to locally buy it.

[email protected]
[email protected]

If you don't have any luck, I'd be more than happy to mail you one, but I don't know if the shipping from the US would justify the expense.


Good Luck

There would be two diodes, one on the "signal" lead from each incoming emitter wire.
Obviously the diodes would be positioned to pass signal toward the shared emitter and block either emitter from passing signal tothe other.

I can draw the diagram, and you can confirm with tech support if it is OK...

I need to fire up Illustrator, BRB...

This diagram is based on Xantech 282M emitter leads, which have colored leads to mark polarity (the white lead is positive or "signal")
[Link: xantech.com]

If you are using the emitters that came in your remote base station, you need to confirm which lead is "signal" with a test meter...

When the meter reads a positive figure on the VDC setting, the wire that the meter's positive test lead is on is your SIG lead and the other is your GND.
If you get a negative figure, reverse the test leads and there you are.

Be sure to put your diodes in correctly or the system wont work.

This message was edited by 2nd rick on 05/03/05 17:11 ET.

Great, Thanks a lot!
I think I'm going to try this. Do you have any information on which diodes I should use (parameters) and how the polarity of them should be in the signal path?

//D

Edit: I should definetely try to make this cable on my own cause the Speakercraft cable costs around $28 excl. shipping here in Sweden and if I order it online from the US shipping will cost $64!!! :o

This message was edited by DarioB on 05/03/05 04:53 ET.

1 Amp diodes should be plenty.

The power supplies of the connecting blocks are usually 600mA-1A, so a 1 A should be fine.

Any electronics supply or even car alarm installer should have these for like $ 0.25 ea.

The white lines on the diodes correspond to the polarity.

I think they are shown backwards in the diagram, though; the lines should be away from where the positive voltage comes into them, i.e. the lines should be closer to the + lead of the LED, not closer to the + of the voltage coming from the RF receiver or the computer.

You can use 1N914, 1N4148, 1N4001 (or 4002, 4003, etc) or ANY diode even remotely equivalent to those. You want a simple rectifier. Not a Zener, or Schottky, or any other special function kind of diode.

Going to buy 2 of them tomorrow for $1!
Thanks for all the good advices!

Yes, the diodes in the drawing are curently reversed...
I even looked up an example to refresh my memory, and of course I googled some car audio reference site and in my haste to complete the drawering I mis-read the diagrams.

Here are their diagrams:


The SECOND diagram would explain the application here.
I will edit the little illustration.

Umm, the one in my first post is corrected, but the one that stayed in Dario's quote of my first post remains backwards...

I may never understand HTML, but the first one is correct now.

Give us an update.
Best of luck.