satellite & hme theatre guy i am, typest i'm NOT!!!!!...oooo well....thanks for ur interest in my posts.....just trying to help out somewhat...as the new HDTV set top boxes and some satellite stuff is befuddling to most , and sometimes to me as well.....just do the research and more research, and more research....thats how i find out stuff , along with hands-on fiddling with new equipment.....then , a lite goes off in the ole brain, and stuff finally sinks in, as in ' Oh Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, thats it '......as i said we aint circuit city, we're just a small lil' oufit no. of Boston trying to earn a living.....and any tidbits of info here won't generate me any business, as we really don't do mail order, just comm'l and residential hme thtre and satellite sales and installations.....anyway, the xtra link branded stuff, we dont really sell, we usually use the rca brand of xtralink's or the Leviton brand of xtralinks, which to my understanding is all the same anyway.....radio shack also markets the same stuff too........which we use in a pinch ....BUT to make it all work together, and work consistently correct, u need the desktop controller, or the wall controller, the wall modules , etc, etc, the plug recepticle modules, and so on...the key is the lil communicator chip or device the clips onto ur service panel circuit breaker......it sorta eliminates different RF wavelengths from getting into the system , and causing the signal that u send ,from not activating the device or wall recepticle communicators, called wall modules......although there is a specific name for it , i cant recall it at this moment, but any electrical supply distr. that handles LEVITON, and most do,can easily provide u with their catalog and may also be able to exactly define the lil chip that goes in the service panel....it also is shown in their catalog as well......without this lil device, the system usually wont work each and every time, because of rf interference,..... with it , it is virtually failsafe.....they also make a rf to Ir device, that daniel has mentioned here numerous times.....i would have to assume that it also works ok as well.....check em' both out....ur other choices are i believe crestron and elan and some of the other hi-end devices on the market, which we do sell and install...but these can we quite expensive and elaborate, but some of the newer versions of these items are much less complex these days... technology has a way of simplifying itself, SOMETIMES..!!!! ......and also the IR repeater systems that u mention are also made by radio shack, RCA, Niles , Jamo, and many others...they all utize the little stick on tape gizzmo to actually send the ir signal to the face of the device it is to control, after, of course, it has initially received the rf signal first...in my past experiences, i have never known them NOT TO work....they have all seemed to work ok for us....................and with respect to Daniel's comments, i would HIGHLY recommend 5 satellite rcvrs, one for each tv over a cable box for each tv.....use a 24''minimum size satellite dish, dual LNB, RG-6 cable fed into a suface mount technology, Jayco brand 4way or 8 way multi-switch, which can be used passive or plugged into 120v,(i suggest plug it in ) then home-run wire each satellite receiver with hi quality Belden or Commscope RG-6 or other hi quality co-ax cable , which is next to /or on top of each tv, and then feed each tv the satellite signal with a co-ax wire to the co-ax input , or a L+R+Video wire to the appropriate rca inputs, if ur tv avails itself with these......you will receive a hi luminescence, stunning video display which NO CABLE SYSTEM IN THE country can match...whether u use directv or dishnetwork programming, it will be like nothing u have ever seen BEFORE....and the new HDTV format , is even that much better.....and for those of u interested, the NEW elliptical dish, by various manfg's, aims ur system at 2 satellites at the same time, and soon will have an elbow on the rca dish to accept a third LNB at the ctr position....this is designed to receive your standard directv signal , in addition to the Paratodis spanish signal, and/or the HDTV signal on the other satellite next to it( this will require a special new type of receiver, or multi-receivers, with internal swtching, a special wiring config.,external multi-switching and professional installation.....NOT recommended for the novice fan )...........try any of the above,cepting' the elliptical dish, , u'll like it IMMENSELY good luck billy c
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