On 01/15/04 21:57, dwien said...
just set up 2 IRF-6 units with IR wires
running to your equipment. On the bottom of the
IRF-6 units there is a small button called the
ID code selector switch. You set one unit on
number 0 and the second unit on another number.
This is not what scottedge is talking about, if you take the cover off of the IRF-6 you will notice an area along the PCB where a connector should be attached but is not, I have an early IRF-6 promo photo that shows an external connector attached at this point, it is the same type of connector that Xantech uses on their connecting blocks. In theory, the IRF-6 was originally designed to interface with a Xantech hardwired system and further could be linked with other IRF-6 boxes via this method. Unfortunately I have not had the time nor the schematics to dive into this further.
I do have an option though. I have finally achieved 100% RF reception at 80+ feet with my modifications in fact I can walk anywhere in my house without any dropouts. I wont go into the remote mod here, but I will tell you about an improved, improvement to the IRF-6. In the past I told you to attach a BNC bulkhead connector to the side of the chassis. And simply cut the original RG 193 cable down to a couple of inches and solder that on to the bulkhead connector. Well scratch that, I have been experimenting with different wires and have found that the dielectric core out of a solid core copper quad shield RG-6 cable works the best. Completely remove the old wire and simply solder the wire right onto the input leg of the receiving chip and the other end to the center conductor of the BNC jack, Same procedure with the ground taking care not to over heat anything nor crack the circuit board. You can make your own BNC patch cable, but to tell you the truth, I have had no problems just sticking the antenna right on the box BNC jack.
The results I have seen are phenomenal even with unmodified remotes, I have an area in my house where an unmodified remote and IRF-6 just wont do anything, even if you hold the remote right next to the IRF-6 antenna. With the IRF-6 Modification the remote works anywhere in the room without any problems.
I told you all in the past that the secret to the RTI RF reception problems, was garage door openers. The T2 is actually a glorified garage door opener as far as the frequency is concerned. One day I was looking at my garage door opener, like most of them it had this little solid core wire hanging out of the bottom. I got to thinking about that because it operates at a frequency close to what the T2 uses. So I thought, why does the GDO work, while the T2 does not? The answer comes from the ham radio guys. So without posting a 5000 word dissertation here, the short of it is, It doesn’t work because it’s a stranded aluminum wire, where as specification for that frequency calls for a sold copper wire. All this time the problem could have been easily fixed for less than a 1/8 of a cent worth of parts. Not only does it fix intermittent reception problems, your codes respond way faster.
The modified remote is of course in another class way past this, Ill save that for another day though.
Enjoy