Logitech RF Extender - How Does it Work?

[jezzer256]

And what exactly does it do? I have three areas of the lounge that need line of sight from the remote - will one RF extender sort them all?

Where do I put the RF extender?

Jez

 

[logiciel]

It receives the signal from a RF Harmony, converts it to IR, and sends it down a cable to small IR emitters that you place near or on the devices.
It's usually used with and for devices that are together, such as in a cabinet, and may not be good if yours are around the room.

 

[jezzer256]

How many of these small IR emitters are there in the package?

Jez

 

[logiciel]

4

 

[Andrew K]

4

4 cables but each splits into 2 emmitters, so 8 in total.

 

[Andrew K]

and in possible anticipation of the next question they are just over 2m in length each.

 

[logiciel]

Sorry - was setting record for shortest post.

 

[jezzer256]

Cheers guys. One last question.

How far away can these emitters be from the devices? I don't want to run another cable through the ceiling to my projector, nor do I want to run one under the floor to the TV.

Anyway, 2 metres isn't long enough for either of those options. But if they're IR surely the could have a line-of-sight range of about 5m or so? If this was the case, I could have all 3 emitters in one location; pointing in totally different directions.

Jez

 

[nvingo]

I don't think they're that powerful (bright, do the check with a CCD camera) and most instruction manuals (not sure abut the logitech specifically) recommend to be place 2-4 cm in front of, or attached to, the IR receiver window.

Since the radio transmitter is omnidirectional, it can be picked up by multiple receivers. It will increase the cost of course, but you could site receivers at each location where devices control is required.

 

[ocdwhiteboard]

The RF base unit itself has an emitter which I think works a bit better over longer distances if that would help.

 

[logiciel]

The corded emitters work best when attached to the devices; the base unit's emitter is less specific!

 

[jezzer256]

Well it looks like I can't really use the RF extender then. Oh well, I guess it's not much of a pain with 5 controls rather than 1...

Jez

 

[logiciel]

In a similar situation for two directions I use a Powermid; you could try two or more of those.

 

[ocdwhiteboard]

Well it looks like I can't really use the RF extender then. Oh well, I guess it's not much of a pain with 5 controls rather than 1...

Jez

I wouldn't be so sure, the IR blaster from the base station is pretty powerful and may get all of the devices, if not I think you could get longer-leaded (if that's even a word!) IR emitters and fit them to the individual devices.

Is there a single point in the room from which you can see all the devices? if so I'd give it a go with the standard kit, you could always just extend the cables on the supplied emitters if need be, or buy some longer ones.

 

[logiciel]

And to go back to the original question - line of sight isn't usually all that essential - the signal bounces around.
I haven't seen longer cables for the IR emitters, and I don't know how you'd extend them yourself.

 

[jezzer256]

All the kit can be seen if I were to put the standard emitter on top of the kit rack. Sounds like it could work then.

I'll have a think. It's a lot of money for a remote control!

Jez

 

[SeanT]

And to go back to the original question - line of sight isn't usually all that essential - the signal bounces around.
I haven't seen longer cables for the IR emitters, and I don't know how you'd extend them yourself.

With a 3.5mm (headphone) extension lead - they are only 3.5mm jack plugs - haven't tried it to see how far they will go, but you should get a couple more metres out of them.

 

[ocdwhiteboard]

With a 3.5mm (headphone) extension lead - they are only 3.5mm jack plugs - haven't tried it to see how far they will go, but you should get a couple more metres out of them.

Exactly, I'm sure you could get many tens of metres out of the system if you needed to. also, other companies make IR emitters which use standard jack plugs, one of those may work just as well.

 

[Kryptix]

I thought I'd steal this thread (sorry OP).

In our living room setup (pics in my signature), we have an AV rack to the left, the panel on the right (with the IR receiver on the far right of the panel -- a long way from the AV rack), and a sub woofer behind us.

How would the RF extender work with that setup? Can the 1000 send IR as well as RF at the same time?

How would I position the IR emitters? The kit is on display, but behind tinted glass (view my sig to get an idea).

What would you advise us to do? At the moment, the tinted glass stops IR going through, unless pointed directly at it, and then the Pioneer panel can't receive the IR because it's about 7 ft. from the rack... and then the sub is behind us!

 

[logiciel]

The 895 transmits RF to some extent, the 1000 does not.
You could use with any IR remote one of the IR-RF-IR extender systems such as the Powermid, place a receiver in the rack behind the glass, and one beside the bass unit, and if necessary attach emitters from those to the individual devices' IR sensors.

 

[Heezy]

Hi,

I'm confused. Isn't the Harmony 1000 capable of sending RF signals? That would mean that the RF Extender has to be on the outside of your cabinet.

If it is capable of sending RF, can you program the Harmony 1000 that it sends RF to device a, b, c... (through the RF Extender) and IR to device x, y...?

Thanks!

 

[SeanT]

Old post, but if it is (can't remember) then you can tell it which signals to send where, just like you can with the 895.

 

[neilball]

Hi,

I'm confused. Isn't the Harmony 1000 capable of sending RF signals? That would mean that the RF Extender has to be on the outside of your cabinet.

If it is capable of sending RF, can you program the Harmony 1000 that it sends RF to device a, b, c... (through the RF Extender) and IR to device x, y...?

Thanks!

Harmony 895, 1000 & 1100 all have built-in Ir on the main remote and can all use the same RF Extender which has a built-in wide angle emitter on the extender as well as 4 additional jack plugs to allow individual mini-emitters to be attached to specific pieces of kit. The 4 ports on the extender can either be individually addressed so only the IR commands for specific piece of equipment is output on a specific mini-emitter or all 4 ports output all commands so you don't have to match the port emitter to a piece of equipment.

Note that the new RF Blaster used with the Harmony 900 is not compatible with the earlier remotes, has 2 ports for use with mini-blasters (these arr deisgned to sit on a shelf in front of kit rather than being attached to the kit itself) and are not addressable i.e. all emitters output all commands. However you can have multiple Blasters associated with the remote and the RF Blasters are addressable.

 

[logiciel]

Yes - the 1000 can send IR direct to devices, or its own form of RF to the extender.
No, the extender does not have to be outside the cabinet.
Yes, you can select - using the Hamrony software - for up to eight devices that they are to be controlled by the extender, and by which pair of emitters if those are being used.
The 900's mini-extenders CAN be assigned - on the 900 itself - to devices in the same way.

 

[SunnyFord]

Yes - the 1000 can send IR direct to devices, or its own form of RF to the extender.
No, the extender does not have to be outside the cabinet.
Yes, you can select - using the Hamrony software - for up to eight devices that they are to be controlled by the extender, and by which pair of emitters if those are being used.
The 900's mini-extenders CAN be assigned - on the 900 itself - to devices in the same way.

Hi I am thinking of getting 1100 with RF Extender as all my gears are behind the wall
Just one Q Will it work with Sky HD???

Many thanks