anyone have any comments/thoughts/tips on these and where & what to
buy?

I want to hide away the dvd vcr etc in a cupboard and control them
with the door closed...seems simple but usual bewildering array of
products, prices etc etc

thanks in advance for any thoughts

cheers
JimK

On 16 Aug, 11:53, Owain wrote:
On 16 Aug, 11:26, jim wrote:

anyone have any comments/thoughts/tips on these and where & what to
buy?
I want to hide away the dvd vcr etc in a cupboard and control them
with the door closed...seems simple but usual bewildering array of
products, prices etc etc

Use something IR-transparent for the cupboard door.

Owain

mmm well cupboard door exists and is oak!

what sorts of materials are IR transparent anyhow??

ta
jimK

In article ,
jim writes:
anyone have any comments/thoughts/tips on these and where & what to
buy?

I want to hide away the dvd vcr etc in a cupboard and control them
with the door closed...seems simple but usual bewildering array of
products, prices etc etc

thanks in advance for any thoughts

You might find it rather inconvenient trying to remote control
items with no visual feedback from them.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 17 Aug, 08:29, (Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
In article ,
jim writes:

anyone have any comments/thoughts/tips on these and where & what to
buy?

I want to hide away the dvd vcr etc in a cupboard and control them
with the door closed...seems simple but usual bewildering array of
products, prices etc etc

thanks in advance for any thoughts

You might find it rather inconvenient trying to remote control
items with no visual feedback from them.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

well currently said items are so far away that us oldies can't see the
titchy displays anyway!
The main device to hide is a HDD recorder - with that one all feedback
is done thru TV screen.
The idea seems popular and well established - I'm just fishing for
experiences good&bad with the various products out there.

JimK

"jim" wrote in message
...
On 17 Aug, 08:29, (Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
In article
,
jim writes:

anyone have any comments/thoughts/tips on these and where & what to
buy?

I want to hide away the dvd vcr etc in a cupboard and control them
with the door closed...seems simple but usual bewildering array of
products, prices etc etc

thanks in advance for any thoughts

You might find it rather inconvenient trying to remote control
items with no visual feedback from them.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

well currently said items are so far away that us oldies can't see the
titchy displays anyway!
The main device to hide is a HDD recorder - with that one all feedback
is done thru TV screen.
The idea seems popular and well established - I'm just fishing for
experiences good&bad with the various products out there.

JimK

If you have a Virgin Media box, then only a limited number of these devices
work, as they use IrDA...

If you buy from somewhere like Argos, who offer a no quibble refund promise
, then you can always take it back if it does not work well.

Toby...

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:06:36 -0700, Owain wrote:

On 16 Aug, 22:31, jim wrote:
Use something IR-transparent for the cupboard door.
mmm well cupboard door exists and is oak! what sorts of materials are
IR transparent anyhow??

Not oak!

Some types of smokey glass, mesh, open-weave fabric, etc.

My video/remote extender has a repeater on the end of a longish wire
which you put near the receiver on the HDD recorder. It's just a 1/2"
cube of red plastic. The actual signals are sent by radio.

On 17 Aug, 20:35, PCPaul wrote:
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:06:36 -0700, Owain wrote:
On 16 Aug, 22:31, jim wrote:
Use something IR-transparent for the cupboard door.
mmm well cupboard door exists and is oak! what sorts of materials are
IR transparent anyhow??

Not oak!

Some types of smokey glass, mesh, open-weave fabric, etc.

My video/remote extender has a repeater on the end of a longish wire
which you put near the receiver on the HDD recorder. It's just a 1/2"
cube of red plastic. The actual signals are sent by radio.

aha - that's the kind of thing I had in mind - what is it please?
where from etc?

cheers
jim

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:50:31 -0700, jim wrote:

On 17 Aug, 20:35, PCPaul wrote:
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:06:36 -0700, Owain wrote:
On 16 Aug, 22:31, jim wrote:
Use something IR-transparent for the cupboard door.
mmm well cupboard door exists and is oak! what sorts of materials
are IR transparent anyhow??

Not oak!

Some types of smokey glass, mesh, open-weave fabric, etc.

My video/remote extender has a repeater on the end of a longish wire
which you put near the receiver on the HDD recorder. It's just a 1/2"
cube of red plastic. The actual signals are sent by radio.

aha - that's the kind of thing I had in mind - what is it please? where
from etc?

It was from Tesco IIRC - says 'Philex 27988HSQ' on it but I think it was
something more Tesco-y on the original box.

It was definitely a video extender not just a remote extender. It sends
the video from the Tx to the Rx using 2.4GHz wireless (which does suffer
from interference when the laptop gets between them) and the remote
signals get sent back on a different channel and blasted through the
extension to the freeview box.

We use it to control the downstairs freeview box from the bedroom TV.

I think it was only £25ish.

Rummages here you go. It was an earlier version of this, I think:

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-5494.aspx

As somebody already said, the only thing to watch for is Virgin boxes
that use IrDA instead of the usual infra red system - they won't work
with it. Anything you can control with a One-For-All type remote will be
fine.

Huge wrote:

I have a remote extender that came from Maplin. I use it to drive the
stereo from the kitchen.

Via Longcross?

On 18 Aug, 16:15, PCPaul wrote:
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:50:31 -0700, jim wrote:
On 17 Aug, 20:35, PCPaul wrote:
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:06:36 -0700, Owain wrote:
On 16 Aug, 22:31, jim wrote:
Use something IR-transparent for the cupboard door.
mmm well cupboard door exists and is oak! what sorts of materials
are IR transparent anyhow??

Not oak!

Some types of smokey glass, mesh, open-weave fabric, etc.

My video/remote extender has a repeater on the end of a longish wire
which you put near the receiver on the HDD recorder. It's just a 1/2"
cube of red plastic. The actual signals are sent by radio.

aha - that's the kind of thing I had in mind - what is it please? where
from etc?

It was from Tesco IIRC - says 'Philex 27988HSQ' on it but I think it was
something more Tesco-y on the original box.

It was definitely a video extender not just a remote extender. It sends
the video from the Tx to the Rx using 2.4GHz wireless (which does suffer
from interference when the laptop gets between them) and the remote
signals get sent back on a different channel and blasted through the
extension to the freeview box.

We use it to control the downstairs freeview box from the bedroom TV.

I think it was only £25ish.

Rummages here you go. It was an earlier version of this, I think:

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-5494.aspx

As somebody already said, the only thing to watch for is Virgin boxes
that use IrDA instead of the usual infra red system - they won't work
with it. Anything you can control with a One-For-All type remote will be
fine.

ah I'm not really bothered about video tx just relaying IR command
into the closed cupboard from outside - was imagining a wire from a rx
to a tx inside the cupboard, and a power supply - nothing too fancy or
involving different rooms at the mo....

cheers
JimK

On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:31:41 -0700, jim wrote:

On 18 Aug, 16:15, PCPaul wrote:
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:50:31 -0700, jim wrote:
On 17 Aug, 20:35, PCPaul wrote:
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:06:36 -0700, Owain wrote:
On 16 Aug, 22:31, jim wrote:
Use something IR-transparent for the cupboard door.
mmm well cupboard door exists and is oak! what sorts of materials
are IR transparent anyhow??

Not oak!

Some types of smokey glass, mesh, open-weave fabric, etc.

My video/remote extender has a repeater on the end of a longish wire
which you put near the receiver on the HDD recorder. It's just a
1/2" cube of red plastic. The actual signals are sent by radio.

aha - that's the kind of thing I had in mind - what is it please?
where from etc?

It was from Tesco IIRC - says 'Philex 27988HSQ' on it but I think it
was something more Tesco-y on the original box.

It was definitely a video extender not just a remote extender. It sends
the video from the Tx to the Rx using 2.4GHz wireless (which does
suffer from interference when the laptop gets between them) and the
remote signals get sent back on a different channel and blasted through
the extension to the freeview box.

We use it to control the downstairs freeview box from the bedroom TV.

I think it was only £25ish.

Rummages here you go. It was an earlier version of this, I think:

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-5494.aspx

As somebody already said, the only thing to watch for is Virgin boxes
that use IrDA instead of the usual infra red system - they won't work
with it. Anything you can control with a One-For-All type remote will
be fine.

ah I'm not really bothered about video tx just relaying IR command into
the closed cupboard from outside - was imagining a wire from a rx to a
tx inside the cupboard, and a power supply - nothing too fancy or
involving different rooms at the mo....

cheers
JimK

Well you don't *have* to use the video bit...

TBH I haven't seen a remote rx except for things the manufacturer adds.
But most things with an 'external IR' socket actually use it to control
other things - a VCR changing channels on your TV, for instance.

You could ask on alt.electronics, someone there could probably come up
with a wired repeater circuit in no time!

On 18 Aug, 21:55, PCPaul wrote:
On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:31:41 -0700, jim wrote:
On 18 Aug, 16:15, PCPaul wrote:
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:50:31 -0700, jim wrote:
On 17 Aug, 20:35, PCPaul wrote:
On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:06:36 -0700, Owain wrote:
On 16 Aug, 22:31, jim wrote:
Use something IR-transparent for the cupboard door.
mmm well cupboard door exists and is oak! what sorts of materials
are IR transparent anyhow??

Not oak!

Some types of smokey glass, mesh, open-weave fabric, etc.

My video/remote extender has a repeater on the end of a longish wire
which you put near the receiver on the HDD recorder. It's just a
1/2" cube of red plastic. The actual signals are sent by radio.

aha - that's the kind of thing I had in mind - what is it please?
where from etc?

It was from Tesco IIRC - says 'Philex 27988HSQ' on it but I think it
was something more Tesco-y on the original box.

It was definitely a video extender not just a remote extender. It sends
the video from the Tx to the Rx using 2.4GHz wireless (which does
suffer from interference when the laptop gets between them) and the
remote signals get sent back on a different channel and blasted through
the extension to the freeview box.

We use it to control the downstairs freeview box from the bedroom TV.

I think it was only £25ish.

Rummages here you go. It was an earlier version of this, I think:

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-5494.aspx

As somebody already said, the only thing to watch for is Virgin boxes
that use IrDA instead of the usual infra red system - they won't work
with it. Anything you can control with a One-For-All type remote will
be fine.

ah I'm not really bothered about video tx just relaying IR command into
the closed cupboard from outside - was imagining a wire from a rx to a
tx inside the cupboard, and a power supply - nothing too fancy or
involving different rooms at the mo....

cheers
JimK

Well you don't *have* to use the video bit...

that's true -I'll have a gander thanks

jim