Next Gen IR to RF extender

Talk about speakers, TVs, receivers, STBs, etc.
Post Reply
christoph86

Posts: 111
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:15 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

Next Gen IR to RF extender

#1

Post by christoph86 » Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:06 pm

Anyone here have any experience with the Next Gen IR to RF extender kit? http://www.smarthome.com/80430/NextGen- ... MHz/p.aspx

Looking to put a few IR items out of sight including xbox 360 and then placing the eye with them. Reviews seem to be pretty good overall. I will be using the RCA RCRP05B JP1 remote with this setup. Just want to get some reviews if anyone has used or is using this device. Looks like a good solution for a small price.

Thanks

smcmillan2

Posts: 82
Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:09 pm
Location: Farmington, MI

HTPC Specs: Show details

#2

Post by smcmillan2 » Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:33 pm

christoph86 wrote:Anyone here have any experience with the Next Gen IR to RF extender kit? http://www.smarthome.com/80430/NextGen- ... MHz/p.aspx
I used one with a Harmony remote for about 3 years to control my deck speakers (receiver & Linux music server in basement). Worked "just alright" for me - Missed keypresses, especially when the batteries were running low, range wasn't great outside (~20 feet away through a single exterior wall) but for the price it was workable. Also purchased one for my father for the same purpose, pretty much same results at his place.

The 2/3 AAA batteries didn't last long in my Harmony so I would keep 4 of them on a rotating charge. Battery lifespan was about 1 year.

Finally got tired of fighting it and went with a Global Cache IP2IR unit, built a web page using Perl to send commands to it and drive it with an Android tablet. No misses, no battery worries, great range, etc., but given you are looking to use it inside many of my problems would be moot points for you.

All in all I would say it was worth the $38 I paid for it, but there are better (and more expensive) solutions out there. If you can maintain line of site an IR extender may do the job for you - http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=1 ... 1&format=2. I use a similar product with HTPC in the basement, receiver in cabinet behind my viewing position. Works a treat.

mdavej

Posts: 1477
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:52 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#3

Post by mdavej » Wed Nov 27, 2013 10:01 pm

Next Gen is usually marginal in a Harmony. You should have better results using it in the RCA, in both performance and battery life.

The monoprice repeater would be the cheapest, easiest solution though.

smcmillan2

Posts: 82
Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:09 pm
Location: Farmington, MI

HTPC Specs: Show details

#4

Post by smcmillan2 » Thu Nov 28, 2013 2:03 am

mdavej wrote:Next Gen is usually marginal in a Harmony. You should have better results using it in the RCA, in both performance and battery life.
Yeah, I should have mentioned I've tried the Next Gen unit with various Harmony remotes - 688, 676, 650, and one of the very old 628 models. Similar reactions from each, no experience with the RCA remotes. Moving the RF transceiver into different battery slots in the remote would sometimes produce better results. The 650 really sucks up the battery, likely due to the color LCD display with motion sensor.
mdavej wrote:The monoprice repeater would be the cheapest, easiest solution though.
If line-of-sight to the receiver isn't an issue, absolutely. I'm running a Xantech kit with ~40 feet of extension cable on it to get the receiver to the TV and the emitters to the devices they have to control and have zero problems with it and any of the aforementioned remotes. This is indoor vs. the deck setup I described in my initial post.

If line-of-sight is an issue, for $38 the Next Gen is definitely worth a shot. I just thought the OP should be aware of some of the possible issues.

barnabas1969

Posts: 5738
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2011 7:23 pm
Location: Titusville, Florida, USA

HTPC Specs: Show details

#5

Post by barnabas1969 » Thu Nov 28, 2013 2:50 am

Another option, if cost isn't a big factor, is to buy the AR-RX18G remote and one (or more) of the RF extenders for it. I have two of these remotes, and love them. I also have two of the RF extenders just sitting in a box since I no longer need them in my setup (I was using both RF extenders because I had more blasters than one extender could drive). They worked well when I was using them... I could control the components from outside the house, 40 feet from the components.

EDIT: I just picked up another AR-RX18G on e-bay (used without the charging stand) for fifty bucks. Deal! I already have two charging stands, and... if you don't have the charging stand, the battery can be removed and charged in one of those wall chargers for lithium-ion camera batteries (I already have two of the wall chargers also).

christoph86

Posts: 111
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:15 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#6

Post by christoph86 » Thu Nov 28, 2013 1:33 pm

Thanks for the ideas guys. Unfortunately if I go with the planned set up, line of sight is most likely not an option. I will look into the AR-RX18G some more. That could be a viable option as well. Considering it looks like I would need at least one other transmitter for the next gen as a backup, they will be about the same price if I can catch a decent deal on the remote. I do have an old camera lithium battery charger as well.

barnabas1969

Posts: 5738
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2011 7:23 pm
Location: Titusville, Florida, USA

HTPC Specs: Show details

#7

Post by barnabas1969 » Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:10 pm

The AR-RX18G is the best remote I've ever owned. I have never owned a Harmony. Both remotes perform very similar functions. There are some differences. I'll list what I know below:
  • The AR-RX18G does not have power-state-tracking, but the Harmony does. I've never had a problem setting up activities/macros to handle things, even without power-state-tracking. For the past 10 years, I've never had a remote that had power-state tracking, and I've always found ways to deal with it. And, as I replaced equipment over that period of time, I made sure to buy stuff that had discreet on/off commands.
  • The AR-RX18G has better buttons that last longer than the buttons on the Harmony. Lots of people complain about the poor durability of the Harmony. My first AR-RX18G remote is 4-5 years old and gets used daily. All the buttons still work fine. I've had to replace the battery once so far. The battery I have now is beginning to show signs of age (it doesn't hold a charge very long, so I have to put it on the charger every night, where it used to last 3-5 days), and it's about time to replace it again. The batteries can be found cheap on e-bay/Amazon because the same battery is used in many different things like cameras.
  • The Harmony remotes must be paired to an RF extender. The AR-RX18G does not. This simplifies the setup of the AR-RX18G, but it also means that you can't use multiple remotes with RF repeaters in multiple rooms, because they will all respond to every remote that has the RF transmitter turned on. So, it's only useful for RF repeaters to be controlled with one remote. All other AR-RX18G remotes in the house must have the RF transmitter turned off in the settings menu, limiting them to IR only. The Harmony remotes don't have this limitation.
  • The AR-RX18G programming website is kinda slow, but it has improved over the years with new features being added occasionally. It works well once you get the hang of it. The programming website requires the use of Internet Explorer because of the ActiveX plugin that must be used, so this limits you to Windows for programming the remote.
  • The AR-RX18G is directly compatible with some satellite receivers' RF capability. I can't remember which ones. Check the documentation for the remote. The remotes can directly control two different satellite receivers using a pairing scheme that I wish they had used for the RF extenders.

Post Reply