IR - Extending an IR receiver
General
Applications for extending IR receiver
Moving a MythTV (or any media center machine for that matter) to a location other than that of the display can often be the most affordable solution to a stubborn problem. Noise. Often times, space constraints or aestetics may prevent a machine from residing near the display. Some power-users often centralize their equipment to a machine room in the basement such as this fellow has.
Ultimately, if the machine that needs to be controlled is not within line-of-sight of the remote control or outside of it's nominal range, an IR receiver mounted in the viewing room can be wired to the remotely installed frontend. A classic example is the common practice of moving the machine to a cupboard or room under the stairs to because space isn't available in a small apartment.
Another popular practice with the advent of the wall mounted flat-panel display is to hide all of the existing home theatre equipment in a nearby closet or built into a rack enclosure behind a panel thus creating a streamlined or minimalist decor. In this scenario, each piece of equipmemnt would also need to have it's respective IR signal forwarded or "repeated". An IR control system would be used to collect, concentrate and then deliver the signals from any remote control to the proper piece of equipment (eg. HT receiver, sat/cable box, DVD).
Overview of IR recievers
Cabling for IR signals
Types of IR receivers
Bundled
Early Hauppauge remote with receiver
Hauppauge PVR Infrared receiver cable
Ready Built / Retail
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DIY / Homebrew
Commercial
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Xantech
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Channelvision
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Russound
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Leviton
Preparing the plug end
Cut and prepare the receiver cable
1. Cut the cable 8-10" (15-20cm) from the jack
2. Strip outer jacket using TP strip tool
3. Strip insulation from inner conductors
Identify the cable conductors
Digital Multimeter testing the tip, ring and shiled of the receiver's jack
Prepare and solder Category 5 to jack end of cable
1. Prepare the Category 5 cable
2. Bringing the soldering iron up to temperature
3. Completed solder joint
4. Preparing to place a crimp over the connection
An all-weather low voltage crimp encased with PIC
5. Securing the cables with friction tape allowing for service loop
Punching down to the telephone connecting block
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1. Identify the pairs or conductors needed
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2. Punch down green pairs
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3. Splice and crimp the white/brown conductor
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4. Connect stereo plug to capture card
Preparing the receiver end
Connecting receiver cable to RJ-45 modular connector
1. Prepare the receiver end of the cable
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2. Cut conductors to length for connector insertion
3. Complete the crimp using a modular plug crimp tool
Connecting Category 5 cable to RJ45 keystone
1. Prepare Category 5 cable
2. Punching down keystone jack
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3. Attaching to wallplate
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4. Installing receiver cable
