What does this do? How does this remote contorl extender wo

[mm]

What does this do? How does this remote contorl extennder work?

Can someone explain this to me?

http://www.amazon.com/Next-Generation-Infrared-Control-Extender/dp/B001AZPZTK/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264740857&sr=8-14

Product Description
Still the greatest thing to happen since IR remote control. The
award-winning NextGen Remote Extender is now improved and we call it
Remote Extender Plus. Simply install our battery transmitter in place
of one of the AA or AAA batteries inside your remote control, then
point the receiver or attach the bright eye emitter to the components
you wish to control. Now you’ve converted your existing IR Remote to
Digital RF, giving you the freedom to go from room-to-room and control
your components anywhere in the house. The Remote extender plus gives
you the ability to control two same brand components independently.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

This is pretty much Electronics 101.

The extender itself picks up the IR from your remote, modulates an RF signal
with the waveform, which is in turn picked up by a receiver and converted
back to IR. I use such a device (the X10 Powermid) to let me operate my SACD
player, which sits to the side and behind me.

I've attached a secondary emitter to the receiver, which lets the receiver
be positioned where it best picks up the transmitter's RF signal, while the
emitter is pointed right at the SACD player. The device shown has a
half-dozen emitters, so that each one can be stuck on an individual device
(eg, equipment in a rack).

This is a satisfactory and sufficient answer. I hope no one else will spend
time responding.

 

[James Lothian]

William Sommerwerck wrote:

This is pretty much Electronics 101.

The extender itself picks up the IR from your remote, modulates an RF signal
with the waveform, which is in turn picked up by a receiver and converted
back to IR. I use such a device (the X10 Powermid) to let me operate my SACD
player, which sits to the side and behind me.

I've attached a secondary emitter to the receiver, which lets the receiver
be positioned where it best picks up the transmitter's RF signal, while the
emitter is pointed right at the SACD player. The device shown has a
half-dozen emitters, so that each one can be stuck on an individual device
(eg, equipment in a rack).

This is a satisfactory and sufficient answer. I hope no one else will spend
time responding.


I guess the part that interested the OP is "Simply install our battery

transmitter in place of one of the AA or AAA batteries inside your remote
control". No IR involved.

James

 

[amdx]

"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:hjum84$m1q$1@news.eternal-september.org...

This is pretty much Electronics 101.

The extender itself picks up the IR from your remote, modulates an RF
signal
with the waveform, which is in turn picked up by a receiver and converted
back to IR. I use such a device (the X10 Powermid) to let me operate my
SACD
player, which sits to the side and behind me.

I've attached a secondary emitter to the receiver, which lets the receiver
be positioned where it best picks up the transmitter's RF signal, while
the
emitter is pointed right at the SACD player. The device shown has a
half-dozen emitters, so that each one can be stuck on an individual device
(eg, equipment in a rack).

This is a satisfactory and sufficient answer. I hope no one else will
spend
time responding.

God has spoken!

Or so he thinks.
Mike

 

[Wild_Bill]

Your link goes to a 6-eye wired cable assembly accessory, not to the
receiver or transmitter that actually do the RF conversion.

At the ends of the cable assembly (those little blobs) are 6 IR "eye"
emitters that are applied (double-sided tape) to the front panels of home
entertainment devices, over the IR detector windows which pick up the
original remote controls's IR signals.

The other devices shown below the cable assembly (separate purchase) is what
does the RF conversion, then the signals are sent out along the cable
assembly, to up to 6 pieces of entertainment equipment.

From what I can determine, the actual converter comes with only a single
"eye" which will only control 1 piece of equipment, and 3-eye or 6-eye cable
assemblies (separate purchase) are needed to control more than 1 piece of
equipment.

--
Cheers,
WB
..............


"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:05s4m59k7hs8ot4bqr3u5fdp6g0pgnpuju@4ax.com...

What does this do? How does this remote contorl extennder work?

Can someone explain this to me?

http://www.amazon.com/Next-Generation-Infrared-Control-Extender/dp/B001AZPZTK/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264740857&sr=8-14

Product Description
Still the greatest thing to happen since IR remote control. The
award-winning NextGen Remote Extender is now improved and we call it
Remote Extender Plus. Simply install our battery transmitter in place
of one of the AA or AAA batteries inside your remote control, then
point the receiver or attach the bright eye emitter to the components
you wish to control. Now you've converted your existing IR Remote to
Digital RF, giving you the freedom to go from room-to-room and control
your components anywhere in the house. The Remote extender plus gives
you the ability to control two same brand components independently.

 

[mm]

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:21:28 +0000, James Lothian
<james@jameslothian.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:

William Sommerwerck wrote:
This is pretty much Electronics 101.

The extender itself picks up the IR from your remote, modulates an RF signal
with the waveform, which is in turn picked up by a receiver and converted
back to IR. I use such a device (the X10 Powermid) to let me operate my SACD
player, which sits to the side and behind me.

I've attached a secondary emitter to the receiver, which lets the receiver
be positioned where it best picks up the transmitter's RF signal, while the
emitter is pointed right at the SACD player. The device shown has a
half-dozen emitters, so that each one can be stuck on an individual device
(eg, equipment in a rack).

This is a satisfactory and sufficient answer. I hope no one else will spend
time responding.


I guess the part that interested the OP is "Simply install our battery
transmitter in place of one of the AA or AAA batteries inside your remote
control". No IR involved.

That was a big part of my problem. Now I get it. The transmitter and
a special rechargeable battery they sell, together, are the size of a
regular battery***, and somehow the transmitter knows what kind of IR
the remote is sending out, and sends the same thing in RF.

***An AAA battery, but it has a case to make it fit where an AA goes.

This is very clever.

Thanks a lot.

And thanks to everyone.

>James

 

[mm]

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:05:03 -0500, "Wild_Bill"
<wb_wildbill@XSPAMyahoo.com> wrote:

Your link goes to a 6-eye wired cable assembly accessory, not to the
receiver or transmitter that actually do the RF conversion.

Aha! I was confused.

At the ends of the cable assembly (those little blobs) are 6 IR "eye"
emitters that are applied (double-sided tape) to the front panels of home
entertainment devices, over the IR detector windows which pick up the
original remote controls's IR signals.

Aha!

The other devices shown below the cable assembly (separate purchase) is what

I saw them, but didn't realize their importance until you pointed it
out. They always have "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" or
"Frequently Bought Together". I figured the computer always picks
things to show, whether they are related or not. At least, they've
never been essential before.

does the RF conversion, then the signals are sent out along the cable
assembly, to up to 6 pieces of entertainment equipment.

From what I can determine, the actual converter comes with only a single
"eye" which will only control 1 piece of equipment, and 3-eye or 6-eye cable
assemblies (separate purchase) are needed to control more than 1 piece of
equipment.

Well that sounds pretty good.

I had used for years a little Leapfrog device that sticks to the front
of the remote, which has a receiver/IR transmitter in separate box in
the room with the VCR. The only place I had to put it was on the other
side of the room, 12 feet away, but it worked fine.

But it won't work so far with the new DVDR. Of course the DVDR is
very touchy. With the remote itself only a foot in front of the DVDR,
I have to hold it exactly right or it won't work either. Other tvs
and VCRs haven't been so picky.

Thanks a lot.

And thanks to everyone.

 

[amdx]

"Wild_Bill" <wb_wildbill@XSPAMyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ErF8n.19743$tq1.817@en-nntp-03.dc1.easynews.com...

Your link goes to a 6-eye wired cable assembly accessory, not to the
receiver or transmitter that actually do the RF conversion.

At the ends of the cable assembly (those little blobs) are 6 IR "eye"
emitters that are applied (double-sided tape) to the front panels of home
entertainment devices, over the IR detector windows which pick up the
original remote controls's IR signals.

The other devices shown below the cable assembly (separate purchase) is
what does the RF conversion, then the signals are sent out along the cable
assembly, to up to 6 pieces of entertainment equipment.

From what I can determine, the actual converter comes with only a single
"eye" which will only control 1 piece of equipment, and 3-eye or 6-eye
cable assemblies (separate purchase) are needed to control more than 1
piece of equipment.

--
Cheers,
WB
.............

Blasphemy!

 

[William Sommerwerck]

God has spoken! Or so he thinks.

It's just that I see trivial questions with simple answers that receive an
avalanche of unnecessary responses.

In terms of the original question, my answer was, I believe, complete and
correct. I did not read the section about the transmitter module replacing a
AA or AAA cell, so it's possible my answer was not complete. But it would be
nice if the people who post questions would be specific about what they want
an answer to.

 

[mm]

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:05:03 -0500, "Wild_Bill"
<wb_wildbill@XSPAMyahoo.com> wrote:

.

From what I can determine, the actual converter comes with only a single
"eye" which will only control 1 piece of equipment, and 3-eye or 6-eye cable
assemblies (separate purchase) are needed to control more than 1 piece of
equipment.

It also doesn't say anything about this, but I think the main thing
would control anything it could "see", like if on a table facing the
device or a bunch of devices. But if it is on the same shelf, next to
things, I think it would't work at all unless it had the 6- or 3-ended
wire that sticks on to the controlled-device IR window.


And yes, WS, my question was vague. There were so many parts that
confused me, but I could have listed each.

Cheers,
WB

 

[William Sommerwerck]

And yes, WS, my question was vague. There were so many
parts that confused me, but I could have listed each.

I am now stuck in the embarrassing position of trying to figure out how the
thing works in the first place!

Specifically, how does the battery/transmitter "know" what the IR signal is?
I doubt there's enough optical leakage within the average remote control,
and I don't see a sensor on the battery/transmitter.

The only obvious (???) way would be to read the fluctuation in current as
each pulse is generated. The battery/transmitter would have to have
sufficient series resistance (perhaps a small resistor?), and the remote's
battery (as a whole) could not have sufficient bypassing to reduce the
fluctuation to the point where it could not be reliably.

So... Exactly how does it work?

 

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:55:51 -0800, "William Sommerwerck"
<grizzledgeezer@comcast.net>wrote:

And yes, WS, my question was vague. There were so many
parts that confused me, but I could have listed each.

I am now stuck in the embarrassing position of trying to figure out how the
thing works in the first place!

Specifically, how does the battery/transmitter "know" what the IR signal is?
I doubt there's enough optical leakage within the average remote control,
and I don't see a sensor on the battery/transmitter.

The only obvious (???) way would be to read the fluctuation in current as
each pulse is generated. The battery/transmitter would have to have
sufficient series resistance (perhaps a small resistor?), and the remote's
battery (as a whole) could not have sufficient bypassing to reduce the
fluctuation to the point where it could not be reliably.

So... Exactly how does it work?

By magic of course.

 

[Dave Platt]

I am now stuck in the embarrassing position of trying to figure out how the
thing works in the first place!

Specifically, how does the battery/transmitter "know" what the IR signal is?
I doubt there's enough optical leakage within the average remote control,
and I don't see a sensor on the battery/transmitter.

It's almost certainly sensing the total current being drawn through
the battery system.

The only obvious (???) way would be to read the fluctuation in current as
each pulse is generated. The battery/transmitter would have to have
sufficient series resistance (perhaps a small resistor?), and the remote's
battery (as a whole) could not have sufficient bypassing to reduce the
fluctuation to the point where it could not be reliably.

So... Exactly how does it work?

I'd guess that a remote which uses one or two pulse-modulated IRLEDs
as emitters would have a current pattern which varies from somewhere
vaguely around a milliampere or less (when the LED is off) to 50-100
mA (when the LED is actually lit up).

If the sensor/transmitter sticks 1 ohm in series with its battery's
"+" lead, and senses the voltage across that resistor, it'd see a
voltage which might go from near-zero to around 100 millivolts. That
ought to be enough to trigger some sort of sensitive switch, and turn
the RF emitter on. The resulting 100-millivolt drop in what the
remote control itself "sees" ought not to be enough to cause it to
fail to function correctly.

If a larger voltage drop is acceptable (e.g. if the sensor/transmitter
has an internal battery voltage significantly greater than that of an
alkaline dry-cell) then the sensor might just stick an IR-LED or
optocoupler in series with its battery, and use this as a way of
evaluating the amount of current being drawn.

--
Dave Platt <dplatt@radagast.org> AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

 

[Mark Zenier]

In article <05s4m59k7hs8ot4bqr3u5fdp6g0pgnpuju@4ax.com>,
mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote:

What does this do? How does this remote contorl extennder work?

Can someone explain this to me?

http://www.amazon.com/Next-Generation-Infrared-Control-Extender/dp/B001AZPZTK/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264740857&sr=8-14

Product Description
Still the greatest thing to happen since IR remote control. The
award-winning NextGen Remote Extender is now improved and we call it
Remote Extender Plus. Simply install our battery transmitter in place
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
of one of the AA or AAA batteries inside your remote control, then
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
point the receiver or attach the bright eye emitter to the components
you wish to control. Now you’ve converted your existing IR Remote to
Digital RF, giving you the freedom to go from room-to-room and control
your components anywhere in the house. The Remote extender plus gives
you the ability to control two same brand components independently.

So, that sounds like an interesting way to pick up the signal. It
must use the current drawn by the LED driver in the remote. Better
hope the remote doesn't have too good a power supply capacitor in it.

The transmitter must have some lithium cells in it. Hmmm, What happens
if the other battery in the remote goes dead?

Mark Zenier mzenier@eskimo.com
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

 

[Arfa Daily]

"Dave Platt" <dplatt@radagast.org> wrote in message
news:1b6c37-qqt.ln1@radagast.org...

I am now stuck in the embarrassing position of trying to figure out how
the
thing works in the first place!

Specifically, how does the battery/transmitter "know" what the IR signal
is?
I doubt there's enough optical leakage within the average remote control,
and I don't see a sensor on the battery/transmitter.

It's almost certainly sensing the total current being drawn through
the battery system.

The only obvious (???) way would be to read the fluctuation in current as
each pulse is generated. The battery/transmitter would have to have
sufficient series resistance (perhaps a small resistor?), and the remote's
battery (as a whole) could not have sufficient bypassing to reduce the
fluctuation to the point where it could not be reliably.

So... Exactly how does it work?

I'd guess that a remote which uses one or two pulse-modulated IRLEDs
as emitters would have a current pattern which varies from somewhere
vaguely around a milliampere or less (when the LED is off) to 50-100
mA (when the LED is actually lit up).

If the sensor/transmitter sticks 1 ohm in series with its battery's
"+" lead, and senses the voltage across that resistor, it'd see a
voltage which might go from near-zero to around 100 millivolts. That
ought to be enough to trigger some sort of sensitive switch, and turn
the RF emitter on. The resulting 100-millivolt drop in what the
remote control itself "sees" ought not to be enough to cause it to
fail to function correctly.

That would be my guess, too. IR remote controllers draw huge current peaks,
to the point where a quite large electrolytic is often connected across the
batteries, to form a low impedance current source as a 'helper' to the
batteries on those peaks. If that cap goes open, the result is a very
insensitive remote, even with brand new batteries, due to very weak IR
emission from the transmitting diode(s).

Arfa

 

[mm]

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:04:01 GMT, mzenier@eskimo.com (Mark Zenier)
wrote:

In article <05s4m59k7hs8ot4bqr3u5fdp6g0pgnpuju@4ax.com>,
mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote:
What does this do? How does this remote contorl extennder work?

Can someone explain this to me?

http://www.amazon.com/Next-Generation-Infrared-Control-Extender/dp/B001AZPZTK/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264740857&sr=8-14

Product Description
Still the greatest thing to happen since IR remote control. The
award-winning NextGen Remote Extender is now improved and we call it
Remote Extender Plus. Simply install our battery transmitter in place
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
of one of the AA or AAA batteries inside your remote control, then
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
point the receiver or attach the bright eye emitter to the components
you wish to control. Now you’ve converted your existing IR Remote to
Digital RF, giving you the freedom to go from room-to-room and control
your components anywhere in the house. The Remote extender plus gives
you the ability to control two same brand components independently.


So, that sounds like an interesting way to pick up the signal. It
must use the current drawn by the LED driver in the remote. Better
hope the remote doesn't have too good a power supply capacitor in it.

The transmitter must have some lithium cells in it. Hmmm, What happens
if the other battery in the remote goes dead?

Well, then it wouldn't work even if you were in the same room.

But you're right. Now you'll have two kinds of batteries running on
two schedules. Apparently this transmitter has a battery even
smaller than an AAA that has to be recharged because they mention
rechargers on the same page, or at least on the page that has the dome
shaped receiver. So that's one more thing to do. And when the remote
stops working, you won't know whether the regular battery is dead or
the rechargeable battery needs recharging. That as much as anything
is why I hope not to need this. (I guess I could both recharge and
replace, and put the partly discharged non-rechargeable battery in my
bag of partly used batteries that I keep in the refrigerator. I try to
keep as few batteries as possible in that bag. Some would just throw
them away, but I don't belive in wasting like that.)

I hope I don't need this or anything new, but I'm planning in case my
LeapFrog (not the one they are still selling) doesn't work anymore.

Mark Zenier mzenier@eskimo.com
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

 

[William Sommerwerck]

But you're right. Now you'll have two kinds of batteries running on
two schedules. Apparently this transmitter has a battery even
smaller than an AAA that has to be recharged because they mention
rechargers on the same page, or at least on the page that has the dome
shaped receiver. So that's one more thing to do. And when the remote
stops working, you won't know whether the regular battery is dead or
the rechargeable battery needs recharging. That as much as anything
is why I hope not to need this. (I guess I could both recharge and
replace, and put the partly discharged non-rechargeable battery in my
bag of partly used batteries that I keep in the refrigerator. I try to
keep as few batteries as possible in that bag. Some would just throw
them away, but I don't belive in wasting like that.)

It would seem to be rather foolish to deign a sealed transmitter/battery
that requires recharging. Perhaps it takes a AAA cell...

Regardless, I be happy with my Powermid.