Controlling audio-visual equipment in a cupboard or in a different room

The problem

You've hidden your Sky or Virgin box, DVD player and amplifer in a smart cabinet, the cupboard under the stairs or somewhere else in the house. The result is neat and tidy, but now you have to have the cabinet doors open (or worse - go walk-about) just so that you can change channels or mute the sound because the telephone is ringing. Sound familiar? If so, then read on - because the solution is just a mouse click or two away!

How remote control extenders work

Remote control extenders work with your existing infra-red remote controls (or a universal remote control if you prefer). An IR receiver picks up the signal from the light emitting diode (LED) in the end of your remote control. This signal is processed by some electronics and is then delivered to one or more LED emitters that are either in line of sight of (or directly attached to) the equipment you want to control. Those LEDs 'flash' in just the same way as the LED at the end of your remote control, effectively fooling your equipment into thinking you are standing in front of it with its remote.

You need to be aware that most of these systems lack any built-in intelligence. They are designed to receive a range of infra-red signals from remote controls and replicate them faithfully. They don't recognise that you are operating a Sky remote control and so only deliver the signal to your Sky box - they simply receive a signal and send it to every device within range of their LED emitters. It is up to each individual piece of audio-visual equipment to 'decide' whether it recognises the signal it receives and responds accordingly. Happily, most equipment only responds to signals from its own remote control (or a universal remote control 'pretending' to be its own remote control) so everything works just fine - but if you put more than one Sky box (for example) in your cupboard then you're going to have problems!

Main issues to consider when choosing a remote control extender

To decide which is the right remote control extender for your situation you need to consider the following questions:

• Is your audio-visual equipment in a cupboard that you can point your remote control at, or is it in a different room (or in a cupboard that you can't easily point your remote at)?
• How many audio-visual devices do you need to be able to control?
• If the equipment is in a different room (or in a cupboard that you can't easily point your remote at), could you run a cable to your equipment location from somewhere that you can easily point your remote control at? If you can't then you need to limit your choice to wireless remote control extenders.

Controlling audio-visual equipment in a cupboard that you can point your remote control at

Almost any remote control extender system will work in a situation where you can easily point your remote control at the cupboard housing your audio-visual equipment, but it is worth bearing in mind that some models are specifically tailored to this particular application. The simplest of these remote control extenders consist of a small box which houses the IR receiver and associated electronics with a cable (around 3 metres in length) attached which has two LEDs at the end. The box sits outside the cabinet and the cable is routed into the cabinet so that the LEDs can be placed directly over the IR sensors built into the audio-visual equipment itself.

Examples of this type of remote control extender are the Marmitek StereoControl (which can control 2 AV devices), the Marmitek Invisible Control (which can control 2 AV devices as supplied, but can take an additional IR emitter cable to control 2 more), the Marmitek Invisible Control4 which can control 4 AV devices as supplied) and the Marmitek Invisible Control6 which can control 6 AV devices as supplied).

If you want a really discreet solution (and/or need to control more than 6 AV devices) then it would be worth taking a look at the Marmitek IR Control8 remote control extender set. This model separates the IR receiver from its associated electronics so the IR receiver can be very small. There's even a panel mount version of the IR receiver available as an accessory.

Controlling audio-visual equipment in a different room (or in a cupboard that you can't point your remote at)

If you've got your audio visual equipment in a different room then some system exists for getting the output of that equipment to the room you're actually in, and sometimes that system provides at least part of the solution for controlling your source equipment.

Many homes already contain a network of co-axial wiring which was originally intended to deliver a signal from the main television aerial to televisions dotted around the home but which has increasingly been pressed into service to distribute the outputs of a range of audio-visual devices, with the Sky box being one of the most popular. Given that the cable exists it is relatively simple to use it to send a remote control signal back to the audio visual equipment it is connected to. The Marmitek VideoControl3 consist of a small 'box' attached to a short cable with an infrared (IR) receiver on the end and a similar 'box' attached to a cable with three light emitting diodes (LEDs) on the end. The first box connects between a television and its co-axial cable, and the IR receiver is placed in line of sight of someone watching the television. The second box is connected between one of the pieces of audio-visual equipment you want to control and its co-axial cable, and the LEDs are attached (using the self-adhesive tape on the back) to the front of each of the devices you want to control. Controlling your equipment is then just a matter of pointing your remote control at the IR recever, which relays the signal to the equipment you want to control via the LEDs attached to it. You can buy extra VideoControl3 infrared receivers to allow your equipment to be controlled from anywhere in the house that has a co-axial cable running to it.

If you're using a wireless audio/video sender to distribute the output of your audio visual equipment then the chances are it already has a return infrared path which allows you to control the equipment it is connected to. Similarly, wired systems such as the Marmitek MegaView51 and the Marmitek MegaView61 (which distribute audio & video over cat-5 cable) incorporate everything you need to allow an infrared remote control signal to be sent back along the cable which is delivering your pictures and sound.

If you can't use a system that's already in place to send your IR control signal back to the equipment you're trying to control then it's time to start thinking about installing a cable specifically for that purpose. You could install a dedicated co-ax cable and a Videocontrol3 as described above, but given that it is becoming increasingly common for homes to have cat-5 wiring installed for a variery of purposes including computer networking, home control and audio-visual distribution it makes sense to use this type of cable for your IR control signals. The Marmitek IR Control8 remote control extender set mentioned earlier can support three IR receivers and it is a relatively simple task to extend the supplied cables using cat-5.

Where using existing cabling or installing new cabling isn't possible or desirable, wireless infrared extender setups such as the Marmitek Powermid XL, the Marmitek Powermid XS or the Marmitek GigaControl450 offer a simple solution. Indeed they are so simple to setup and use that they are the first choice for many users wanting to control audio-visual equipment wherever it may be located but you do need to be aware that if your neighbours have the same type of wireless remote control extender and the same type of audio-visual equipment (such as a Sky box) then there is a danger that you will be controlling each other's equipment (though the frequency selection facility on the GigaControl450 does reduce this risk)! All three of these devices consist of an IR receiver and IR transmitter pair which can 'talk' to each other using radio frequency (RF). The IR receiver sits (somewhere convenient) in line of sight of your remote control and the IR transmitter sits either in line of sight of the equipment you want to control or is connected to that equipment using an IR extender cable such as the Marmitek IR Eye (in just the same way as with the systems for controlling equipment in a cupboard we looked at earlier. Controlling your equipment is now simply a matter of pointing your remote control at the IR recever, which relays the signal wirelessly to the IR transmitter, which in turn relays it to the equipment you want to control. As all compatible IR receivers will 'talk' to all compatible IR transmitters it is perfectly possible to build a cheap, simple and effective multiroom control system using these devices.

If you are thinking of using a Powermid or GigaControl450 to control equipment in a closed cupboard you need to be aware that an IR transmitter can only drive one IR extender cable so with a basic setup you are limited to controlling just two devices in a closed cupboard. However, the IR transmitter will also control anything in its line of sight so if you have a very deep cupboard it is sometimes possible to put the IR transmitter inside and possibly even do away with the need for an IR extender cable altogether as a result. Alternatively, as an IR receiver will 'talk' to any number of IR transmitters, it is possible to locate multiple IR transmitters and IR extender cables at the cupboard location, all of which are controlled by the single IR receiver.

Turning your audio-visual equipment power on and off

So far in this article we've concentrated on controlling your audio-visual equipment using remote controls. Most of those remote controls will be capable of putting your equipment into stand-by mode, but if you want to turn the power off completely then you probably need to go to the mains socket(s) to which your audio-visual devices are connected and flick a switch. One way round this is to wire your audio-visual equipment through an X10 appliance module, which will give you the added benefit of remote control of the power supply too. See our introduction to X10 article for further details.

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