I have a Denon5803 receiver, with inputs from Hughes HDTV DirectTV box, and RCA UltimateTV DirectTV reciver, A Denon 2900 DVD player. It's controlled by a ProntoPro universal remote and output to a Panasonic 42 inch High Def Plasma screen. I had all the equipment in one room and it was working fine.

I wanted to install all the electronics in a remote location and use Xantech IR distribution components to receive the IR and emit to the components. I installed it all last week and nearly everything works fine - the only problem is the switching between components - eg telling the Denon to switch input from DirectTV to DVD. Even if I use the denon remote, I have to depress the appropriate button several times before it switches.

The IR receiver is embedded in an atlantic technology in-wall speaker below and behind the plasma - I do not beleive that it is plasma interference - also every other code on every other remote or the prontopro is working fine. If I use the actual denon remote and keep the button depressed for a couple of seconds, the switching works.

My question is 1: should I just repeat the code several times on the button in the prontopro or 2: has anyone any idea what could be causing this?

any help/advice would be much appreciated.

Does it switch when the plasma is turned off? That would rule out the plasma. Does it work with speaker grill off. That would eliminate the speaker grill. What exactly do you mean when you say behing the plasma? I could make some guesses but this is case for trouble shooting. If you can't pin it down and repeat codes work thats ok too.

It behaves the same with the plasma switched off. The IR Receiver is located in a punch out in the Atlantic Technology In wall speaker which itself is embedded in the dry wall approx 2 feet below the plasma. The eye of the IR receiver is therefore behind the surface line of the dry wall. I'm currently setting up without the speaker grill. Thanks for the input, I hope the added clarification helps.

Again, details: what model Xantech sensor are you using? What are its featurs? Does it promote its resistance to interference, or some such? I have had problems with signals from some remotes when not using the total garden-variety ones.

It's the 490-00 MICRO LINK see:
http://www.xantech.com
I'd also like to emphasise that every function on every remote I have tried so far appears to work fine, except the input switching, which works fine if I go directly from the remote to the denon

In the complete speculation mode: Perhaps the Denon input codes are dirty learns- going direct they are not strange enough for the receiver not to react but in the process of retransmission(in essence) thru the Xantech something further occurs that causes the receiver to not react. If you are using learned codes could you post one to see if its strange.

dwg

Have you tried replacing the emitter and/or moving it around a little. I have found that sometimes having the emitter slightly off the eye on the receiver works better. You can also try using a mono mini jack from the xantech to the remote control in on the back of the Denon (it works with Yamaha)no need to worry about emitter placement.

Good call. Sometimes an IR system can overload the sensor's input even though about 3 mA goes through the LED. Overloading would also make a slightly dirty code even worse.

Some good help here, I'm using the xantech dual emitters, which seem to be a little less powerfull (the signal is split) I moved them arond a little (now one of them keeps falling off - but that's another story!) and it does make a difference. I then got a mono cable from radio shack and went straight from the xantech connector block into the Denon and that makes a BIG difference - I still have a couple of glitches, but I think that may be down to a dirty read of the IR - I'll re-learn the codes this week and see if it works - the advice was really good though - many thanks to all of you.

This file has all the Denon codes cleanly generated.

[Link: remotecentral.com]

dwg