I am configuring a whole house audio system for a client and unfortunately the pre-wiring in the house had only speaker cables to the ceilings of 6 rooms (fortunatley 14 gauge)back via home run to an equipment closet. The wires were not run to a wall location for a future autoformer volume control nor was there any control wires run for IR. Naturally when I get called to the scene the house is three years old and no good way to retrofit for IR wiring in each of these rooms so therefore must resort to a wireless solution.

I prefer RF if I can find a reasonable learnable remote with good RF range and reliability. Reliability and RF may be an oxymoron as having read many of the forums on RF devices. The house is rather large at about 8,000 square feet and estimate that the fartheest room from the equipment closet is about 80 feet so the liberally rated systems advertising at 100 feet are typically a pipe dream with 50 to 70 feet a more realistic figure if that at all. Fortunately, the location is away from many houses and far away from any transmission ssources so I expect the RF background to be reasonably quiet.

Any recommendations for a good RF remote out there with true 100 foot range or at least 80 feet. I may purchase 2 to 3. It will operate a Harmon Kardon PA4000 multichannel amp, a Denon 3801 or 4802, and a TBD seprate tuner/preamp and CD player.

I would probably recommend that you get a One For All Producer 8 or a Radio Shack 15-1995, and build yourself a JP1 cable.

Both of those remotes are RF/IR remotes, the RS remote has been discontinued but can be picked up for $50 from stores that still have it in stock. The OFA remote generally retails for about $100, but can be found on ebay for anywhere between $20 and $50.

Both of these remotes have an extesive library of setup codes, but there's no guarantee that they have EVERY code that you need, so that's where the JP1 cable comes into play. This will enable you to add codes for almost anything, and you can configure them exactly how you (or your client) sees fit.

You should probably pick yourself up a remote like the OFA Cinema 7 or RS 15-1994, which you can use to learn from client's OEM remotes and diagnose the IR signals, this will help you create new codes for them. (You can't do this with the Producer 8's)

JP1 details: [Link: hifi-remote.com]

Rob.
http://www.hifi-remote.com

Paul,

I don't know if this helps, but I have had good luck with the RCA IR extenders. Since all of the transmitters are the same, you could put one transmitter and an inexpensive remote in each room ( eliminating taking the one remote room to room ). I assume you would only want control from the rooms with the speakers. In one of my rooms I disected a transmitter and placed it inside a retrofit electrical box. A decora wall plate with a single 1/2 inch hole is pretty unobtrusive, too.

As far as range is concerned, I have gotten better than 150 feet outdoors with one. Of course depending on the number of walls, etc that would be reduced.

Scott

Thanks for the input. For the time being I have elected to purchase a couple of One for all Producer 8's with the RF receiver and try the range in the given home. I will keep in mind the IR extenders (PowerMid X-10, Recoton and RCA) as a last resort since I don't want to junk up the installation with a lot of cheap accessories laying around. I do like the idea of retrofitting an extender behind a wall plate.

Paul, I am doing virtually the same thing for a new house I am having built, so let me know how the Producer 8 works.

A question for others on the forum:

My quest for a cost-effective RF universal has so far come up with the following alternatives:
OFA Producer 8
Radio Shack 15-1995
Jensen SC-595
Zenith ZEN550

My main concern is RF distance. Any experts out there have opinions? Other models I don't know about? Anything new coming out, since I don't need to buy for 4 months?

Jeff

I don't know anything about the Jensen or the Zenith, but if you want the 15-1995 you better move quick as it was discontinued a while ago, so you'll have a tought time finding any RS stores that still have them. You can get the URC-9800 for reasonable prices on ebay, so that's probably your best bet.

I would advise sticking with either the 9800 or the 15-1995 as they are both UEIC remotes, which means they support advanced codes and can be hacked using JP1.

Rob.

Thanks, Rob!

Paul, let me know how the One for All works.

Jeff

I purchased a OFA producer 8 and for the $35 on e-bay it is a nice product. Thanks to Rob et al I was able to build a programming interface with parts in my shop in about 30 minutes and then used the software to program and configure the unit. The software will take you quite a few hours to get the hang of it. Nice hacking guys!! While I will use the OFA producer 8 on some project I am disappointed in the RF range which will make it unusable for my whole house audio project. The range is no more than 50 feet or do from room to room. I need approx 80 feet.

RF range from unit to unit can vary tremendously. I have an Atkis RF remote for my Denon 5800 and it works 90% of the time up to 80 feet in the same house. I am sure another producer will vary based upon the slight tuning differences and component tolerances. I used to be the vp of engineering for an automotive tier 1 supplier which designed and manufactured rf remote keyfob transmitters and receivers also used at 413 mhz using super-regen and superheterodyne designs very similar to what is used in the consumer electronic remotes and the range would vary +/- 30% or so based upon component tolerances. Low power RF in the house at 413 mhz is basically an unreliable control mechanism. At 50 feet or less and at 80-90% hit rates it may be acceptable to most but I need something more reliable.

I am contemplating the prospect of an alternative using IR modulated on the coax distrubuted throughout the house. This is a good alternative if you have a coax outlet in most of the rooms you wish to have a control input in. It is also a more expensive solution yet less than some of the high end remotes such as the TC-1 with RF interface. I have used channel vision IR modulator engines on a coax distribution network with channel vision wall plates to accept an IR target. It costs approx $60 per room plus another $150-$200 for the IR/coax modulator.

I have this basic concept working flawlessly on my whole house video distribution system and it is rock solid reliable. Well you get what you pay for sometimes.

I have experimented with several of the RF repeaters and remotes noted for many customers over the years and have found one thing to be consistant:
NO house provides the same performance of these devices as another house. I have found in track homes where the floor plans are the same as 15 others in the development that the fine print almost all of these devices are true when they state: "Range is (you fill in the blank} depending upon conditions". There just never seems to be consistancy. Something that works 100 feet away in one direction of the house may not work only 20 feet away with just one wall in the way. What I have come to use is a Xantech product called an ExtraLink II which is a repeater system that utilizes the existing Coax throughout the house. It allows a range of 1000' "cable from A to B not Distance" which has worked for me on homes over 20,000 sq ft. If you have cable jacks in the rooms you are looking to have remotes, it may be well worth looking into.

My Moto: If you can't find the answers your looking for, try changing the question

Given any thought to a keypad based system? It shouldn't be too much trouble to interrupt the speaker runs and loop them through a single wall location in each room. There is a multiroom product from Matrix Audio that multiplexes their control signal on top of the speaker cabling. As a bonus you'll get multizone as well.

jcmitch

Yes I am familiar with the matrix audio product and early on considered it yet the wiring is in the ceilings for many of the rooms and the house is such that there is no access to an attic to get at the ceiling wires. If I reroute the wiring I would be cutting out wallboard and since the house is five years old with wallpaper in may rooms it is not feasible. My inclination right now is to go with a coax/ir modulation scheme from either Channel Plus or Xantech. Thanks.

You should be able to get to the wiring by taking out one of the speakers. You could cut out the wallbox first, drill the header w/ a diversabit, and snake to the speaker below the firring. It will be easier if the loudspeakers are inline w/ the control location.

jcmitch