School me on IR repeater systems

[miketyler]

Ok, I have my HDMI,component vid and 5.1 home runs complete and am ready to move my equipment into the closet. I have purchased an MX3000 and am working on getting it configured but for now was considering an IR repeater so original remotes can still be used.

It looks like Xantech is a good brand (and pricey). The IR receiver will be close to a 65" plasma display. Is this a big deal? I keep seeing the "plasma friendly" listed in design features for several products. Is it important?

Also, the distance from the IR receiver to the junction block is going to be around 70ft. Are they all capable of that? Most receivers have a fixed cable with a jack on the end that would have to be cut and wired into an existing CAT5 thats already run. I just want to buy what will work and minimize the assumptions here.

[PeeWeeC5]

Subscribing.

[Got Stripes?]

Have used this one on a few jobs, even outdoors, no plasma interferance, made runs over cat5 more than 100' with no issues.

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=2716&sku=40430

cheap and the receiver is small, black and hides pretty easy.

[NeedleSharp]

Damn that receiver is tiny as shit. That also seems like a very good price.

When using outdoors, do you have to seal it off from water and stuff or is it okay on its own?

[miketyler]

That Impact kit is out of stock, I ordered the Jobsite (Niles) IR-KIT, not the MKII version. Will see how it goes.

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/7/7/0/8/1/4/webimg/231601016_tp.jpg

[miketyler]

Got this thing in today and wired it up and looks like its going to work great. Install was easy, connected the receiver to an existing CAT5E in my living room. The receiver emits a blue flash to acknowledge signals from a remote.

I ran three 75ft Monoprice cables to my closet, two HDMI's and one component with audio. The HDMI's have a built in repeater that allows the signal to be transmitted further than the 25-30 ft normal HDMI limitation.

Will post up pics of the components later.

[miketyler]

24 hrs in and all is good to go. I would recommend this kit to anyone wanting to hide their components. This gives me some time to develop and program my MX3000. Ck out the pix.