Speaking of which (though I agree with your overall assessment, nolos), I just ran across the IRTrans model with USB interface … for what it’s worth:
[quote=“nolos, post:20, topic:163995”]I guess I just don’t understand why everyone is thinking of running wire or buying more routers and flashing them to make satellites. What’s wrong with getting a USBUIRT and pointing it at a remote extender? That’s what I did and I just put a remote extender receiver by each TV/Stereo/Etc, hid it, and used a sticky IR extender wire. extra receivers cost $16 each
Easy as pie. I do Like the satellite idea but the only benefit over the extenders for me would be the usb ports
Link to extenders
[url=http://www.automatedoutlet.com/Home?search=powermid]Automated Outlet - Smart Home Automation Solutions
I think we discussed it last year… 
I guess you’re lucky not to have neighbours using the same model. Something tells me radio communication between the pyramids is not encrypted, so if someone else’ transceiver is located relatively close they will affect each other. Besides, I have few AV systems I would like to control, how exactly should I do it using these transceivers? It will turn on all my TVs when I want just one!
It will turn on all my TVs when I want just one!Only if you have multiple AV equip that is the same as the other. If one remote (not universal) will control both units then you might have some problems but I have 2 stereos, 2 tv's,2 Cable receivers, and a projector and no problems here. I won't be using vera to change channels really and, if I do, it might be possible that one of my cable box remotes works for both and in that case you are correct; it will be changing on both units, but I only keep one TV on at a time so it doesn't really matter to me.
P.S. My neighbors are far enough away that their RF wouldn’t be able to reach me. Plus one is so old I don’t even think she has a TV. lol
Not to change the subject in the least… but I have to share a chuckle:
When I first set up X10 at my old house, every time I turned off the hall light, it would come back on again moments later. Light off…wait…light back on. Turns out this was caused by the neighbor across the street (whose house shared a transformer with mine). Turning off my light also turned off his television!!
My classic mistake was leaving my X10 modules set to the default House Code (‘A’), and my hall light module (‘A2’) shared the same unit code as his TV’s appliance module!
I don’t recall how many months this went on, or who was more exasperated…
That’s hillarious. Like that guy in the commercial asking his wife what that switch went to and she didn’t know so he started flipping it on and off and it was opening and closing the garage door on the neighbor’s car
It is. This is why I prefer to use properly engineered gadgets, not the ones based on 70-s technology
… yet strangely IR the interfaces for TV’s started in the [late] 1970’s, go figure…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_control
@nolos, for some it’s about using the Wiring they already have, to provide something robust. I have some powermid’s, but haven’t used them in eon’s due to the interference problems… I lived in the city where things were really dense. (I could see ~96 WiFi Routers from my apartment)
At my current place, I have Vera USB-tethered to the Alarm panel, and all tucked away in a [sealed, metal] Structured Wiring Closet. Getting radio out of this requires extenders and extra cabling.
On the other hand, I already have Ethernet hard-wired down to the TV, so if USBUIRT became ETHUIRT, or WIFIUIRT, then I’d buy one in a heartbeat, as I know it would work reliably (even in a world of Wifi and other general Radio interference).
Then there’s the GC100, but it falls short in so many ways, esp for the $$ spent (IMHO)
If someone built a cheap USB “extender”, running over standard Switched Ethernet (not just over CAT-5 Cabling), that could support/MUX all USB Devices (including Hubs, USBUIRT, RS232-Ports) and it was relatively cheap then they’d likely have a winner. Bonus points if they can make it PoE compliant to avoid the extra plug-pack. There are some that come close, but miss…
btw, I dont think this “thing” should be another [remoted] Vera. That’s overkill in oh-so-many ways
I don’t think you can do better (feature/price ratio) then $25 Asus 520GU set up as access point for Wifi, Serial, and IR.
The new .899 firmware supports the USB UIRT plug and play.
Exactly, but I’d prefer something much more compact, with extremely low power use, and without the bits that’ll likely get me in trouble (yet-another-router to config, more wires to cable-tie, another ugly plug-pack, etc)
I was hacking an old Linksys NSLU2 with OpenWRT to do the job in the short term, since it was the closest match, until I found it wouldn’t auto-boot upon power loss (unless I wanted to drag out the old 'Weller) and I had to build the whole tooling chain to get the serproxy bits working.
My thoughts were more consumer packaged:
[ul][li]For Wifi, or non PoE, think Apple Airport Express sized and “all in one”[/li]
[li]For PoE, think “Gumstix” sized, where it’s effectively inlined into the end of an Ethernet Cable, and has a USB connector on the other end.[/li][/ul]
I hate clutter in the Home theater
Unfortunately, my Vera is tethered “upstairs” by the Alarm panel so there really isn’t an option to use the USBUIRT “directly”, but good to see MCV’s comment just now that 1.0.899 supports that for those that can.
btw, where are you getting the '520 for $25, I see them mostly for $50.
guessed, not sure if your setup is like mine, but alarm panel is right next to home media distribution panel in my house, so I plan to re-use my Xtra Link 2 hardware to distribute IR if I got this route. You can get a kit for less than $90 and it distributes IR over coax. For me I can directly route IR signal only to rooms that will use it this way.
That was my original idea. I was going to run a single line from a module plugged into vera (eg. USBUIRT) to an IR distribution block located near my cable block. Then I was going to run wire from the ir block to an injector for each of my coax cables so I had the IR distributed to each room with cable. It was just so much easier to use the extenders for me
Yeap, it’s a Structured Wiring Closet (OnQ Legrand 28) next to the Alarm Panel. I wired the Alarm Panel to it’s Home Automation “interface” and that’s connected over USB to Vera so they all need to be in close proximity.
Both RG-6 Cables, and the telephone jack are tied up with the Sat service. I’ve also tied up both GigE Ethernet ports. I have 4 Ethernet devices down there (2 are currently on Wifi to temp avoid the need for a local switch, wall warts etc).
My Amp, TV, and Sat Decoder all have RS-232 connections, and I have another device that needs IR to “drive” it.
I was looking at the Wireless USB Hub options to “extend” Vera’s other port downstairs, but most seem to require Host OS Drivers, and dont provide a transparent “no-driver” option. The IOGear seems to have the most driver options, but Vera’s a bit cranky with OS driver downloads (various threads)
The challenge here is that there are multiple protocols (Ethernet, IR, RS-232) to be supported over a limited number of cables. I can get discrete solutions for most, but there’d be an explosion of wall warts, and it also wouldn’t be cheap.
The raw ASUS + Drivers would also work, but it would need to be rock-solid (no random reboots) in order to get Wifee approval Hence the preference for something more “device like” that you can buy off the shelf should it die.
There’s no IR distribution in my Cabinet, unfortunately, so that’d be an extra for one protocol.
Guessed and others, you’ve got me thinking how nice it would be if there were a Z-Wave (or Wi-Fi) dongle one could attach to TVs and other higher-end audio equipment via the old-school 1/8" AV jack found on, say, Sony hi-fi components.
I forget the exact name of the port, but it was reliable and easily extensible throughout one’s A/V cabinet, so that a single remote could ultimately control multiple devices.
In short, it would be most excellent if today’s A/V equipment mfr.s could integrate some wireless solution (or let it be added inexpensively through some standard “port”) so Vera could speak directly to them.
For the time being, I don’t see why someone can’t make a tiny, battery-operated “black box” with little more than (a) a battery compartment, (b) a Z-Wave/Zigbee/802.11 swappable radio chip, and (c) an IR LED mounted at a 45-degree angle so – when glued to the front of your flat screen TV or audio receiver – could both emit and receive IR commands as needed, talking (and listening) to Vera the entire time.
Cost: <$20 to manufacture
Value: Priceless
I just want a little module with power pass through (so you can still use your plug) that has a z-wave chip and and 1/8" jack for an emitter. Grabs the z-wave signal from vera, converts it to IR and sends it through the ir emitter that sticks on the TV. Very discrete.
nolos, I will see your little module and raise you (at least) 3 more 1/8" jacks!
I mean, as long as we’re wishing, right?
We’ve been begging for a Z-Wave->I/R or Wi-Fi->I/R interface for ages. We’re not really in the custom hardware business, so we haven’t done it ourselves. But the product just doesn’t exist.
The latest release supports the gc-100 (which is hardwired), and the usb-uirt (usb->ir). So the cheapest solution is a low-cost wi-fi access point with a usb-uirt. We’re officially adding support for wi-fi client mode so you can put Vera with a usb-uirt behind the TV without an ethernet connection.
This entire conversation is making me happy we don’t have Television or own a Stereo!
Being that i’m sure a good majority of the cost in Vera is the licensing for ZWave what are the chances of a cheaper Asus box to be able to do as you suggest, of putting one behind the entertainment center running the right firmware?
Maybe a new addon product?
Wait! Did I hear you correct? Did you say that there is support for USBUIRT now!?!?!?!?!?