Hidden Infrared A/V control units

If anyone wants to bury their AV system behind cabinet doors, I just had a good experience that may help you.

We had some bookcases and a AV enclosure made for our living room so we could hide the big screen TV and all the AV components from view. The bookcase has doors with metal mesh screens so we had the TV enclosure made to match. But all of the AV components are buried behind solid wood doors. Unless we installed a remote infrared receiver and emitters then the only way to control the AV componenets is to have the door to the components open.

One thing that my cabinet maker does not install are the infrared contol units so you can control the AV system without opening the doors. The cabinet maker suggested I call out a custom AV system installer that he works with to make home theater rooms. I had dealt with them before as they installed my speaker system and hooked up my system, but I figured this was something that I could do.

Rockler.com (Rockler Woodworking catalog) came to the rescue with all the components I needed in a simple to install kit. Rocker offers 2 different systems, the Hidden Link and the Micro Link. Both systems use the same components except for the receiver unit. The Hidden Link is larger and can be set on a shelf. The Micro Link needs to be installed into a 1/2" hole that you drill into the face of your cabinet. Because of the configuration of my TV enclosure, which opens to expose not only the TV screen but also the speakers, I had enough room to place a Hidden Link receiver (it is about 3" wide x 1" tall) without it being visible so I opted for the Hidden Link.

I was amazed at how easy it is to install. I don't know about you folks, but for me, something that should take 20 minutes is typically given a 40 minute allocation and often stretches to 60 minutes. In the case of this system I figured it should take 20 minutes and it only took about 10 minutes!

Everything is included to run 4 components. I have 4 components so I did not need to add any extra emitters. You start with the emitters. They simply stick onto your components IR receiver port and have a very thin wire that you run back to the connector block. 1 emitter was attached to each component (TV, DVD, Surround Sound Unit, Satellite box). The Hidden Link reciever and the power supply both plug into the connector block. You simply set the Hidden Link receiver unit where it can receive a signal but still be out of the way, and you plug in the power supply. That's all there is to it. No programming. No nothing. It just works.

Great gadget!

A simpler fix is to use equipment with UHF signal remotes but I know all don't use UHF.

Big Dog said:

A simpler fix is to use equipment with UHF signal remotes

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The problem would be to find anything made today that is controlled by Radio Frequency (RF). I sure some things are, but I'm not aware of any. I don't know of any satellite controllers (DishNetwork or DirecTV) that are RF. Ditto TV sets & DVD players.

I am aware of IR to RF converters that are 2 piece units. First your regular remote transmits an IR signal to an IR receiver, the receiver then coverts it to RF. An RF receiver is buried behind the cabinet or even placed in another room, that receiver then converts it back to IR and it uses IR emitters to then control the hidden AV components. IR to RF to IR is typically used to control whole house systems where there are components in various rooms, or where you may want to control components from a remote location (like controlling your living room stereo to play over your back porch speakers, while you are sitting on your back porch).

Another fix is to leave the AV components exposed, but the whole desire of building the cabinet was to keep them out of sight. Even the screen is behind closed doors. When we want to watch something, only the TV screen is exposed, everything else is concealed inside the cabinet.

Dish Network does, I have the UHF controllers. I keep the systems tucked away in the basement. The downstairs TV's are controlled by one remote and the upstairs TV's are controlled by another. All I have to do is pack the remote around and I can control any TV in any room!

I'd like to go back to the old days when I just had Mrs. RK get up and change the channel.

Big Dog said:

Dish Network does, I have the UHF controllers. I keep the systems tucked away in the basement. The downstairs TV's are controlled by one remote and the upstairs TV's are controlled by another. All I have to do is pack the remote around and I can control any TV in any room!

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Direct TV also has some receivers with a RF option. I could change the channel from the pool room where I did not have a receiver. Those receivers were 400 dollars each. Hardly worth it for that one extra feature. Both of the receivers with RF only lasted a few months past their warranty period. So, I moved on to other models and gave up the changing of channels from other rooms in the house. I didn't use the option that often, only when two games were on that I wanted to keep an eye on while playing pool. It was neat to have the option while I could, but I really don't miss it now that it's gone.

Bob has found the better alternative since chances of having RF or UHF in all componets you want to control is highly unlikely.

Doc said:

Direct TV also has some receivers with a RF option. I could change the channel from the pool room where I did not have a receiver. Those receivers were 400 dollars each. Hardly worth it for that one extra feature. Both of the receivers with RF only lasted a few months past their warranty period. So, I moved on to other models and gave up the changing of channels from other rooms in the house. I didn't use the option that often, only when two games were on that I wanted to keep an eye on while playing pool. It was neat to have the option while I could, but I really don't miss it now that it's gone.

Bob has found the better alternative since chances of having RF or UHF in all componets you want to control is highly unlikely.

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Hmmmmmmm ............. I've had them for 9 years and never had a problem.

Big Dog said:

Hmmmmmmm ............. I've had them for 9 years and never had a problem.

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I had problems with those and a few other satellite receivers. I was turning them on and off when we used them, just as I did with the TV. One of the girls at direct TV suggested I leave the receivers on all the time. I tried that method and have had better luck with my satellite receivers since then. So, the cause for my problems very well could have been the way I cycled power on them daily.

BD, yes you are correct that SOME of the satellite boxes use RF to control 2 TVs, but those remotes also transmit IR to control the TV set. So that is a wierd hybrid system that is available, but won't solve the problems of people who build their systems into the wall, tuck them into cabinets, or otherwise hide them when not in use.

Those systems have a remote that transmits RF to the satellite box but still uses IR to transmit to the TV or VCR because the equipment makers of AV equipment have standardized on IR for more than a decade. The satellite box makers, to save costs on some installs, build a 2 tuner unit that can control 2 TV sets with one tuner box. It is cheaper for them to have that, but (unless things changed very very recently) they don't offer those for HDTV systems. I'm not even sure if they offer those in EDTV resolutions?

Never the less, those types of remotes will only work in a "hidden" application to control the satellite box but not the TV, DVD or Surround Sound system if the IR receptors are built behind a cabinet, wall, etc.

B_Skurka said:

But all of the AV components are buried behind solid wood doors.

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Bob,

I'm probably pointing out the obvious but make sure you have adequate ventilation for your components to avoid overheating.

bczoom said:

Bob,

I'm probably pointing out the obvious but make sure you have adequate ventilation for your components to avoid overheating.

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The enclosure is over 7' wide, 7+' tall and about 5' deep at its deepest point (it occupies a corner so it is roughly triangular) and has venting out the top. It only contains the TV, DVD, Satellite box and Surround Sound amplifier plus the 3 front speakers.

Doc said:

I had problems with those and a few other satellite receivers. I was turning them on and off when we used them, just as I did with the TV. One of the girls at direct TV suggested I leave the receivers on all the time. I tried that method and have had better luck with my satellite receivers since then. So, the cause for my problems very well could have been the way I cycled power on them daily.

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Ours seldom get turned off!

B_Skurka said:

It is cheaper for them to have that, but (unless things changed very very recently) they don't offer those for HDTV systems. I'm not even sure if they offer those in EDTV resolutions?

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My HDTV satellite system does have UHF remotes and the other equipment is IR.

I see where Dish Network recently released a DVR that will work with 1 HDTV and 1 standard definition TV, but not 2 HDTVs. That must have been released after mine??? I don't use a DVR and use 5 HD receivers and they only offer that in the IR model (model 311).

Looking at the 2 TV DVR (model 622) that will work with 1 HD and 1 SD TV, according to the downloadable brochure, TV 2 uses a RF remote and TV 2 is not capable of getting HD signals. So even if I used this system, it would not control the correct TV because the enclosure is built around a HDTV and the RF remote won't control HDTV output. Further it still would not control the TV, the DVD player or the Surround Sound, all of which have their IR recievers buried behind solid wood panels.

All that said, it is an interesting solution for people who only want to have 1 satellite box to control 2 TV sets and don't operate multiple HDTVs.