Re: X-10 AV switcher

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Dave Houston" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4652e04e.410707156@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> "Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> >It seems the rather pricey IRTRANS that Dave pointed out is what I need
to
> >put the biggest part of my problem to bed, and that's extending the
useful
> >life of the X-10 learning remotes and presenting the user with a
consistent
> >user interface.  Almost all of the AV world can be dealt with by a much
> >smaller subset of keys than are found on most factory remotes.
>
> Bobby, if you buy the IRTRANS, please review it here. It would be very
> helpful for people confined to bed or a wheelchair, allowing control of
many
> different systems using a single remote.

Not sure if I will buy the IRTRANS.  Last night I realized that one of the
X-10 VCR commanders can take an RF X-10 command and convert it into any IR
command that the unit can learn.  $10 from Ebay.  That means I can use the
X-10 remote to send a command to a switchbox like the one from Sima Bill
Kearney pointed out, as long as it uses an IR modulation scheme that the
UX21A can learn.  It's a quick fix and the more I read, the more I like the
IRTRANS but not the price - about $200 (not $240)since US residents don't
pay the German VAT.   I will probably save that until I hit the next brick
wall that requires a major reprogramming of remotes.

The most attractive feature of the IRTRANS is exactly what you've noted.
One remote can command a host of disparate equipment and all of the
"programming" or "learning" is done once, at the IRTRANS, and not at each
remote.  That would give me a very simple way of insulating the end user
from changes to the AV equipment stack. Even more important, the IRTRANS can
"teach" things, in a manner of speaking, to non-learning remotes as long as
they are working through a whole house IR setup like the Powermid repeaters
or a hardwired setup like Xantech.  Not having to reprogram all of the
remotes scattered through the house might indeed be worth $200.  We'll see.
Thanks for the suggestions!

--
Bobby G.