[mythtv-users] IR remote extender 281 FT!

[Allan Stirling]

Jomama wrote:
> I wanted to be able to control my Myth box (Backend only) from my
> living room. I cut my Happauge IR cable in half and just for giggles
> and  because I had 281 ft of Cat5e lying around I spliced it in the
> middle.
> 
> I was so suprised when it worked.
> It continues to work. 
> Now I have been thinking of my USB to CAT5 extender.It works up to 100
> Meters. If USB only uses 4 of the wires in CAT5 cable and the IR
> sensor uses 3.wires. I should be able to extend my DVD player and IR
> sensor to anywhere in the house.
> 
> Why would I need a frontend?

I do this for my frontend. Cable wise, my "interface box" is about 15m 
away from my frontend computer.

Physically, it's the shell from a DVD player. It works quite well.

It contains:

Power supply
USB2 hub
	USB -> RS232 converter
		20x2 VF Display
	USB2 -> IDE converter
		Slot loading DVD drive
	USB2 -> Multi card reader (SD, MMC, CF, etc)
	USB2 socket (For keyboard, camera, external HD, etc)


HOWEVER. The USB2 spec says (rightly, due to timing restrictions) that 
you should not exceed 5m. I have done this previously and have random 
read issues on the DVD drive. Solution is to use multiple hubs along the 
run, so no section is > specification. I find that tetrahubs tend to 
work the best - Relatively expensive, but reliable.

Cheers,

Allan.