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joepodesta

Electronic closet

JoePodesta
10 years ago

My wife and I saw a home that was being built that had a closet with all the set top boxes for the home so the tvs could be just placed on the walls without cable boxes or DVD players. Anyone know how those work, is it infrared? Any information would be appreciated.

Thank you

Comments (7)

  • renovator8
    10 years ago

    Radio waves can penetrate walls but infra-red waves cannot.

  • caben15
    10 years ago

    Easiest thing to do is to hire an A/V consultant to design such a system. Easiest time to implement is when all your walls are open.

    You can design such a system yourself if you are sufficiently technically inclined, but you have to spend many hours researching all the components since there are thousands on the market and not all of them are as easy to use as your iPad. I did this myself on a past project and ended up very frustrated with the receiver and RF remote which never seemed to function correctly. Airflow to such a location is also important as this equipment gets very very hot and if it overheats it will crash just like your computer does.

    At the high end you can get a rack mounted system that hosts all of your home control systems from A/V to security systems etc.

  • storyofmylife
    10 years ago

    They are able to do this because they have infrared repeaters deployed. This is common when you want to hide the electronics, or if you have a room arrangement where you don't have sufficient room to house the electronics. You can find these on Google or on Amazon. I've included a link of an example.

    Here is a link that might be useful: One example of an infrared repeater kit

  • JoePodesta
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks. So should this be done while the walls are open?

  • storyofmylife
    10 years ago

    You don't need to have the actual repeaters in place while the walls are open, but you should have the pre-wiring for it done for the home theater and home network. The actual repeaters can be connected once the electronics are ready to be installed.

  • johnboy70_99
    10 years ago

    There are also RF to IR systems that consist of an RF remote (that can use IR too), and an RF receiver that goes into the closet, receives the RF signals and transmits them as IR to your components. Search for URC RFS200 for a lower end model, they make higher end models too but many require software that they only give to professionals. I just bought the MX-450 and MRF-350 receiver, I am moving all my components into a large closet.

  • mrspete
    10 years ago

    Two comments:

    1. We have such a system at school -- it's housed in the library. The idea is that they maintain a tight hold on videos (so we teachers can't walk away with them), and when we want a video, they pop it in and we show it in our classroom. Obviously, it's a more complicated system than an individual house would have . . . but the upshot is that it doesn't work. The reality is that all us teachers bought our own DVD players for our own classrooms.

    2. Wouldn't this mean you'd have to walk to the closet to put in a DVD? Even if it meant walking downstairs?