Controlling Televisions, stereos and VCR’s

This project outlines one method to distribute IR signals over your existing TV's coax cable so you don't have to run wires to each room.

Home Automated Living’s HAL 2000 can easily control almost any device in your home that supports IR (Infra Red) communications. IR is the invisible light that is sent from your TV’s remote control to your TV when you change channels, mute the audio or turn the TV off or on.

The following image will give you an idea how I incorporate IR control in a MACRO that gets the house ready for a movie.

You will need to decide which IR hardware to use with HAL 2000. HAL supports many different off-the-shelf solutions, however the Ocelot / Adicon series of controllers remains the most flexible and cost efficient.

One of the challenges you face, after you pick your IR hardware, is distributing the IR signal to the different devices throughout your house.  I spent a lot of time researching the most cost efficient solution for my needs.  I choose the Applied Digital Ocelot controller and the companion Adicon SECU-16IR that provides 16 individual output zones of IR.

The Applied Digital Ocelot, which is the main controller, is typically located near the computer and is connected with a standard RS-232 connection to the computers serial port.  The Ocelot can then be used for X-10 control and for transmitting the learned IR signals to the Adicon SECU-16IR device that is to be located near the IR devices themselves, or in my case, to the distribution point in my garage.  A two-conductor wire connects the Ocelot and the Adicon SECU-16IR.  The biggest benefit of having the Ocelot controller is the fact that hundreds of external devices can be daisy chained together with a simple 2-wire connection.  That way once the connection from the Ocelot to the garage is run, I can easily connect an Adicon SECU-16, that provides 8 relays and sensors to be used for the garage door and doorbell, without running another wire back to the main computer.

In my garage (like many homes) I have a cable TV distribution block where the cable signal from the cable company goes into a series of splitters that feed each individual room.  This was put in by the homebuilder and is standard in many homes.  I removed these splitters and purchased a Channel Vision 8-way splitter/amplifier that makes connecting all of the individual cable runs simple and effective. This device is listed on the parts listing page of this web site. This amplifier / splitter has a separate non-amplified output that is friendly to cable modems.

Since locating a separate Adicon SECU-16IR next to each of the TV's in the house would be impractical and expensive, I located it in the garage where the IR signal will be distributed over the existing coaxial cable . This saved me a ton of work because the only wire I had to run was the 2-conductor wire connecting the Ocelot to the Adicon-16IR. I did not have to run wires to every TV in the house since I am using the coax cable to transmit the IR signal.

Here you can see the entire setup.  The Blue box is the SECU16IR.  Remember the SECU16IR is connected to the Ocelot by a simple 2 wire connection.  The Ocelot is located upstairs in the computer room.

Close up showing the SECU16IR. I am only using 6 of the 16 zones.

To distribute the IR over the existing TV coax I used a very inexpensive "Injector / Coupler" solution made by Xantech.  The Injector converts IR to a DC signal then transmits it to the coupler which converts the DC back to IR. The Xantech Injector is located in the garage near the Adicon SECU-16IR and also connects to a power supply. The coupler is located at the other end of the coax near the TV you wish to control. The orientation of the injector and coupler are important. You have to be sure the "Input" on the injector faces the "Remote TV" on the coupler. Comprehensive instructions are included from Xantech so be sure to look at them closely. Since this application is a bit different than the intended use of the couplers you will be glad I provided the pictures enclosed. Honestly this kicked by butt until I figured out the proper orientation.

This photo shows all of the Injectors that feed each of the rooms in the house.

The biggest challenge I had with this approach is that the Adicon SECU-16IR’s output is NOT directly compatible with the Xantech injector.  Luckily I was able to find a product made by SmartLinc called the IR-Linc that is made just for this problem. This IR-Linc is only available from smart home for about $19.95. The IR-Linc needs to have a 1/8 inch 3.5 mm phone plug Radio Shack (part number 274-284) connected to it before it will plug into the Xantech Injector. Although it is tempting to connect the Adicon SECU-16IR directly to the Xantech injector, it will not work, and may damage your hardware. Below is the wiring diagram for the IR-Linc and the stereo phone plug.

The 3-conductor plug of the IR-Linc will connect to the input on the Xantech Injector and the existing 2-conductor connection will be plugged into the Adicon SECU-16IR zone of your choice.

As you can see from the pictures provided connecting all 6 of the injectors to the 8-way splitter is pretty tight, but it is possible. You will need a F-type barrel connector available from Radio Shack (Part number 278-275) to connect the coupler directly to the 8-way splitter. At this point you may be wondering what this will do to your cable reception.  I can only speak for this installation but I did not notice any degradation in the cable signal using this approach. Since all of the devices inserted are not actual cables the RF loss is minimized. 

Once the Adicon SECU-16IR is connected to the Xantech injector via the IR Linc you will have to connect the Xantech Power supply to the injector.  Do not attempt to use any other power supply.  I did and it did not work. The Xantech power supply is regulated and filtered, which is very important when you are sending IR over your coax with a DC signal.  Be sure to purchase the Xantech power supply that is listed on the part list portion of this web site.

Now you are ready to connect the coupler to the TV and plug in the IR emitter, which will be located in front of the IR window of your TV.  Remember to orient the coupler where the "Remote TV" input is facing the coax cable from the garage and the "SAT/VCR" output is facing the TV. If the run of coax only terminates at this TV and does not go on to another location in the house you will NOT have to use a D.C. Blocker. However if the coax cable runs on to another TV in the house AND you will not be connecting a coupler then you will need to install a DC Blocker in line to ensure that the additional TV / VCR’s do not "short out" the DC signal. These DC blockers made by Xantech are very inexpensive and are covered in detail with the instructions that come with the injectors and couplers. I would purchase a handful when you buy the injectors / couplers. The DC Blockers made by Xantech are part number 203-00 and are available from Worthington Distribution for about $2.00 each.

Here is a Coupler in my guest bedroom.  The emitter is plugged in and as you can see in the next picture goes relatively unnoticed.

In my installation I have a coax cable run that uses one injector but feeds two couplers in different rooms. This can be done but as you add IR emitters Xantech says you may need to increase the size of the power supply. I have not needed to increase the power supply size, but if I add more emitters I will be aware of this advice.

IR Emitters come in different configurations. There are single and dual, blinking and non-blinking. I recommend getting the dual blinking emitters from Xantech. Each coupler has an output for two plug in emitters therefore, you can have 4 emitters in each location. The blinking effect is useful to confirm the IR signal is emitting from the emitter.

Typically you should not have a problem locating the IR window on your TV or VCR but if you do, use a flashlight to locate the window, and also confirm it by placing your hand over your intended target and use the TV’s remote to try to power the TV. Your hand will block the signal from the receiving window if it is located directly in front of the window.

Once you have made all of the connections it’s time for HAL 2000 to learn your remote control IR codes.

If you are installing the Adicon SECU-16IR for the first time you will need to use the utility supplied with the Ocelot and "auto address" the module. This consists of shutting down HAL 2000 and starting the Ocelot utility CMAX. There is a feature that is called "auto addressing" that requires you to manually press the address button on all of the Adicon modules you have in your system. The sequence you press the buttons assigns the module to that address. See the instructions that are available on the Applied Digital's web site for more details on assigning addresses to these modules.

Once you have addressed the module you will then start up HAL 2000. You will need to associate the Adicon hardware in the settings of HAL 2000 so it knows the IR equipment you are using. Then you will proceed to "Add a device" in the device settings of HAL. The HAL Help file is very comprehensive and will guide you through this process.

Some general things to keep in mind when you are learning the remote commands:

F Be sure to have fresh batteries in the remote control.

F Be sure to align the remote with the receiving window on the Ocelot.

F If the command does not work you may have to place the remote very close or very far from this window. I had some devices that worked only if I was right on top of the window or if I was very far away.

F Before you teach an entire remote control test the power button to be sure you are aligned correctly.

F If you have 2 or more devices that are the same make and model you do not have to train them for each device. You simply train them once (be sure to select the make and model in HAL 2000) then you can associate them with each device. For instance you may have a device named "Family Room TV" that is a Sony TV and a "Living Room TV" that is also a Sony TV. You will associate both TV’s to the Sony TV buttons you trained while setting up the first TV, but the IR commands will be directed to the output port on the Adicon SECU-16IR that is connected to that TV.

I currently have about 10 individual IR devices that can be controlled by speech or in macros and rules.  It is very useful to know when a TV is on or off when creating rules in HAL 2000, therefore you will want to build an inexpensive TV sensor.   HAL 2000 is by far the most powerful and flexible software I have come across to control IR devices in the house. Once you have set up the hardware you are only limited by your imagination as to what you can do with HAL 2000.