Newbie question: Placement

[pcaulfie]

If I place the UIRT in my case facing out frontward, is the emitter powerful enough to control components that are in the same component rack. So the emitter is facing the same direction as the receiver. Sorry for the stupid question.

[jrhees]

This is a hard one to predict without actually trying it. A lot of factors are involved, including objects nearby which can provide reflections, etc. If you can, an easy test to try is positioning your handheld remotes in the same fashion, pressing a button and seeing if your equipment sees your remote OK. In general, the USB-UIRT's output will be stronger than your remotes' powers.

-Jon

[guest]

I'm looking at writing some software or using some that I find if possible. I have a family member whose mobility is restricted to head motions. He controls his computer with a head tracker (tracker-one) and has speech software that he can type into. He needs a way to control the TV, rc Fan/Light, lamps, etc. I've got an x10 setup to control lights, cameras looking outside, etc but need something to hook him up to the IR remote control devices. I'm thinking the usb-uirt is what I've been seeking.

So, my question: is the IR omnidirectional (in microphone terms). He would have zero capacity to reposition a tranmitter. I have no idea how IR travels, though I do know I've got some old remotes that are highly directional, and don't know if it's the remote's power, room shape or what.

The room he's in is about twenty feet long, with a max distance between electronic devices being about 12 feet. I could possibly wall-mount and align everything line-of-sight, but would that be necessary.

Thanks for any help.
--shamus

[jrhees]

The USB-UIRT's built-in emitters (it has two) have a 30-degree spread. If the two emitters are aimed apart from each other, you approach 60 degrees. You could always customize one with a few more emitters if necessary...

-Jon