Two USB-UIRT's?

[Guest]

Can I connect two of these and have Girder talk to them both? I'd like to basically use one as a receiver in my room, and another in the closet as an emitter. Looks easier (and maybe cheaper) then a separate receiver and power supply.

[jrhees]

He.He.He...

Well, I knew this would come up eventually.

The short answer is yes ... but not yet.

The capability is essentially there to support multiple USB-UIRT's, but hasn't been implemented and is on the to-do list.

Part of the work involved is figuring out a way to provide multiples in Girder (this may require simply having two 'different' plugins), and then keeping them straight.

This likely won't be addressed for another several weeks.

Hope this helps,

Jon

[Guest]

Thanks! After looking at the cost of setting up a receiver, you begin to see the real value of the USB-UIRT, expecially considering the generic receiver can't even talk to the pc! Soon as this is available I'll be ordering another...

[Guest]

Will girder get all the IR command twise from two UUs? If both are in the line of sight of a remote, of course.

And, a related question - can I use USB-UIRT and UIRT2 at the same time? Will girder get all the commands twice in this case? Has anyone tried?

[jrhees]

Will girder get all the IR command twise from two UUs? If both are in the line of sight of a remote, of course.

And, a related question - can I use USB-UIRT and UIRT2 at the same time? Will girder get all the commands twice in this case? Has anyone tried?

Yes..and Yes...and Yes (to all three ??'s).

Theoretically a special Girder plugin for multiple USB-UIRT's could filter out multiple simultaneous events.

Also, when a multiple-USB-UIRT girder plugin is released, it will have the ability to (optionally) append a '-1' or '-2', etc. to the incoming events depending on which USB-UIRT the event came from to make them unique in case you want to deal with them separately.

-Jon

[dman]

I was about to start a new thread when I found this one. I think it answers my question.

I want to use 2 units in different rooms for recieving only, and I want them both to interact with the same girder control group. I am currently using one USB-UIRT.

If you are curious, here is what I am doing. My HTPC is in the basement and it sends video out to my projector in the basement and my TV upstairs. I want to use a remote to interact with the same girder control group. My current solution is to just move the USB-UIRT to whatever room I am using - not very wife friendly. It would be nice if I could just order another one, plug them both in and be done.

Will this work?

[jrhees]

dman,

I've wrestled with this issue for some time now -- mostly at the 'concept' level.

The problem is that this can get very complicated -- both from a programming standpoint *and* from a user perspective. AND, there are only a small minority of users who would actually use such a feature.

My current thinking on how to implement this (it changes every few days, however), is to make a second (an possibly third) Girder plugin available to the few who want to do this. Each individual USB-UIRT would then be 'programmed' to act like a unique device and be married to its specific plugin. Then in Girder you would see 'USB-UIRT Plugin #1', 'USB-UIRT Plugin #2', etc.

In your case, even the above proposed colution is overkill, since you simply want BOTH USB-UIRT's to transmit all the time (I think?)

-Jon

[dman]

Thanks for the speedy response. This has been just about the best 50 bucks I have ever spent (actually more like 70 up here in Canada).

I think what I want to do is lot simpler than what you are thinking.

Suppose I have my remote set up to send a channel up command to my PVR software via girder. I basically want to be able to go into one room, hit channel up and have the channel change. Then I want to take the same remote into another room and hit channel up and have the channel change. Right now my solution is to take the USB-UIRT with me to the other room (I have a USB cable running to the other room)

Does this make my needs clearer?

Since my first post I have been thinking that what I could use is one of those IR extenders. I could put one in the second room and have it relay the IR to the USB-UIRT in the first room. I can get one for around the same price as a USB-UIRT, but a second USB-UIRT might be more useful down the road, so I would still prefer that route, if it is possible.

[jrhees]

dman,

You're right. In your case, two USB-UIRT's connected to the same PC with two USB-UIRT Girder plugins would do the trick. Since both USB-UIRT's wouldn't see the same IR traffic at the same time, you wouldn't have any issues with double-events, etc.

If you want to give this a try, let me know and I'll make a special plugin for you to try. If in the end it doesn't work, I'll pay for the return postage...

-Jon

[LastChoice]

I'd love to see this feature as well.

Here's what I had in mind...instead of using the UIRT as two receivers like the situation posted above, I'm looking for a solution to tramsit zone specific IR to multiple rooms.

My HTPC is located in a dedicated theater room, but is distributed throughout the entire house. I use NetRemote to control the HTPC and connected devices from any room in the house, but with NetRemote I have no way to directly send IR to the TV's and stereos in the room I am actually in.

My plan is to use the emitter jack to connect to a stick-on IR emitter in each room using several Cat-5 runs already in place. I had originally considered using just one UIRT and an IR extending block, but with that scenario commands intended for only the family room would be blast out to all zones. I think a better solution would be one UIRT for each zone connected to its own IR emitter.

So count me in if you ever implement a solution for multiple UIRTs.

And keep the great work on an outstanding product!

- Mike Nigels

[Dutch]

This is exactly what I need too!

Like I mentioned in my earlier e-mail (support) I currently have purchased the well known powermid pyramide. But that doesn't work AT ALL!

I would love to have a second USB-UIRT (one inside the closet where my equipment is and another outside the closet) In my case I need to use both with the HomeSeer plugin, or maybe one with the HomeSeer plugin and the other with Girder

Can you help me out here?

Thanks!

Dutch

[jrhees]

Why not put the USB-UIRT outside the closet and run an IR emitter inside the closet?

-Jon

[Dutch]

Well, ehrmmm...

I thought the emitter connection on the backside of the USB-UIRT was only for the sticky things you can paste on your equipment.

Are you saying that I can hook up an additional (powerful) emitter to the USB-UIRT? If so... Yihaa!!! What emitter would you recommend?

Thanks!

Dutch

[jrhees]

Dutch,

You're basically correct. The emitter jack on the back is more current limited than because it is typically used for stick-on emitters.

However, if you use a purchased IR blaster (I know they're out there) or build your own (pretty easy) it may still have enough umph to do what you're looking for. Last case is to change the internal current-limiting resistor (another user did this) to up the power.

-Jon

[Dutch]

Thanks for the quick reply!

But, I'm not a techie AT ALL
I do try, and I have a lot of fun, but there are limits!

Do I need something like: this? If not, can you please point me to an example of the product you describe?

Is the 3.5mm connection on the backside of the USB-UIRT a mono or stereo jack? How long may the cable between the USB-UIRT and the external emitter be?

I'm sorry for all the questions, I would really love to get this working

Thanks AGAIN!

Dutch[/url]