Home AMX User Forum AMX General Discussion

dual IR emitters

has anyone added a second IR emitter to an NI-700 turns out I am one port short. I was thinking of custom capturing all of the IR to one file and just connecting a second blink emitter to the port to allow for control of two devices.

Comments

  • No problem.
    I used 4 IR devices on 1 port but i needed an IR extender. Its no problem for 2 devices we ive done it before.
  • It works fine but there's a trap to be aware of.

    I'm told that if you wire the two IR flashers in parallel, you run a risk that any given pulse will be grabbed by whichever LED switches fastest and the other LED then won't flash.

    So wire them in series - making sure you get the polarity right.
  • DHawthorneDHawthorne Posts: 4,584
    I've done this a few times, and usually it works without issue or additional hardware. As noted, wire them in series; make sure the two devices don't interact with each other's code too. I generally run all my IR through a CALL as a matter of course because I like to use virtual devices as an alias (for example, for a sat receiver that doubles as an audio source for DirecTV XM and as a video source, so I can have two different "devices" even though it's the same hardware). SInce I already have a framework that checks for the current device name and redirects the IR to the appropriate real device, it's a simple matter to offset the channel numbers as well if I have to double up in the IR file.

    I hate doing this though. It requires you have a custom IR for whatever the combination happens to be, and this offends my sense of reusability.
  • viningvining Posts: 4,368
    Xantech actually makes dual IR flashes but it's really only beneficial when using the 3.5mm mini jack.
  • amdpoweramdpower Posts: 110
    I think I've got you all beat! I did this in my Home Theatre setup before I got my cardcage. I had 7 IR Devices on one port. I would NEVER recommend this for an install but it was just for my own personal enjoyment. I had six flashers (they need to be the same value led) wired in a series-parallel combination (3 series in parallel to another 3 in series). I ran the 7th hopped through one of the IO ports because I was controlling two TV's of the same make. I simply toggled the IO port when I needed to control the other TV. You should use the negative end of the LED lead connected to the IO (open-collector). Hope that helps.
Sign In or Register to comment.