PVR hidden in cupboard!
Gill P
Posts: 21,585 Forum Member
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We have a Humax PVR and a Panasonic DVD Player/recorder which are currently in a cabinet on which we stand the Smart TV. The door drops down and if we leave it open there is a possibility that one of us could trip over the door (both being in our late 70s).
I have had a look on AV Forums and someone has asked the same question - is there a gadget which can send the remote signal to the equipment through the door so it can be closed all the time?
The suggestion was to buy a Marmitex Powermid XL set which are two small pyramids and, possibly, an extension cable. Can anyone tell me how these work and if they are easy to set up? Would I need the extension cable as I am only going to have the pyramid quite close to the TV. I am pretty adept at technical things so that's no problem.
I have had a look on AV Forums and someone has asked the same question - is there a gadget which can send the remote signal to the equipment through the door so it can be closed all the time?
The suggestion was to buy a Marmitex Powermid XL set which are two small pyramids and, possibly, an extension cable. Can anyone tell me how these work and if they are easy to set up? Would I need the extension cable as I am only going to have the pyramid quite close to the TV. I am pretty adept at technical things so that's no problem.
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Comments
A neat hole in the door is free.
A screwdriver to remove the door costs about £1.
The trouble is regarding a hole in the door is that the door has a false "drawer" to make it look the same as the rest of the furniture. Removing the door is possible though.
FWIW, I didn't mean my previous comment to sound glib.
You can buy plastic or metal bezels quite cheaply, cut a hole in the appropriate place and make it look tidy using a suitable bezel.
I did something similar a few years ago using an old dashboard air-vent bezel I had lying around so it cost nothing and looked like it was "supposed" to be there.
Must say, though, I'm not keen on having electrical stuff working while it's completely out of sight.
Overheating probably isn't going to be an issue but it's better safe than sorry IMO.
Probably better to remove the fake drawer front unless it ruins the look of the furniture.
Gill P, what you need is a remote repeater. These comprise of an IR receiver which picks up the remote signals and then relays them via a small amplifier to an IR emitter. The Marmitek Powermid is one such device, but the design makes it difficult to house inside a cabinet.
Quality determines reliability, and reliability in this case means how many times out of 100 that the signal is successfully relayed.
I'd class anything under £50 as a budget kit. These are perfectly suitable for a DIY install. Reliability is around 70/100. That's okay. If you're sat with the remote in your hand you can tell whether the device hasn't responded and just press the button again. Here's something for £25 that should suit your needs and cope with both devices in the cabinet. You may need to add the cost of a power supply though (less than £7 at a guess). LINK
The 6 little blocks you see in the picture are the IR emitters. These stick over the IR sensor on the devices being controlled. They normally come with adhesive pads for the job.
More expensive units achieve greater reliability scores, but I doubt you need that in this case.
One thing to mention with all IR repeaters is there's a fraction of a second time delay. This is important to know about for two reasons. First, the device being controlled might not respond as quickly as you're used to with direct commands. That's just how it is. The other thing though is more important. Some devices get confused or refuse to operate if they receive two lots of the same code with a time delay. That happens when the cabinet door is open and the remote signal is picked up directly and also relayed via the repeater kit. This is perfectly normal. You just have to be aware of it and make sure to close the cabinet before operating the gear via remote.
Which Humax pvr ?
Does the OP have a smart phone, tablet PC or laptop ?
Is the Humax connected to a home network for catch up services ?
No smart phone but a tablet and laptop (which is upstairs and doesn;t get moved)
Yes.
By the way, there are holes at the back of the cabinet for the cables to go through.
Here is a picture of the cabinet (more or less).
TV Cabinet
Unless there is ventilation in the bottom as well that doesn't look too good, personally I'd remove the front or get a new cabinet. Replacing a PVR that has failed prematurely is more expensive than a new cabinet (depending on the cabinet obviously as there are some really expensive ones out there).
Depending on the box it may be possible to wirelessly control the box using your tablet. If it's a Foxsat-hdr (satellite) or HDR FOX T2 (terrestrial) a extra bit of software needs to be installed to allow control via a web browser. This is done using a usb stick (you may need some assistance to set this up).
Other than that this may do the job.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/one-for-all-tablet-remote-n09da
I agree with Bob here.
Looking at the cabinet, if you remove the top fake drawer front, it will look like a dedicated AV cabinet anyway with an electronics compartment top and storage drawers below. Most importantly, it has ventilation.
Cutting holes will ruin it and using remotes may cause overheating issues.
If you remove the drawer front and save it, then you can always put it back if you ever want to sell or otherwise re-use the cabinet.
I wondered about having a frame made like a picture frame which would hide all the screw holes! If it was open at the front it would look OK.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/DBPOWER%C2%AE-Infrared-Extender-Receiver-Emitters/dp/B00FWBW4QA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415704051&sr=8-1&keywords=ir+repeater
As for over-heating, I don't see that as being an issue. As long as there is some escape route for hot air at the rear/top of the cabinet.
Ideally removing the back of the cabinet would work the best. Otherwise large holes right at the rear/bottom and rear/top, to allow cool air in and warm air out.
You need a flow of air for cooling so an inlet and outlet that passes through the devices, that's why I asked if there was ventilation in the bottom of the cabinet. Holes just at the rear top and bottom or even taking the whole back off may not be enough as the equipment stews in its own juices.
The pictured cabinet looks pretty enclosed.
I have the bigger version of this and would recommend you use your existing table for a lamp table
The heat generated by modern equipment can be high
The main thing is to have a means for the warmed air to escape from the top/back, since hot air rises and cool air will be drawn in through gaps (or holes) at the bottom.
The same thing happens on an open shelf. Have you never opened a PC/PVR case after a period of operation. ?
I used to have loads of kit in an enclosed rack. It had no back though and had no issues over several years of use. The amount of heat in there was much more significant than a single pvr. One of the items was a powerful AV amplifier.
While waiting for delivery try the units running/on standby for a few hours with the door shut. If things seem to get too hot just take the back off the cabinet or make some holes in it top and bottom, whatever is easier.
I should have said Maplins, not Maples! Got mixed up with my Staples and Maplins (they are next door to each other).
And Maplins is a fictional holiday camp invented for a BBC comedy series of the 1980s
There is no s in Maplin.
Whoops!:D