A/V Senders

[bloomdog]

Does anyone have any experience with Audio/Video Senders? i.e. the little transmitter & receiver to send A/V signals throughout the house? How is the quality? (e.g. RadioShack.com - Home Entertainment: Accessories: Audio accessories: Wireless signal senders )

 

[cband1985]

I bought one from the x10.xxx site. It works very well. No good for hd, only composite or coax connections. Picture quality is fine for sd.

 

[netbuilder]

I'm not sure what your requirements are but I LOVE THESE and have several of them programmed to different channels:

high performance 125 channel rf modulator

They are from Sadoun and I hook several DVD players to them on different channels so my kids can all watch their own programs over the existing cable lines in the house.

A side note - from that link you posted: The remote control extenders from Radio Shack work great but that only extends the remote control signal. I use that to start up all those DVD players from a single place

 

[Othea]

AV sender

I purchased a cheap one for about $35. It transmits A/V RCA only, plus IR signal. The transmitter works well enough over a short distance (20-30 ft), but has trouble with any kind of solid wall (stucco). Perhaps one of the better models at Radio shack will work better.

 

[B.J.]

I bought a pair of the X10 video sender/receiver things several years ago, hoping to send some video from my garage back to my TV, a distance of about 60'. Didn't work at all. I then tried sending it back only about 30', then 20'. I finally got the thing to sort of work if the distance between sender/receiver was only about 10-15', and even then it was real touchy about orientation of the little antenna wings. On the other hand, some friends got one which looks real similar if not the same, possibly from RS, and they say it works great. And now I see people here who seem to like them.
So I'm wondering if maybe I got a DUD unit, or perhaps I have too much RF going on in my house, and there is too much interferrence.

 

[gmd63]

I have a 2.4GHZ version (different brand). They work ok, depends how many walls you have to go through. Sometimes you get interference in the video and audio, but if you play with position of it, it will get pretty good. If you have a router or cordless phones on the same freq. they will cause trouble.

Colors are more washed out but real good for what it is doing. Not sure about these but mine will also operate the STB.
I would get the stronger version then the 2.4 if you are buying one now.

If you have a dual LNB and don't mind running cable, it would be better to just add a second STB, as you can buy many now for dirt cheap.

 

[Anole]

After some very disappointing experiences trying to send A/V 15' through my house, I gave up.
(obviously, some newer equipment works better)
Replaced it with a coax carrying the modulated picture & sound.
Also got a UHF-based remote control for my sat receiver.
That all worked quite well.

A buddy got three of the agile VHF/UHF/Cable modulators from RadioShack just about the time they discontinued them.
(maybe 2..4 years ago)
They appeared to be the same as NetBuilder found at Sadoun.
With a little mixing and a little filtering, he piggybacked three video sourced onto his cable, and fed it throughout the house.
Think he used channels 82, 84, and 86, or thereabouts.
So, that's a viable solution for some.

When I read the first post with the video extender costing well over $100, I was going to suggest just locating another FTA receiver by the secondary TV.
For some, that might still be a good solution.

 

[Look Up]

Based on previous Satelliteguys recommendations, I bought a frequency agile video modulator that is very similar to the Sadoun unit referenced above. It takes the RCA output from my FTA receiver and injects a signal into our household cable tv system. My satellite receiver is located near where our cable tv line comes into the house. I just combined the incoming cable signal with the modulator signal using a splitter that feeds the existing cable amplifier/splitter. Out of the dozens of channels available on the modulator, I could only find one channel that produced a good picture without interfering with the cable tv signals or vise versa. However, that channel produces a perfect picture and sound. Based on another Satelliteguys tip, I got a Next Generation Remote Extender that converted my Coolsat 5000 ir remote into an rf remote. With these two gadgets, I can go to any tv in the house that is hooked up to cable, tune the tv to the modulator channel, and use the CS5000 remote to watch FTA. On our main tv that is hooked up to an HD box, I split the incoming cable so one goes to the HD box and the other goes straight to the TV. By selecting the direct input (bypassing the HD box) we can get the satellite signal there also. These two enhancements really made the whole-house FTA system very functional and enjoyable to use. I also keep another CS5000 IR remote near the receiver, which is located in my radio room/office so I can watch FTA at my desk - I only need to remember to make sure the other tv's are not tuned to the FTA channel or I get some feedback from others in the house who don't appreciate watching my random channel flipping.

 

[empiretc]

are sure you are not back feeding your signal into the cable system?

 

[Dishman Dan]

I bought 4 of the channel modulators from Radio Shack but returned them a few years ago. To hook all of them together was going to make quite a mess with all the wires everywhere. I ended up buying a new 4 channel CHANNEL PLUS modulator on Ebay which saved me money and wires dangling. Some of these have jacks to hook up repeaters for the remote controls. I use the remote control extenders like Radio Shack sells and have a few sets of them which is cheaper than the repeaters. The last new set I bought on Ebay was the X10 brand and I got them for under $7 including shipping! Currently I have a DSR922 4dtv receiver, DVD recorder, DVD 400 disc mega changer and something called a VCR hooked up. I am going to hook up my Pansat 3500 in place of the VCR soon. All TVs are hooked up with a coax and if I add another, it does not take much to run another coax to receive any of my sources. To me the coax hookup gives great picture quality without fussing with the transmitter receiver systems and with many sources and destinations, this way is cheaper too. I am thinking of buying another 4 channel modulator to hook up even more goodies!