Best IR Tranceiver Solution for Indigo

I just purchased Indigo Pro for use on a Mac Mini and am looking for the best method to transmit and receive IR. I would like to control home theater devices with an IR remote as well as control Insteon devices with a remote so I need a receiver and transmitter. I have read a lot about different options such as IRLink, IRTrans, EZUIRT and USB-UIR but haven't found any consensus on what the best option is in my situation. I was leaning towards the IRLink but I'm not too pleased that you need a separate receiver and transmitter device, seems like this could be accomplished without two items. I also want something that does not require a small wired transmitter to be stuck directly on the device you want to control as I want to control many IR devices. Also it is not possible to use the built in IR receiver in the Mac Mini to receive IR commands for Indigo? Any recommendations would be appreciated!

[matt (support)]

I think that the global caché GC-100 and iTachs are supposed to be very reliably hardware. IRTrans + iRed is another option.

Note that for the GC-100 and iTach there are now a couple of Indigo 5 plugins that can control them.

I like the compact size of the iTach, is there anything that the GC-100 can do that the iTach can not? Also the Global Cache plugin talks about the GC-100 but I don't see it referring to the iTach, the plugin definitely works with the iTach?

[matt (support)]

On the IR side, I'm not sure if there are any differences between the GC-100 and iTach. I don't believe so. I know the Cynical Caché plugin works with the iTach.

If you want to make indigo respond to IR events from the mac's IR sensor, take a look at remote buddy express (much less expensive than the full version); it is available from both the mac app store and their website. It basically allows you to intercept IR events from the mac sensor and execute custom actions which can be customized both based on what app is running in the foreground, or globally. For these custom actions, you can embed small applescripts to invoke indigo commands, for example:

Code: Select all

tell application "IndigoServer" to send insteon group instnTurnOn using name "TV Volume Up 2x"

In this case, "TV Volume Up 2x", is the scene link that tells the IR transmitter to broadcast the TV's volume up IR signal twice.

Actually I have Remote Buddy Express, didnt know you could do that though. So the built in IR in the Mini can both receive IR commands and send them to the TV and other devices?

so the built in IR in the Mini can both receive IR commands and send them to the TV and other devices?

No, it only receives, but you can use the combination of remote buddy and Indigo to "forward" the IR signals received to an IR blaster device that exists in Indigo, such as the official Smarthome IR to Insteon module.

OK, so I dont like the Smarthome IR Link transmitter because you need to stick the little IR transmitters on the device you are controlling. I am looking for something with a power enough transmitter to hit any of my home theater devices.

I am looking for something with a power enough transmitter to hit any of my home theater devices.

If you find one then please tell us because I haven't found anything like that yet. As long as I can control it from Indigo or by scripting, that is satisfactory.

I wasn't too keen on the stick on emitters either. I was concerned that they would look awful, and also interfere with regular remote use (just in case).

I got one of the Global Cache GC-100 units to test with, and it changed my mind. I went with dual head emitters. To test, I simply used blue painter's masking tape to tape the emitters on my devices. Regular remotes powered right through not only the dual emitter heads, but also the blue masking tape. During that test, I also observed that I didn't even notice the ugly blue tape stuck to the front of my devices, and when I removed the tape, they became invisible to me. That process sold me, and the GC-100 unit hides away nicely on the component shelf, rather than worrying about placement out in front of the devices somewhere.

In theory, a device like the Logitech Link is what you're describing. I haven't seen one that is scriptable, and I wouldn't sacrifice Indigo integration. Our house tells us a lot of 'stuff' through the audio zones, and it's really nice being able to pause/mute/etc. the AV gear when announcements are made so that you can hear them.

Well I dont like the small stick on emitters but none of them even have enough to control all of the devices I would like to, so I am looking for something that will be able to blast the entire entertainment center area.

+1 Global Cache GC-100, All control from my iPad. Dumped Logitech because they failed about every 15 months or so.

The GC-100 units go up to 6 IR ports on one unit, plus 2 serial ports and 3 relay connections. If I ever need more than that, I'll just put in another one. And/or add the Tach units where needed. GC also sells an IR blaster unit that indicates it operates up to 40 feet, among a large variety of other modules. Not sure I can imagine a situation where they wouldn't have my needs covered.

+1 got the GC

I also use the relay output to reboot a hung mac from the road. I have it fire an external relay (NC contacts) that cuts the power to the mac to reboot it. I do this via a telnet connection to the GC.

Its a little expensive and kinda a bear to set up (teaching it all the codes and such; I never had much luck with downloaded codes)

I have both the GC 100 as well as the iTach. They are both great, and if you pick up the serial IR reader, programming via indigo using either the Cynical Cache or the Global Cache plugins is a snap. The only issue I've found is that if I run both units at the same time, I can't use the Global Cache plugin for them at the same time. Because of this, I am using the GC 100 with the Global Cache plugin, and the iTach with the Cynical Cache plugin, and together they work awesome. If you are going to control a whole home theatre system or other devices that are all located together, you can't beat the CG 100.