RF-Link AVS-5811 5.8GHz Audio and Video Transmission System with IR Repeater
by RF LINK
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of RF-Link AVS-5811 5.8GHz Audio and Video Transmission System with IR Repeater
Customer Review: Best Wireless A/V Sender out there...If it works for you.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have an HP Windows Media Center PC and wanted a wireless A/V solution to enjoy the media content on my PC. I wanted to send the signal from my PC in my bedroom to my living room where I could hook up the audio to my home theatre system, (to enjoy the digital music and nice sound from recorded shows), and the video to my TV, (to watch movies, pictures, home videos, and TV shows I recorded on my PC). I live in a condo and I tried (2) other 2.4GHz Wireless A/V senders, (The Radioshack model and a product I got from Best Buy), before I arrived at this gem. With the 2.4GHz A/V devices I got a lot of interference from my neighbor's wireless routers, microwave ovens, cordless phones, etc., which operate on the 2.4GHz freq. band. The results I got were unsatisfactory and I was very disappointed that my vision seemed impractical.
When I learned of this product which operates on the 5.8GHz band my hope was renewed. Going up to 5.8 GHz made all the diff. for me as this freq. band is less populated, (for the time being), then the 2.4GHz freq. This product is a great invention and works as advertised. I wouldn't be able to enjoy the media content on my PC the way that I do if I didn't have it. The sound and video is crystal clear. Not only does it do the wireless A/V thing, but it also is a remote control extender. My PC has a remote and I control my PC in my living room while sitting on my couch.
There are only a few negatives things. I do experience some interference sometimes if someone is walking around in the other room, and the audio transmission is in stereo only, not dolby 5.1 surround sound. There also is the fear that wireless products will start populating the 5.8GHz freq. band in the coming years and interfere with my product, but I'll cross that bridge later. Also, anyone wanting to buy this in a retail store is going to be hard pressed to find one. The 2.4GHz devices are out there, but it seems that this 5.8GHz A/V device is a novelty item. I only saw the one I bought on the internet, so if someone else buys this thing and it doesn't work for them it will be very cumbersome to try to return. The cost also is about $40-50 more than the 2.4GHz devices I returned, but I think the extra cost is well worth it. I never tried out how it works on differnt floors. I think these are small draw backs however. I love this thing and am well satisfied. It works great for me. I've only begun to really fully utilize what I can do with it. 5 stars and I might buy another one!
Customer Review: Good, Not Great, w/ Charter/Moxi DVR Set-Up
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased the product to connect my main entertainment unit (TV/DVR/Home Theatre) to my office TV. Under the Charter program I am on, only my main TV gets all channels, and the DVR I am renting can only record from the main TV signal. Rooms are on the same floor - one inside wall, two outside walls separating units (L-shaped house). I connect the AVS-5811 transmittor directly to a Motorola Moxi BMC 9012 or 9022D DVR (not sure which, but they are configured the same).
Picture is good, sound is a bit weak, have to really crank the volume on the receiver TV, but it works. This makes interference "spikes" noisy and irritating, but they are not too numerous and overall the signal satisfactory.
Documentation is mediocre. I am fairly computer savvy and it was not overly clear to me where I should attach the cables for the transmitting unit, i.e. should I attach to TV, DVR, or Home Theatre/DVD player. I settled on the DVR since it was the only unit with the classic yellow/white/red cable outputs. The AVS-5811 comes only with these cables, and their documentation only discusses this option. There are other outputs on the DVR (S-Video, for example), but no other output options are discussed. The problem was, the red and white outputs were already in use. I disconnected those outputs, and everything worked fine, although doing this disconnected the sound from the main TV (but that's OK since I am generally watching one or the other, not both). Hooking up the receiving unit was easy, since there were clear yellow/white/red inputs on my office TV.
Unlike other reviewers, I am having pretty good luck with the wireless remote. I suspend the IR transmitter about 6 inches from the IR detector on the DVR, which might be the key.
I am looking at options where I can use a splitter cable on the white/red outputs so I don't have to turn the DVR unit, disconnect, etc. each time I want to hook up the AVS-5811. Also, my wife does not like the transmitting unit sitting on the entertainment unit, whereas I think it's kind of cool, but that is a girl/guy thing I suppose.
Overall, giving it four stars. Loses a star because signal transmission is not perfect and documentation, especially regarding optional configurations, is poor.
Customer Review: Better than I expected
Summary: 4 Stars
To start off with, I had this unit set-up and transmitting a very clear picture across three rooms (~40 feet, same floor) in less than 5 minutes. Over this relatively short range, the digital tv picture is nearly as good as on the main tv. No interference problems whatsoever, and in my situation it doesn't matter much what direction the antennae are facing.
Of course, YMMV -- some homes have interior wall construction that can drastically reduce the range of wireless devices.
Additionally:
-- The IR remote extender does work, and works well, however it is by far the most difficult part of the setup, and the instructions give almost no help with this part. Here's what you need to do:
-Connect the IR mouse to the transmitter, and place the IR mouse DIRECTLY in front of and facing the remote sensor of the device you are trying to control. This location is only temporary - you just want to make sure it has a clear line of site while you adjust the transmitter and receiver.
-Now play with the location of the transmitter and receiver, one at a time. It's easiest if you have someone to help you by trying to operate the remote while you adjust the transmitter and receiver. Keep in mind that the ideal position of the antennae is 90 degrees offset -- that is if one is straight up, the other should be horizontal to the surface it's sitting on. Once you have a functional remote, and are happy with the location of the transmitter and receiver, leave them in position, and now adjust the position of the IR mouse. I managed to fix mine to the underside of the shelf above my DVR box, facing back at the DVR, making it almost invisible. Operating the remote tv is now just like sitting in front of the main tv.
Overall I give this unit 4 stars only because it would have been nice if the transmitter and receiver were designed to blend in better with a typical electronics rack, and they are finicky enough about placement that I'm not able to hide them as well as I would have liked. That said, the product does exactly what it claims to, and better than I would have expected.
Customer Review: Hot stuff needs some tweaking
Summary: 4 Stars
1. It does work when tweaked.
Reception tweaks:
It gets very hot and the antenna oreintation needs lots of tweaking. I placed the receiver on its side using the Maxtor HD holder for side orientation I had to help with the cooling and put the transmitter on a metal plate to get the heat away. There is an occasional bit of jitter on my TV but with these fixes and tweaking of the orientation the signal is fine over 50 feet through walls. I had problem with a 10 year old Sony 9 inch TV (vertical roll) and used that as an excuse to buy a 13" LCD to put under the cabinet freeing up counter space. The sharp Aquous LCD did not have any vertical roll but does jitter once in a while. There is horizontal tearing on bright scenes once in a while. This probably due to the intensity of the composite input. This is not much of a problem in real viewing
IR transmitter tweaks.
I discarded the mouse which really doesn ot work well and used the double IR extender I got with my RCA TV. There are two little boxes attached to a mino stereo plug. I went to Radio Shack and got a mini to mini mini plug and then attached the output to the Sender unit. The unit apprently sends out IR noise even when it is not being sent things by the receiver so I had to place the ittle IR light boxes a bit away from the the the sensor on my Sony DSS unit and my Onkyo receiver so that I could use my system locally when I was not using it in the ktichen.
With these tweaks I get a good picutre in the kitchen and the DSS remote works fine from the kitchen or from our bedroom. An earlier try with a Radio Shack version at 2.4 did not work due to our 2.4 2 wireless phones and perhaps our 802.g network so the 5.8ghz unit is very important in our household. I have decided to leave it on all the tmie now since it does need to warm up before it works perfectly. I hope this will not cut down the life time too much.
Bottom line it works but requires effort. The company should do some enginering on all the aspects discussed above. An S-VHS connector in addtion to the composite would help a lot.
Customer Review: What a TOTAL Gem!!
Summary: 5 Stars
After several months of ever increasing frustration with my old AngelTrax wireless CATV transmitter/receiver, I finally decided it was time to look for something new. Please don't get me wrong... I've had the AngelTrax for many years and it worked great. But something seemed to change after the "digital TV conversion" happened (whether or not it was just a coincidence is pure speculation).
At any rate, I've always had some popping and cracking when someone walked through the path of the transmitter/receiver, but the reception on my remote TV got really bad as well. At first I thought it was just my remote TV going out, but then I started having issues with my wireless computer network too... the signal to the remote computer started dropping out sporadically for no apparent reason. Another coincidence? The final straw came when I bought a new 19" LCD TV and hooked it up... the reception was nothing short of horrific.
SOOO... After reading the reviews for the RF-Link AVS-5811, I decided to take a chance. Several reviewers noted that most similar products have a 2.4GHz transmission rate (like my old one) that can cause interference with other wireless stuff such as telephones and computer networks, so the 5.8GHz transmission rate of the RF-Link seemed to make sense as a possible solution to my problems.
All I can say is: Hallelujah, Amen!!!! The RF-Link is worth it's weight in diamonds! The new LCD TV's reception/picture is fabulous; there's no popping/cracking; and although may be too early to tell for sure, my wireless computer network has been working flawlessly!
Needless to say, I'm a VERY happy camper, and couldn't be more pleased with this purchase!
As a final endorsement, I should state that the placement of my RF-Link is pretty challenging... Although the transmitter is only about 15' away from the receiver, the signal passes through two walls of a kitchen pantry (which is filled with metal cans, foil, etc.).
Trust me... BUY THIS THING!