RF-Link AVS-5811 5.8GHz Audio and Video Transmission System with IR Repeater
by RF LINK
|
List Price: Our Price: $94.54 You Save: $65.54 (41%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $79.00 (click here) Category: Speakers See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of RF-Link AVS-5811 5.8GHz Audio and Video Transmission System with IR Repeater
Customer Review: Remote viewing
Summary: 3 Stars
Purchased this to allow viewing a 2nd TV without the need for another cable connection.
The video and stereo sound is transmitted from the source to the receiver in a different room, extending TV viewing to another set about 15ft away but through two walls.
Sound and picture quality are good. I had no need to change channels but found the two of four available channels tested worked fine with no noticeable difference in quality (I did not test the other two) Unit retains the selected channel when re-powered.
No issues with wireless network or any other interference as it is on the 5.8Ghz band. Worked straight out of the box, by simply connecting the supplied video and stereo RCA cable from the output of my cable box to the input of the transmitter, and then in the remote room connecting the receiver's outputs to the 2nd TV's video and sound inputs. Aligned the paddle aerials toward each other, and switched on - actually I found the alignment is not too critical at this distance which was a surprise considering some of the other reviews.
The aerials look like they may be subject to potential breakage as the mount allows them to rotate up and down as well as about 330degress of rotation. I have tucked the sets behind the TV in both rooms to protect them.
Noticeable static when a person walks between the transmitter and reciever, but considering it is already transmitting through two walls I think this is acceptable performance.
The one issue I have had is a can't get the IR extender to work at all. This feature should allow you to control your source from the receiving room, (ie change the channel on the cable box while in the receiving room) by capturing the remote's InfraRed and retransmitting at the other end from an included 'mouse'. This failing takes away some of the ease of use. Otherwise the unit works as expected and so far has been a easy way to duplicate the signal to one TV to another is a different room.
Will update if I find a solution.
Customer Review: Wow! I didn't think it would work this well!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
I was searching for a way i could possibly send cable to the tv in our upstairs bedroom without running cable across the floor (it currently comes into the room in an inconvenient place). I began searching for a wireless method, half expecting this to still be science fiction.
But, voila, here on amazon i see just such a device, and after reading several reviews, it seemed to actually work.
i bought it with some reservation, assuming it would NOT work.
however, i am extremely pleased to say that it works! and works pretty good!
we currently have the transmitter hooked to our tivo premiere downstairs with the supplied composite cable, and the receiver hooked to our tv in the upstairs bedroom.
even though we have hd channels, as is mentioned in other reviews, the signal transmitted is not in hd. however, it is a pretty good, strong signal, and it suits our in-bed tv watching expectations, which are pretty low.
i purchased an additional tivo remote from amazon, which i leave upstairs, and it controls the tivo downstairs!
there are some imperfections inherent in this device which you have to expect, though. walking around, blocking the signal causes the picture to break up. once we settle down this stops completely.
another one is, to work the remote from upstairs, you have to affix some boondoggle to cover the remote receiver on your cable box/dvd player/tivo, whatever you are transmitting from. this needs to be covering the little spot almost completely, which means for US, that we have to move it off and on depending if we want watch tv downstairs or upstairs. just a minor irritation, but definitely a factor in its use for us...
overall, i'm amazed that this thing works, and i think it's pretty cool. if you can put up with babying it for the sake of wirelessly watching your media, this thing is fantastic.
Customer Review: 5 stars all the way!!! Best electronics gadget ever!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a hi-tech gadget guy who is hard to please, but this far exceeded my expectations! I have it connected from a bedroom Directv Receiver(6" from a 2.4GHZ wireless PC lan) to a kitchen 15" Magnanox LCD TV sitting 12" below a micrwave oven without interference from microwave or lan! I'm even transmitting through 6 walls and a 5 gal. metal potato chip bucket and people walking in the kitchen without affecting the picture! I was getting a super picture w/o even having 1 antenna directly facing the other antenna. I thought I was going to have to run between floors for hours until everything was aligned perfectly - it only took 15 seconds because alignment is very forgiving. Picture quality is 5 star crystal clear with no lines, static, etc. All TV channels are 5 star and the HDTV stations blew me away even though I know its not sending true HDTV though the avs-5811.
What surprised me most was that I could use my bedroom Directv remote (down in the kitchen) to change channels (up in the bedroom) by simply pointing at the (kitchen)avs-5811 receiver. It sends the remote control signal upstairs to a "mouse" that you place in front of your TV receiver, cable box, etc, IR sensor. I had a spare remote so I keep 1 in kitchen and 1 in bedroom for convenience.
The owners manual iS POOR and doesn't tell you all this, but basically I can point the remote at the avs-5811 receiver in kitchen requesting a Directv channel change (or any other remote control function) in the upstairs bedroom. The avs-5811 transmitter in the bedroom receives the request and sends it through the "mouse" to the Directv Receiver which changes the channel as requested and the new channel video and sound is return to the kitchen! Pure magic and ingenious!
It is a very cost effective way, without losing picture quality and convenience, to avoid running cables and drill holes through my tiled walls or granite counters.
Customer Review: Great product!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This product does a great job! I hooked the RF Link transmitter end of the system to my Directv receiver in the basement and the RF Link receiver end to my bedroom tv on the third floor of the house. This means that the signal penetrates through two floors, three walls, and a lot of furniture, etc, in between. The RF Link receiver sits right next to a 2.4 GHz WiFi antenna and the RF Link transmitter is right next to the central console of a 5.8 GHz cordless multiple handset system but I don't have any interference problems to/from those systems. The RF Link system uses a 5.8 GHz frequency but it has 4 channels so as to avoid interfering with your cordless phones. As others have mentioned, the manual that comes with the system provides very little detail. I'd say that the key is to point the antennas at each other. Also, unlike other reviewers, I was able to get the remote control extender to work despite the distance between the units. I placed the remote control extender mouse directly in front of the Directv receiver's IR eye and pointed the remote control antennas on the RF Link transmitter and receiver units at each other. Using my remote control upstairs, I am able to change channels on the Directv receiver in the basement by pointing at the IR eye on the RF receiver unit upstairs. The RF Link receiver unit converts the IR signal sent from the remote control to the RF Link receiver unit into a RF signal which is then sent to the other RF transmitter Link unit connected to the Directv receiver downstairs. So the key point is that you have two antennas on the two RF units, one for the audio/visual signal and one for the remote control extender. Both of them have to be directed at each other. I'd highly recommend this system to anyone who wants to avoid running cables, drilling through walls, or buying/leasing another satellite/cable receiver box.Customer Review: Very nice, well worth the money
Summary: 5 Stars
Even after reading the many very positive reviews on here, I was still skeptical when I purchased it - I wasn't sure the wireless connection would be good enough to deliver good picture and audio quality, but I was definitely proven wrong. We have a DIRECTV receiver in an upstairs bedroom that I wanted to be able to view in the basement (2 levels below) without going through any wiring hassles. I bought this model instead of the TERK because I was very concerned about interference with my wireless network, since the TERK is at 2.4 GHz.
I have been very pleased with the performance - the wireless connection was not very picky, and it did not take long at all to get the antenna set the right way. The picture and audio quality are quite good, a notch below what it would be if the receiver were connected to the TV via cables, but more than good enough for my needs. Very easy to set up as well.
One note however, I had a Panasonic cordless phone that also operated at 5.8 GHz, and it caused significant interference - enough audio popping and picture noise to make the RF-Link unusable unless the phone was unplugged. The phone receiver and base were nowhere close to either the RF-Link transmitter or receiver, but it still caused problems. And not just when it was in an active phone call, but when it was just sitting there, plugged into the wall, with no active phone calls. So I immediately replaced it a DECT 6.0 cordless phone, which causes no interference issues with the RF-Link or my wireless LAN. I was bit disappointed that I needed to shell out another $40 on top of the price of the RF-Link itself, but I was also prepared to do that before I even bought the RF-Link because I suspected there may be problems with phone interference, and figured I would rather risk interference with the cordless phone then my wireless network.