Ramsey RRW1AC Wireless IR/RF Repeater Transmitter Kit Review

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(More customer reviews)your marketing sucks.
seriously. it sucks.
I don't mean your lack of adverts on abc or anything that trite. I mean that you sell components that _require_ other components, and you fail to make those requirements known.
here, let me elucidate.
I have a projector. this projector is behind me. the video is fed to the projector by an AV receiver which is also behind me. leaning over the couch and trying to point the right remote at the right device (do I need to pause a dvd? do want to skip to the next selection on my apple tv? hell, do I want to adjust the volume on my stereo) is awkward. I have to imagine that this is a pretty standard predicament for someone to be in when they go searching for this sort of product. so I went looking for something that would transmit my IR signal at the front of the room (where the image is projected) to the back of the room (where the AV gear is located).
amazon, to the rescue!
the least crappy/most flexible of the products appeared to be the ramsey products. cool. for 30$ something, I ordered the IR/RF transmitter. it comes and it turns out that this is a DIY setup. ok, that's not what I was expecting. It would've been nice if the description said DIY somewhere. My bad for not correctly interpreting 'kit' to mean 'solder this yourself'. But what the hell, I get a soldering iron and get it setup.
nothing happens.
ok, I see that I only got the transmitter. crap. I guess I need a transmitter and some sort of repeater/receiver. would've been nice if ramsey had mentioned that on my initial purchase.
so I order the repeater. another $30 (and another 10 days). I'm expecting a DIY kit this time, and this time, I'm not disappointed. soldering gun at the ready, and I get it going.
repeater, works just fine. transmitter, still nothing. Not amount of futzing can get these two devices to talk to each other. odd, b/c my amazon research lead me to believe that these were the two I wanted. I figure I must've set the transmitter up incorrectly (it _was_ my first device. I was less experienced and the actvity indicator LED's act differently. when the repeater recieves a signal, the LED blinks on. when the transmitter recieves a signal, the LED blinks off. something must be crossed in the transmitter).
so I toss the transmitter and buy a new one. $90+ invested now, in a DIY kit.
setup. plugged in. LED blinks. still, no dice.
what could possibly be wrong?
Oh, when buying the RRW1A wireless transmitter, I also need to buy an RRW1B reciever (according to the manual). except that on amazon, it's called an RRW1BC wireless RF/IR Repeater Receiver (try searching amazon for "RRW1B", all I get is two random books when searching "all departments")
Riiiight.
So, Ramsey, your marketing sucks. you utterly fail to make known what components are needed for what to work. you have, however, inspired me to simply move my a/v receiver to a location that isn't quite so awkward to point at from the couch. yay, you.


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Have you ever been frustrated with the range of your remote controls? Tired of having to bounce your IR remote off ceilings and walls? Do you want to run your system from another room or floor? This is the answer to your prayers! Extend the range of your remote controls through walls, around corners, and even from outdoors. Unlike store bought units, error correction can be turned on for pulse width regeneration. The foolproof IR repeater! Take advantage of wireless technology with this practical kit, which almost anyone can use. The RRW1A and RRW1B pair allow you to rebroadcast your AV Infrared remote controls wirelessly on 433 MHz up to 100 feet. Broadcast through walls, doors, floors, and ceilings. Use the pair to control the satellite receiver downstairs, and watch it upstairs! Be outside and control the tunes on your stereo system in the living room! Use multiple RRW1A s to broadcast from multiple locations in the house to the single RRW1B receiver near your equipment. Feed the control freak in all of us! Both units operate on 7-18V AC or DC. For continuous operation, use our AC125 AC power adapter. Sleek matching cases measure 5 W x 1 1/2 H x 5 1/4 D.

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