[Mystriss]

I blew up my Onkyo and had to replace with a Pioneer VSX-LX303 so now I've gotta rework my "whole home" setup a bit.

I'd rather like to maker an electronic component that can handle the turning on (12v trigger) and controling (IR blaster), and speaker switching from my two additional zones.

As for cabling; I've got HDMI 4K, TosLinks, and TRS (stereo) cable for IR running to Zone 2 (game room) and Zone 3 (kitchen), and I'm planning to run an additional TS (monaural) cable to each zone to separately run the triggers.

Here's the back panel:

In Zone 1 (office) most of the time I'll be running 7.2.2; Front R/L, Center, Surround R/L, Surround Back R/L, 2 Subwoofers, and [Front] Height 1 R/L

If I turn on Zone 2 (game room) I need to drop the office down to 7.2.0. I need to switch my Zone 1 (office) height speakers for the zone 2 (game room) speakers.

If I turn on Zone 3 (kitchen) alone, I'd need to drop the office down to 7.2.0 again, but I need to switch zone 1 (office) height speakers for zone 3 (kitchen) speakers.

If I turn on both zone 2 (game room) and zone 3 (kitchen), I need to drop the office down to 5.2.0, switch the zone 1 (office) height speakers for zone 2 (game room) speakers, and switch the zone 1 (office) surround back speakers for the zone 3 (kitchen) speakers.

I also need to break out the IR IN port on the receiver for remotes in the game room and kitchen as well as 12V triggers from each zone.


I have a program that lets me print my own custom PCB's (have all the supplies to print 4", 6", and 8" cards and a ton of components.) I've made PCB card for the Arduino that controlled a color shifting individually accessible RGB LED lamp thing, and I made a simple PCB card that essentially turned my computers 5.1 audio signals into LED power buttons. But I've never done anything with home theater/home audio, and I think nothing quite so complex (at least in my head.)

Any advice, suggestions on how to go about tinkering up this gadget?

 

[Mystriss]

(sorry I was running out of time to edit the first post I accidentally submitted before I was done typing lol)

Anyway, I think I should be able to run a 12v trigger line into a MOSFET gate, then onto a PNP/NPN and an MCP23017 I/O chip (cause I have one in my tinker box) to enable the correct speaker config and route the proper zone IR controller to the "IN" on the receiver.

However, I'm not sure if I'll need an IC to manage the switching or if I can get away with going straight through my gadget. Any thoughts on that?

I'll see if I can map out a PCB plan later today, gotta do my other projects first though :/

 

[huesmann]

It's not clear what you're asking for. I bet one of the Logitech Harmony remotes can do what you want.

 

[Mystriss]

hmmm they have a "macro" function for triggering? Paired up with a remote controlled speaker switch.... hmmm yeah I'll def. look into that.

But I was asking if anyone had any thoughts on building the thing from scratch, like what kinda chips to use in it. Was kinda not put on the right forum... They all look the same anymore LOL

 

[huesmann]

I dunno...if you want to DIY maybe some kind of RasPi or Arduino? Really not into that; would rather just have something off the shelf, which is why I picked up a Harmony.

 

[Mystriss]

Heh yeah I'm a bit of a tinkerer so I'd rather make it myself and get everything I want, exactly how I want, and be able to fix it if it stops doing what I want later