Review: Philex SuperWand Video Sender
Don Bradbury bounces his TV pictures around his home.
| Product | SuperWand Video Sender |
|---|---|
| Company | Philex |
| Web | www.philex.com |
| Price | £59.99 (£49.99 from Argos Stores) |
| We like | |
| We don't like | |
| Rating | 8/10 |
| Requirements |
For many people with, for example, multiple television sets scattered around the house, the perennial problem is how to get the signal from a single, well-sited aerial to all those receivers, because putting up several aerials and cabling them is not only unsightly but also expensive. Well there are wireless sender units on the market for doing this, and the Philex device is reckoned to one of the better examples.
There is one sender and one receiver unit in the box, the former beaming video and audio from suitable players that have Scart output, the latter receiving its 2.4GHz frequency signals for input to the second unit, again via a Scart socket. There's also a Scart doubler in the pack (one input and twin outputs) for those who find themselves short on Scart sockets.
Range
A range of 100m is quoted for the SuperWand, but, as is usual with wireless devices, that can be optimistic if there are signal-grounding obstructions in the line of sight between transmitter and receiver, such as walls. Still, 100m in clear air would seem to be adequate for most households if the end result is effectively, say, half that distance in a particular house.
So TV, DVD, VCR, and digibox output, eg Freeview, should be able to reproduce their output on several devices around the location. Of course, if you have more than one remote device, then you'll need that more than one SuperWand receiver, each at extra cost.
Rotating high-gain paddle antennas are fitted on both transmitter and receiver and they need to be aligned reasonably accurately (not as easy as it might be when you have thick Scart cabling attached) to ensure the wideband FM signal reaches the destination device at suitable strength. And of course the sending device (television or whatever) needs to be switched on. Both the SuperWand sender and receiver units also need to be mains-powered using the supplied PSUs.
Remote control
On the side of each unit is a UHF antenna, and this is used to enable infrared control of the sender and receiver via the supplied remote control. This works by converting the control signals to RF. The arrangement means you can control your source from the remote location. Further, a three-way IR extender in the pack lets you hide the SuperWand transmitter out of sight while controlling up to three pieces of AV equipment.
Philex supply the Scart cables, and a user-variable choice of four easily switchable transmission channels is given, using slight variations on the basic 2.4GHz frequency, thus enabling up to four receivers.
In action
We used strong Television signals from an outside aerial to test reception on a second TV set moved to various points within the house, but other likely scenarios include, say, linking a Nicam stereo VCR to a Hi-fi unit; or linking a satellite receiver to a TV set in a different room; or how about linking a security video camera to a video recorder, again in a remote location? Sky Digital compatibility is also claimed by Philex.
Our TV reception in remote locations was surprisingly strong, with a good, clear picture on the remote set, though we did note the odd stray line wander across the receiving screen sometimes, and also some picture instability, especially during warm-up. And there did seem to be some general susceptibility to weakening of the signal when, for example, passing one's body through the line of sight - which tended to cause some interference.
As you might expect, increasing the number of interior walls in the signal's line of sight, ie fixed signal weakeners, made interference more likely, though again, a decent picture was usually possible, sometimes by making minor adjustments to the precise location of the SuperWand receiver. In such manoeuvres, the hefty Scart cabling was, once again, something of a hindrance.
In conclusion
While clearly not as good as having separately wired AV equipment - that is, in terms of reception - the Philex SuperWand showed the feasibility of truly wireless remote reception and control. 'Truly-wireless' did not, of course, extend to the sender and receiver units themselves since they need their own space, cabling, and power supply, but with a little care it was possible to more or less hide their presence from view, and fixed-position remote reception seemed to be attainable over quite respectable distances within a normal habitat.
You have to weigh the cost of this Philex gear - with one receiver for each reception device remember, unless you're willing to routinely move receivers around - against the unsightliness of fixed cabling and the cost of installing that. The orientation of the SuperWand transmitter, relative to multiple receivers, has also to be born in mind if you want to operate with several AV devices as it's unlikely to align with more than one at the same time.
