I haven't done an update in a while....

Quick list of things now complete:

1) Equipment Rack built (yay!)
2) Equipment exhaust fan put in (yay! - but see below)
3) HTPC rebuilt 2 more times as I play around with JRiver instead of MediaBrowser 3 (See below)
4) Added a PCS-MCE from SIMEREC to finally let me power ON my HTPC from my Harmony (yay!)
5) Screwed up my Audyssey settings (boo!)
6) Put in two 6" vent holes in the exterior wall of my house (yay?? See below)

For #2, I spent some good coin on a quiet 250mm fan and power supply to try to pull air up and away from the equipment rack. I thought that this would also work sort of like an air return to get hot air out, but no... It doesn't do enough.

For #3, MediaBrowser is really slick, but they are focused on more clients and features, and not on fixing a couple of critical issues. Subtitles don't work correctly for a number of people (I just want "forced" subtitles for when someone is speaking in another language, not for entire movies). They also still don't have MadVR working in exclusive mode. This allows for better video handling, but without exclusive mode, I have to use 3rd party playback software instead of the one built in to MediaBrowser. This makes it NOT a seemless experience. I have about $18 is all that is invested into MB, but I am on day 3 of what should be day 18 of my 30 day trial... I reinstalled Windows and thus my trial started over. I reinstalled due to chasing down an issue just to find that the support people were giving me was making things worse. It was a minor thing and I found out later that it is a known bug. Anyway. It isn't as slick, and is a bit more of a hassle to set some things up, but it works for subtitles, and it does MadVR. Cost is $50, plus about $28 for each upgrade... Yay and Boo at the same time.

#6 is related to #2. Before the arctic winter sets in (highs in a few days are going to be in the mid-30s) I wanted to come up with another solution to a hot home theater. For summer, I NEED a real "hot" air return. There is duct work running almost directly above my 250mm fan. It is just a "fresh air supply" line for my furnace and water heater. There is enough of the duct to tie into the air return and put a return above the equipment rack. However I need a new fresh air supply, so I am going to put in another run from another part of the basement. It required a new 6" hole and vent. It will also require me tearing into some drywall in a soffit in my "game room." I am not real happy about that, but I can fix the drywall. That solves summers.

For winter, I put in another 6" vent hole behind my screen wall. I didn't break through the drywall yet, but the vent is in. My Panasonic FV-20NLF1 in-line fan arrived today. I am waiting for a back flow damper to come later before I get too far into it. Without going into a ton of details, this will allow me to blow in cold winter air from outside, through a filter box, and into the front of the room. Part 2 of this will be taking that other piece of duct above my equipment rack that I tied into for a return, and putting an exhaust fan there to push heat outside. Not sure if that 250mm fan will do it or not. It is rated at 105CFM, which theoretically should be enough as I probably won't run the cold air fan at full 240 CFM. We will see.

A lot of messy work is ahead. I hope that it is worth it. The ducting alone is a lot more money than expected. Throw in a $150 fan, a $36 back flow damper, a $35 DIY filter box (better than the $90 pre-made), plus drywall work for the new fresh air vent for the furnace, adding another soffit to the front of the theater to hold the fan and try to keep its sound down.

It is adding up quick, but if it works, then I will be happy that I did it. The alternative was putting in a mini-split for at LEAST $1000 up to $1500 and then you have an odd looking system in the theater, distracting from the overall look.


Farewell - June 4, 2020