What receiver do you have? A trigger input in a receiver is unusual, but if there is actually one available you should be able to turn the receiver on with the 970 on and the trigger connected - when the 970 turns off, the trigger cable would shut down the receiver.

I suspect that the Niles IR repeater will work with the 970 by connecting an IR output of the Niles to the IR input of the 970. My Xantech IR repeater worked fine this way with the 950, but it did not work with the IR input of my 990 or my cable box (both of which require a special module to interface with the Xantech gear I have) so I'm using emitters for them. With the 970 and 1070 coming from the same place as the 950 (I believe they are manufactured for Outlaw by Eastech just as the 950 was), I suspect their IR input is similar to the 950's. You can either give it a try or ask Outlaw .