Mailing List Archive

The Actisys seems to work pretty well for me.

Mike

On Tue, 26 Nov 2002 15:34:32 -0800 (PST), "Jeremy Oddo" <joddo@apixels.net>
wrote :

> Anyone seen the Tekram IR-mate 210 device? It's an IR receiver and
> transmitter connected via serial. Seems like a cool one-stop-solution;
> however, it's "Available in Europe Only". Does anything like this exist
> for us bloody Americans?
>
> I don't know if I want to try creating my own...I'm pretty terrible with a
> soldering iron...trust me :)
>
>
> Jeremy
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-dev mailing list
> mythtv-dev@snowman.net
> http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
>
>
>

Yeah, I was looking at that IR receiver. Looks nice, and it's pretty
cheap. But I want to find an IR transmitter as well. Like I said, "I'm
pretty terrible with a soldering iron..." I haven't been able to find any
IR transmitters. Perhaps someone from this list should start selling some
homegrow IR transmitters...I'd by a couple! ;)

Jeremy

>
> The Actisys seems to work pretty well for me.
>
> Mike
>
> On Tue, 26 Nov 2002 15:34:32 -0800 (PST), "Jeremy Oddo"
> <joddo@apixels.net> wrote :
>
>> Anyone seen the Tekram IR-mate 210 device? It's an IR receiver and
>> transmitter connected via serial. Seems like a cool
>> one-stop-solution; however, it's "Available in Europe Only". Does
>> anything like this exist for us bloody Americans?
>>
>> I don't know if I want to try creating my own...I'm pretty terrible
>> with a soldering iron...trust me :)
>>
>>
>> Jeremy
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> mythtv-dev mailing list
>> mythtv-dev@snowman.net
>> http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
>>
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-dev mailing list
> mythtv-dev@snowman.net
> http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev

Umm, Carlos mentioned this one a few weeks back

http://store.yahoo.com/snapstreammedia/irblasbun.html

I am still waiting for my order from Nov 09 to arrive. Shipping for stuff
like this seems to take an awfully long time to get up here in Canada.

On 26 Nov 2002 at 21:42, Jeremy Oddo wrote:

> Yeah, I was looking at that IR receiver. Looks nice, and it's pretty
> cheap. But I want to find an IR transmitter as well. Like I said, "I'm
> pretty terrible with a soldering iron..." I haven't been able to find any IR
> transmitters. Perhaps someone from this list should start selling some
> homegrow IR transmitters...I'd by a couple! ;)

--
Harondel J. Sibble
Sibble Computer Consulting
Creating solutions for the small business and home computer user.
help@pdscc.com (use pgp keyid 0x3AD5C11D) http://www.pdscc.com
(604) 739-3709 (voice/fax) (604) 686-2253 (pager)

But that's just to receive, right? It doesn't do transmitting (at least,
not that I can tell from the spotty on-line literature).


> Umm, Carlos mentioned this one a few weeks back
>
> http://store.yahoo.com/snapstreammedia/irblasbun.html
>
> I am still waiting for my order from Nov 09 to arrive. Shipping for
> stuff like this seems to take an awfully long time to get up here in
> Canada.
>
> On 26 Nov 2002 at 21:42, Jeremy Oddo wrote:
>
>> Yeah, I was looking at that IR receiver. Looks nice, and it's pretty
>> cheap. But I want to find an IR transmitter as well. Like I said,
>> "I'm pretty terrible with a soldering iron..." I haven't been able to
>> find any IR transmitters. Perhaps someone from this list should start
>> selling some homegrow IR transmitters...I'd by a couple! ;)
>
> --
> Harondel J. Sibble
> Sibble Computer Consulting
> Creating solutions for the small business and home computer user.
> help@pdscc.com (use pgp keyid 0x3AD5C11D) http://www.pdscc.com
> (604) 739-3709 (voice/fax) (604) 686-2253 (pager)
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-dev mailing list
> mythtv-dev@snowman.net
> http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev

It does receive as well. I have it configured just to control my cable
box though. I suppose if you setup a little mirror adjacent to the
infrared receiver on the cable box you could potentially use it to
transmit and receive simultaneously.

Carlos

-----Original Message-----
From: mythtv-dev-admin@snowman.net [mailto:mythtv-dev-admin@snowman.net]
On Behalf Of Jeremy Oddo
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 1:22 AM
To: mythtv-dev@snowman.net
Subject: Re: [mythtv] Tekram IR-mate 210

But that's just to receive, right? It doesn't do transmitting (at
least,
not that I can tell from the spotty on-line literature).


> Umm, Carlos mentioned this one a few weeks back
>
> http://store.yahoo.com/snapstreammedia/irblasbun.html
>
> I am still waiting for my order from Nov 09 to arrive. Shipping for
> stuff like this seems to take an awfully long time to get up here in
> Canada.
>
> On 26 Nov 2002 at 21:42, Jeremy Oddo wrote:
>
>> Yeah, I was looking at that IR receiver. Looks nice, and it's pretty
>> cheap. But I want to find an IR transmitter as well. Like I said,
>> "I'm pretty terrible with a soldering iron..." I haven't been able
to
>> find any IR transmitters. Perhaps someone from this list should
start
>> selling some homegrow IR transmitters...I'd by a couple! ;)
>
> --
> Harondel J. Sibble
> Sibble Computer Consulting
> Creating solutions for the small business and home computer user.
> help@pdscc.com (use pgp keyid 0x3AD5C11D) http://www.pdscc.com
> (604) 739-3709 (voice/fax) (604) 686-2253 (pager)
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-dev mailing list
> mythtv-dev@snowman.net
> http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev



_______________________________________________
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mythtv-dev@snowman.net
http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev

The Actisys I have is a serial port dongle that does learn and transmit.
I think it was around 20 USD.

Mike

On Tue, 26 Nov 2002 21:42:31 -0800 (PST), "Jeremy Oddo" <joddo@apixels.net>
wrote :

> Yeah, I was looking at that IR receiver. Looks nice, and it's pretty
> cheap. But I want to find an IR transmitter as well. Like I said, "I'm
> pretty terrible with a soldering iron..." I haven't been able to find any
> IR transmitters. Perhaps someone from this list should start selling some
> homegrow IR transmitters...I'd by a couple! ;)
>
> Jeremy
>
> >
> > The Actisys seems to work pretty well for me.
> >
> > Mike
> >
> > On Tue, 26 Nov 2002 15:34:32 -0800 (PST), "Jeremy Oddo"
> > <joddo@apixels.net> wrote :
> >
> >> Anyone seen the Tekram IR-mate 210 device? It's an IR receiver and
> >> transmitter connected via serial. Seems like a cool
> >> one-stop-solution; however, it's "Available in Europe Only". Does
> >> anything like this exist for us bloody Americans?
> >>
> >> I don't know if I want to try creating my own...I'm pretty terrible
> >> with a soldering iron...trust me :)
> >>
> >>
> >> Jeremy
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> mythtv-dev mailing list
> >> mythtv-dev@snowman.net
> >> http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
> >>
> >>
> >>
> > _______________________________________________
> > mythtv-dev mailing list
> > mythtv-dev@snowman.net
> > http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-dev mailing list
> mythtv-dev@snowman.net
> http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
>
>
>

> It does receive as well. I have it configured just to control my cable
> box though. I suppose if you setup a little mirror adjacent to the
> infrared receiver on the cable box you could potentially use it to
> transmit and receive simultaneously.
>
Or perhaps you can use two? One can hang directly in front of the
cable/dish receiver and be used as the IR transmitter, and the other can
be pointed towards the couch <grin> and be used as the IR receiver. I
wonder if they were OK together?

As for the IR receiver part...it does work with "standard consumer
remotes", yes? I have a sony remote that I'd like to use for my MythTV
boxen.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: mythtv-dev-admin@snowman.net [mailto:mythtv-dev-admin@snowman.net]
> On Behalf Of Jeremy Oddo
> Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 1:22 AM
> To: mythtv-dev@snowman.net
> Subject: Re: [mythtv] Tekram IR-mate 210
>
> But that's just to receive, right? It doesn't do transmitting (at
> least,
> not that I can tell from the spotty on-line literature).
>
>
>> Umm, Carlos mentioned this one a few weeks back
>>
>> http://store.yahoo.com/snapstreammedia/irblasbun.html
>>
>> I am still waiting for my order from Nov 09 to arrive. Shipping for
>> stuff like this seems to take an awfully long time to get up here in
>> Canada.
>>
>> On 26 Nov 2002 at 21:42, Jeremy Oddo wrote:
>>
>>> Yeah, I was looking at that IR receiver. Looks nice, and it's pretty
>>> cheap. But I want to find an IR transmitter as well. Like I said,
>>> "I'm pretty terrible with a soldering iron..." I haven't been able
> to
>>> find any IR transmitters. Perhaps someone from this list should
> start
>>> selling some homegrow IR transmitters...I'd by a couple! ;)
>>
>> --
>> Harondel J. Sibble
>> Sibble Computer Consulting
>> Creating solutions for the small business and home computer user.
>> help@pdscc.com (use pgp keyid 0x3AD5C11D) http://www.pdscc.com
>> (604) 739-3709 (voice/fax) (604) 686-2253 (pager)
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> mythtv-dev mailing list
>> mythtv-dev@snowman.net
>> http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-dev mailing list
> mythtv-dev@snowman.net
> http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-dev mailing list
> mythtv-dev@snowman.net
> http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev

On Wed, 2002-11-27 at 10:02, Jeremy Oddo wrote:

> Or perhaps you can use two? One can hang directly in front of the
> cable/dish receiver and be used as the IR transmitter, and the other can
> be pointed towards the couch <grin> and be used as the IR receiver. I
> wonder if they were OK together?

I'm not sure if lirc will allow you to do this (i.e. configure multiple
infrared devices).


> As for the IR receiver part...it does work with "standard consumer
> remotes", yes? I have a sony remote that I'd like to use for my MythTV
> boxen.

Yes, it works with "standard consumer remotes".

Carlos

> On Wed, 2002-11-27 at 10:02, Jeremy Oddo wrote:
>
>> Or perhaps you can use two? One can hang directly in front of the
>> cable/dish receiver and be used as the IR transmitter, and the other
>> can be pointed towards the couch <grin> and be used as the IR
>> receiver. I wonder if they were OK together?
>
> I'm not sure if lirc will allow you to do this (i.e. configure multiple
> infrared devices).
>
Hmmm...I think it does. I believe many people are using a homebrew IR
transmitter on one serial port and a homebrew IR receiver on the other
port.

Can anyone confirm a happy marriage between two ACTiSYS IR devices
(http://shop.store.yahoo.com/snapstreammedia/irblasbun.html) on one
system?

On Mit, 2002-11-27 at 20:47, Jeremy Oddo wrote:
> Hmmm...I think it does. I believe many people are using a homebrew IR
> transmitter on one serial port and a homebrew IR receiver on the other
> port.

i have only built the homebrew receiver (works fine, is really cheap in
parts and the soldering involved isn't really that complicated, the
whole device fits inside an old serial plug...) and not the transmitter
but i think it is possible (and intended to be that way) to connect the
receiver and the transmitter to the same serial port, by soldering both
to the same serial plug. if i understand the diagrams on
http://www.lirc.org/receivers.html and
http://www.geocrawler.com/archives/3/3680/2001/1/0/5037984 (transmitter)
right, they use different pins of the serial port (well, except from
GND, but that shouldn't be a problem).
can anyone confirm this?

> Can anyone confirm a happy marriage between two ACTiSYS IR devices
> (http://shop.store.yahoo.com/snapstreammedia/irblasbun.html) on one
> system?

i don't have an actisys device and i haven't followed your conversation
really close, but i don't understand why you think that you need two of
these devices, isn't it possible to send and receive at the same time
with just one of them? or have i completely misunderstood what you
problem is all about?

cya,
david

> i don't have an actisys device and i haven't followed your conversation
> really close, but i don't understand why you think that you need two of
> these devices, isn't it possible to send and receive at the same time
> with just one of them? or have i completely misunderstood what you
> problem is all about?
>
Well, the reason we were talking about TWO devices is because the
transmitter has to point at my cable box (facing away from me) while the
receiver needs to point towards me. Guess I can point it perpendicular to
me (facing the wall to me left) and bounce the signals off the wall ;)

> Well, the reason we were talking about TWO devices is because the
> transmitter has to point at my cable box (facing away from me) while the
> receiver needs to point towards me. Guess I can point it perpendicular to
> me (facing the wall to me left) and bounce the signals off the wall ;)

Well I did not read start of this thread but, why not just pull the IR LED
out and stick it to your cable box. With wires in between.

>> i don't have an actisys device and i haven't followed your
conversation
>> really close, but i don't understand why you think that you need two
of
>> these devices, isn't it possible to send and receive at the same time
>> with just one of them? or have i completely misunderstood what you
>> problem is all about?
>>
>Well, the reason we were talking about TWO devices is because the
>transmitter has to point at my cable box (facing away from me) while
the
>receiver needs to point towards me. Guess I can point it perpendicular
to
>me (facing the wall to me left) and bounce the signals off the wall ;)
Guess what?

I just did a test with the Actysis 200 acting as an IR receiver. Using
lirc's irw command I can receive codes from my a/v remotes - but the
distance is limited to less than 4 feet! Even using my Philips pronto
which has a strong IR signal I could not receive any codes once I passed
the 4 foot limit. This might limit your options for using this device to
receive a/v codes from a couch 8-10 feet away.

Carlos

>> Well, the reason we were talking about TWO devices is because the
>> transmitter has to point at my cable box (facing away from me) while
>> the receiver needs to point towards me. Guess I can point it
>> perpendicular to me (facing the wall to me left) and bounce the
>> signals off the wall ;)
>
> Well I did not read start of this thread but, why not just pull the IR
> LED out and stick it to your cable box. With wires in between.
>
That's a fine idea (depending on how fragile the innards are). Maybe I
can just flip the trasmitting LED and point it in the opposite direction,
then dangle the whole thing right over my cable box. Could work.

> Van: Carlos Talbot <carlos@talbot.net>
>
> I just did a test with the Actysis 200 acting as an IR receiver. Using
> lirc's irw command I can receive codes from my a/v remotes - but the
> distance is limited to less than 4 feet! Even using my Philips pronto
> which has a strong IR signal I could not receive any codes once I passed
> the 4 foot limit. This might limit your options for using this device to
> receive a/v codes from a couch 8-10 feet away.

4 x ~30cm => 1.20m, not really handy indeed...

As some sort of stickytape-solution you might try putting a reflecting
parabolic conus before it. Possible one from a lightbulb or
bike-frontlight. No, it won't look nice. Though there might be ones that
reflect only IR, so they'll look black.

YMMV...

Henk Poley <><

Hey Carlos--

What sort of distance range are you getting with your remote? I've heard
that the max is something like 4.5 feet...is this true? I need to find
something that will work from my couch (10+ feet away).

Thanks for any info ya got!
Jeremy

> It does receive as well. I have it configured just to control my cable
> box though. I suppose if you setup a little mirror adjacent to the
> infrared receiver on the cable box you could potentially use it to
> transmit and receive simultaneously.
>
> Carlos
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mythtv-dev-admin@snowman.net [mailto:mythtv-dev-admin@snowman.net]
> On Behalf Of Jeremy Oddo
> Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 1:22 AM
> To: mythtv-dev@snowman.net
> Subject: Re: [mythtv] Tekram IR-mate 210
>
> But that's just to receive, right? It doesn't do transmitting (at
> least,
> not that I can tell from the spotty on-line literature).
>
>
>> Umm, Carlos mentioned this one a few weeks back
>>
>> http://store.yahoo.com/snapstreammedia/irblasbun.html
>>
>> I am still waiting for my order from Nov 09 to arrive. Shipping for
>> stuff like this seems to take an awfully long time to get up here in
>> Canada.
>>
>> On 26 Nov 2002 at 21:42, Jeremy Oddo wrote:
>>
>>> Yeah, I was looking at that IR receiver. Looks nice, and it's pretty
>>> cheap. But I want to find an IR transmitter as well. Like I said,
>>> "I'm pretty terrible with a soldering iron..." I haven't been able
> to
>>> find any IR transmitters. Perhaps someone from this list should
> start
>>> selling some homegrow IR transmitters...I'd by a couple! ;)
>>
>> --
>> Harondel J. Sibble
>> Sibble Computer Consulting
>> Creating solutions for the small business and home computer user.
>> help@pdscc.com (use pgp keyid 0x3AD5C11D) http://www.pdscc.com
>> (604) 739-3709 (voice/fax) (604) 686-2253 (pager)
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> mythtv-dev mailing list
>> mythtv-dev@snowman.net
>> http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-dev mailing list
> mythtv-dev@snowman.net
> http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-dev mailing list
> mythtv-dev@snowman.net
> http://www.snowman.net/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev

About 4 feet. :)

http://www.snowman.net/pipermail/mythtv-dev/2002-November/001899.html

-----Original Message-----
From: mythtv-dev-admin@snowman.net [mailto:mythtv-dev-admin@snowman.net]
On Behalf Of Jeremy Oddo
Sent: Saturday, November 30, 2002 2:19 PM
To: mythtv-dev@snowman.net
Subject: RE: [mythtv] Tekram IR-mate 210

Hey Carlos--

What sort of distance range are you getting with your remote? I've
heard
that the max is something like 4.5 feet...is this true? I need to find
something that will work from my couch (10+ feet away).

Thanks for any info ya got!
Jeremy

> About 4 feet. :)
>
> http://www.snowman.net/pipermail/mythtv-dev/2002-November/001899.html
>
DOH! I noticed (seconds after sending out that e-mail) that you already
told me it was about 4 feet. Sorry for asking it again.

BTW, what's the max distance you get with your ACTiSYS? <grin>


Jeremy

P.S. Can you tell me what the max distance you get with your ACTiSYS?
<big grin...as I run from all the mythtv-dev list subscribers!>

:)