Mailing List Archive

RE: Working source for compiling lirc withmultipledevices...
Where did you buy these, and how much did they cost? I'm having
difficulty sourcing them. I've found somewhere for US$29 but as it is
the only place I can find, I'm not sure if that is a good deal or not...

Thanks,

Scott

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Markey [mailto:bjm@lvcm.com]
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2003 4:52 AM
To: Discussion about mythtv
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Working source for compiling lirc
withmultipledevices...

Joseph H. Fry wrote:
> I remember a post that got me kinda excited... go buy a cheap wireless
> keyboard and a true learning remote (the kind that you can program all
> the keys on) and then just press a key on the keyboard and (with the
> remote in learning mode) the button you want to assign that key to...
> and viola... a working remote, without lirc... then slide the kb under
> the couch for when it's needed and enjoy.

I've done this. I'm a believer. I have two Marantz learning
remotes and Lite-on Airboard keyboards. I was also able to
learn from a Chicony keyboard but I prefer the Lite-on. The
advantages are that you don't need to use a serial port for
an IR reciever, don't need to run lirc for input, avoid the
lirc limitations if you need both input and output IR devices,
can use the remote for other common tasks beyond MythTV.

Pressing a button on the remote acts just like pressing the
key on the keyboard so I added being able to switch focus,
use commandline recall to restart processes, etc. all from
the remote.

> Of course you still need lirc to control an external tuner... but if
you
> don't have one then you won't need lirc at all. Most good
programmable
> remotes have multiple modes, so you can reuse different buttons for
> different modes.. IE one button set for Myth Music control and one for
> mythtv.

I use the same mode for mythtv and mythmusic. However, you're
right, I might want to use a different mode for, say, mplayer
so that the same remote buttons would map to the keyboard
key bindings used by mplayer.

> Sounds great... haven't tried it myself but I cant imagine why it
> wouldn't work.

A particular model of learning remote might not be able
to learn the IR signals of a particular model of a wireless
keyboard. It's not a given that this will work in all cases.
Pointer signals (mouse movements) don't work so well. Double
buckys (CTL-ALT-something or Fn-Shift-somethng) are hard to
learn successfully and can be problematic even when they do
sort of work. However, myth doesn't need a mouse and the only
double-bucky would be for shutdown.

-- bjm


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Re: Working source for compiling lirc withmultipledevices... [ In reply to ]
Scott Blomfield wrote:
> Where did you buy these, and how much did they cost? I'm having
> difficulty sourcing them. I've found somewhere for US$29 but as it is
> the only place I can find, I'm not sure if that is a good deal or not...

The keyboard or the remote?

The remote I use is the Marantz RC2000mkII that I bought
about five years ago. It was state of the art, high end
equipment at the time and sold for over $200. This is still
one of my all time favorite gadgets. I'm sure there are other
brands and other models that may work but this is the only
remote that I can say works from my own experience.

I bought the remotes at Cambridge SoundWorks. I an surprised
to see they still sell these new ($140).

http://www.hifi.com/store/category.cgi?category=acc_remote&item=m1rc2002

It looks like they are ~$50 on ebay.

For keyboards, I must have tried 6 or 7 wireless keyboards
before I found one I liked. The LiteOn Airboard Infrared
Wireless Keyboard stood out from the pack. The key to a good
wireless keyboard is the pointer device. This has a mini
joystick-like pointer that sits under your right thumb which
is very sensitive, consistent and comfortable to use. The
keyboard is light weight, compact, good range, and works
from a wide range of angles (you don't have to hold it in
one certain position to get it to work).

They retail for about $70. The last one I bought was at
PC Club about 6 months ago when they were on sale for $24.
PC Club apparently no longer carries these but you can still
find then online:

http://www.digitalconnection.com/Products/Keyboard/sk7100.asp

So to answer your question =), yes, $29 would be a good price
for this keyboard.

-- bjm