[mythtv-users] Re: Attention Scientific Atlanta 2100 people

[Jay Goldberg]

Dan Berger writes:
 >
 > The only missing item from my PVR being flawless is a working IR blaster.
 >
 > I live in NYC and have Time Warner digital cable. That means for my 900
 > some-odd channels (who the hell needs so many?), I need the cable to go
 > through the cable box.
 >
 > Has anyone here managed to successfully use an IR blaster with this box? If
 > so, what kind of ir blaster are you using?
 >
 > I have the Actisys-IR200L blaster. LIRC is running fine (with lirc_sir).
 > Irrecord works (I see dots and can create my own conf file) but irsend does
 > not work (although my frequency is at 56000 with the SA2000 conf).
 >
 > [If you're going to say homebrew, I find the directions at lirc.org to
 > building a blaster myself intimidating--I don't know anything about
 > electronics. Therefore, I would rather use an already built blaster. Then
 > again, I question whether I can get it working if I can't get my Actisys
 > working.]

Hi Dan

I'm a fellow Time Warner SA2100 guy.  And also, not knowing anything
about electronics, I was reluctant to build an IR blaster myself.
But it was pretty easy in the end.  I'm happy to go offline with you
to discuss it.  I also have most of the necessary bits besides an
IR LED laying around my house, since the diodes & resistors come in
multipacks.

The biggest problem I had was not having my IR LED pointed directly at
the SA2100 IR receiver (just to the right of the LED channel indicator).

It's not clear from your message what the actual problem is - do you
get error messages in your log?  If so, what messages?  If you don't
get any error messages try:

  - pointing the business end of the IR200L directly at the cable box
    and running:

      while sleep 2
      do
        irsend SEND_ONCE SA2000 CHUP
      done

    ...and see if altering the position of the IR200L helps.

  - loading the configuration for your TV remote into /etc/lircd.conf
    and doing the same as above, but sending a command to change the
    channel on your TV.   Sounds silly, but this was my clue that I
    had built my IR Blaster correctly...

Hope this helps!

         Jay

-- 
jay at ransdoc.com                                                             .