[mythtv-users] best remote to buy for mythtv

nate s nate.strickland at gmail.com
Wed Dec 1 19:30:45 UTC 2004


Well, firstly, the fundamental difference between RF and IR is that IR
requires line of sight, RF does not.  Second, the recievers on the PVR
cards only support one remote protocol, so it's hard to find a
different remote that will work with them.

I believe that the latest lirc can now both recieve and transmit with
one instance of it running, but don't quote me on this.

-Nate


On Wed, 1 Dec 2004 13:49:15 -0500, Evan Burrows <eburrows at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ok, thank again for the responses and thanks for being patient with
> me.  Yeah i have the tutotial on the homebrew ir transmitter in my
> mailbox somewhere.  I will pull that out and get the parts i need from
> radio shack.  The one reason I was hoping that I could find an all in
> one package is because now i have to buy a soldering iron (which i
> probably will use once and then throw it in the closest with all the
> other stuff I don't use anymore).  I also remember that article saying
> that it would require another instance of lirc to run the ir
> transmitter.  Once i get all that set up there isn't anything i need
> to do on the mythtv side to tell myth to use the ir transmitter to
> change the channel on the cable box so it perform a recording is
> there?
> 
> OK so now i am thinking... currently my pvr350 remote is working and
> does everything i want it to using lirc.  What added functionality
> does the RF transmitter give me.  Is it just as easy to control
> myththv using an rf receiver and it is using the supplied ir receiver
> that came with my pvr350?  I guess my main problem is that i don't
> really understand how lirc works (guess I should just read the docs on
> their website).  Would it make sense for me to buy a cheaper universal
> remote from radio shack and just use that to control myth assuming i
> edit the lirc file on my myth box to map the buttons?  Or am i
> misunderstanding how all this stuff works.
> 
> thanks again for the help
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, 1 Dec 2004 13:10:52 -0500, Joel Anderson <bitjunkie at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > OK thanks for the responses so far.  I am trying to put all the pieces
> > > together in my head before i buy something and realize it isn't what i
> > > actually wanted or that I needed something else in addition to what I
> > > purchased.
> > >
> > > OK so i grabbed this off newegg
> > > ***************************************************
> > > Niveus Media PC Remote Control w/USB Receiver - Retail
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> > > Ok so right now the received i have for my pvr350 is an rf receiver or
> > > an ir receiver?I appologize in advance that these are trivial
> > > questions..  I am gathering that it is an it receiver.  So if i bought
> > > this remote and rf receiver then that would eliminate the problem that
> > > I have with my tv changing channels (i think).
> >
> > Yes, it's an IR receiver.
> >
> > > Since it says that it can control your ir equipment does that mean the
> > > the remote also sends ir signals? or does it send rf to the rf
> > > receiver which translates it in ir and sends it to the corresponding
> > > piece of equipment?
> >
> > It sends RF signals to control the computer that you have the little
> > USB RF receiver plugged into.  It sends IR directly from the front of
> > the remote to whatever IR receiver equipped devices you point it at.
> >
> > > How would i go about setting this up?  Would it require me to do stuff
> > > with lirc or does it handle it all on its own.  And if i have to set
> > > up lirc and map channel up and channel down to change the channels on
> > > my cable box (if this is transmitted through ir) what would stop the
> > > tv from picking up the signal.  Like i said i am new to this and the
> > > only time i have even looked at an lirc file is when i used the one on
> > > Jarods site to set up my pvr350 remote.
> >
> > You will have to do a bit of work to get lirc configured nicely for
> > myth.  There is also a kernel module called ati_remote which is easier
> > but less flexible, IMHO.  (the ATI remote it is basically the same
> > without the IR capability AFAIK).
> >
> > To get myth to control your cable box automatically you will need an
> > "IR blaster" type device.  I highly recommend using the home brew off
> > the serial port, this is a very cheap solution that works great for
> > most people.  You need to make sure that lirc is compiled with
> > transmit support enabled for this to work.
> >
> > If you search the list archives there is a lot of info on setting all
> > of this up.
> >
> > HTH,
> >
> > --
> > Joel
> >
> 
> 
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> 
>


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