[mythtv-users] totally confused about remotes.

[Joseph A. Caputo]

On Thursday 03 June 2004 23:39, Matt Morgan wrote:
> OK, I know a lot about Linux but had never before two weeks ago given
> a moment's thought to my TV, cable box, or remotes. Just so you know
> where I'm coming from. Thanks to some helpful people I now understand
> what an IR Blaster and some other important prerequisite info for
> MythTV. But I'm confused about how many remotes I need, and which
> remotes I need, and whether I need to set up two instances of lirc,
> as in
>
> http://members.cox.net/rwraithr/IRBlaster_Howto.txt.
>
> Basically, I think my confusion is this: I can find instructions
> about how to do anything, but I can't find instructions telling me
> what, of all those options, is what I actually want to do. That is,
> I'm totally unclear on which sets of instructions I need to follow
> and why.
>
> So here's the simplest way to phrase a question about this. I have a
> Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2200 cable box. I want a PVR basically
> for two important tasks: commercial skipping and recording shows when
> I'm away or in bed. I'll use other features (like weather) if they
> work, but not if it means having more devices. I'm likely to buy a
> Hauppauge PVR-250 with the remote it comes with, if that helps, and I
> want the simplest array of hardware with the fewest possible pieces
> (remotes, IR blasters, whatever). That is, I want one remote in my
> hand that does everything. How can I do that?
>
> Thanks!


OK, you will need the following:

- an IR or RF receiver (the one on the PVR-250 is OK, or you could get a 
separate one that has a serial cable connection)

- a remote control that will work with your receiver. The serial, aka 
'IRman', type of receiver will handle just about any IR remote.  The 
Hauppauge receiver (PVR-250) is typically limited in the remotes (or 
emulated remotes) it can handle; IIRC it uses the RC-5 protocol which 
is generally used by Philips remotes (or universal remotes emulating 
Philips).  If you want, you can use a multi-device universal remote, to 
eliminate having separate remotes for Myth, TV, stereo, VCR, DVD, 
etc...

- a method of controlling your cable box.  This can be either a serial 
cable (if your cable box supports it) or an IR blaster.  An IR Blaster 
is an IR transmitter -- basically a remote control that, instead of 
being operated by pushing buttons is operated by serial control from 
your PC using LIRC.  The IR Blaster is a little dongle/box that connect 
to your Myth backend machine.  The dongle must have direct 
line-of-sight to the IR (remote control) sensor on your cable box.  
Myth can then change channels on your cable box by telling the IR 
Blaster to send remote commands, just as if you had pressed the 
corresponding buttons on your cable box's remote.

So, to sum up, you need:

1. an IR receiver
2. an IR remote compatible with your IR receiver
3. a way to control your cable box (serial cable or IR Blaster)

HTH,

JAC