[mythtv-users] Homebrew PVR Multi-Circuit

[Charles Lavin]

Are you kidding me.  Who wouldn't want one?  I wouldn't even limit
yourself to Myth or even Linux.  I built a homebrew receiver and
transmitter and had them both working in windows.  Any HTPC user would
love such an addition especially newbies.  I frequently read HTPC forums
(ie myHTPC, SageTV, HTPCNews, theGreenButton, shspvr, etc) and the
biggest problem for newbies getting setup is the remote control.  The
next biggest problem I see is how to control the cable box.  You can
kill two birds with one stone and even get a few more bells and whistles
to tinker with.  Prebuilt transmitter can get kind of expensive.  I
think I paid $30 for an Actisys IR Blaster.  I minored in Electrical
Engineering Technology and it took me quite a bit of time to put the
transmitter and receiver together.  I'd venture to guess that the
schematics would scare most people off.  

I'd buy one even though I got a 3 remote receivers(pvr-350, lola,
homebrew) and 2 transmitters(homebrew, Actisys). 

Damn good idea.  Wish I had the skills to pull something like that off. 
On Sun, 2004-06-20 at 22:57, Steven White wrote:
> I read some posts on toggling an LED to show system status and came up 
> with something to dress up my MythTV box.  I'm designing a small circuit 
> that integrates an IR receiver, IR transmitter, status LEDs, and a 2 
> line LCD into one small pc board.  LCD messages would be sent via a 
> serial message protocol (hopefully using the same COM port as the one 
> used for LIRC..can this be done since I'd only need the TX and RX 
> lines???).  Any message could be sent to the display, such as "Now 
> Playing: The Simpsons" or "Recording: The Sopranos".  The status LEDs 
> could be turned on and off via a serial message also.  The IR 
> transmitter LED(s) and status LED(s) could be remotely mounted from the 
> board.  Power would be drawn from a hard drive power supply connector.  
> The LCD would be optional and autodetected by the onboard 
> microcontroller.  The goal of all of this is to combine all of the 
> hardware needed for a homebrew PVR into one pcb board to make things 
> neat and easy for people who don't have any soldering or electronics 
> experience.  If there is enough interest, I can have a batch made after 
> the prototypes are tested (I own an electrical engineering business).  
> MythTV developers would get free sample boards if these things get 
> popular enough to be supported in the project.  Does this sound like 
> something useful?  Does anyone else have a wishlist for their MythTV box?
> 
> Thanks,
> Steve
> 
> 
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