[mythtv-users] IR receiver help
David
mythtv at morrisonthenet.com
Sun May 22 20:23:36 UTC 2005
You might also consider what I did:
1. First, buy a cheap IR keyboard. I got a $17 Lite-On IR keyboard
from Newegg. It was like $22 shipped. It is very compact, about the
size of a laptop keyboard, with a mouse joystick and two buttons built
in. This gives you the ability to do things only a keyboard can do,
without the wires, and without a separate mouse.
2. Next, buy a cheap learning remote that is JP1 compatible. I bought
the One4All 8810w from Wal-Mart for $18.
3. Next, either train the remote to the keyboard keys you want
(sometimes very challenging depending on keyboard model), or buy/build a
JP1 cable and use the free IR and RemoteMaster software to download the
protocol for the keyboard directly into the remote. I did the latter,
it's far more flexible and provides a backup for my remote that I can
download back to it should the remote lose its memory.
Using this approach gives you both a wireless keyboard and a universal
remote that can be used with the rest of your system, WITHOUT requiring
lirc. lirc was always troublesome for me in one way or another. This
way the remote communicates with the keyboard receiver and all buttons
are mapped as keystrokes. You'll also have a very capable universal
remote that works with all of your other omponents, and once you have it
programmed and configured just right, you use the JP1 cable to upload it
to your PC. If your remote ever gets hosed and loses its memory, or
dies and you can buy another just like it, you just download the file
into your remote and it's instantly reprogrammed. Very nice.
It isn't a perfect solution, but works way better than any lirc approach
I've used, and is more flexible. Plus it has a higher geek quotient. :)
David
Dan H Orlic wrote:
>hello all,
> The last thing I need before jumping into mythtv is an IR receiver.
>I have two PVR-150 which does not have an IR receiver.
>
>My questions is, does anyone have a suggestion for a serial IR receiver
>that I can purchase that will work with these cards? I'd rather not
>build one, I am all thumbs when it comes to soldering.
>
>Thank you,
>Dan
>
>
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