[mythtv-users] IR receiver help

Dan H Orlic dan.orlic at gmail.com
Sun May 22 21:03:23 UTC 2005


I am all about the geek quotient, but I have a couple of things to
consider.

First, this is first stab for me, but ultimately this will be a system
for my mom, who is not super technosavvy.  That being said, I don't
think the ir keyboard will work.  I was hoping to use a tivo remote,
which learns both the tv and stereo.

But what you said interests me... why wouldn't an IR keyboard require
lirc?  How would it communicate with your system?

On Sun, 2005-05-22 at 16:23 -0400, David wrote:
> 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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