[mythtv-users] IR Frustration -- Is there an easier way?

Shawn Asmussen asmussen at cox.net
Fri Apr 16 16:22:06 EDT 2004



If you do decide to look at the IR-200L, be aware that it does not work
with all cable boxes, due to frequency issues. In particular, a lot of the
higher end Scientific Atlanta boxes that Cox uses do not work with this
transmitter.

Shawn Asmussen

Dex West said:
> Not sure what amount you want to spend but a
> commercial version of a IR transmitter will at least
> be guaranteed to work out of the box.  Here's a how-to
> web site for the Actisys IR-200L blaster.
>
> http://members.cox.net/rwraithr/IRBlaster_Howto.txt
> also take a look at:
> www.pvrcentral.net
>
> If you’re interested in building another IR
> transmitter Dan has supplied a fairly easy to follow
> instructions on this list.  Search for IR Transmitter
> and look for reply from Dan at milkcarton.com.
>
> Also the dish network boxes require a special set of
> code to be sent otherwise they won't recognize
> anything.  Has something to do with gap of silence
> between two repeating commands (my understanding so
> far) search on Dish network if you’re interested.
> I've heard people say you must have a high frequency
> transmitter to get the gap small enough to make dish
> boxes happy.
>
> Hope this helps...
>
> --- Scott Nicholson <mythtv at scottnic.com> wrote:
>> Okay. I don't think I'm cut out for this homebrew
>> stuff...
>>
>> I've got my Myth backend working, I think, except
>> for lirc. Which means it's
>> not working at all because if I can't change
>> channels on my satellite boxes,
>> it's worthless.
>>
>> I've got three devices that I want to connect
>> (through two PVR-250s). Two of
>> them are Dish Network receivers (probably soon to be
>> replaced by Comcast
>> digital cable boxes) and one is a USDTV receiver.
>>
>> As far as the Dish ones go, I don't imagine there
>> will be much problem
>> finding remote codes or lirc config files for them,
>> so all I should need for
>> those is an IR transmitter.
>>
>> But I've searched high and low for any information
>> on the USDTV remote and
>> come up with bupkis.
>>
>> (USDTV is a HDTV receiver and subscription service
>> that provides several
>> channels like Food Network, Disney, HGTV, ESPN,
>> Discovery in addition to the
>> standard networks via standard broadcast frequencies
>> -- no dish or cable
>> required, just an antenna)
>>
>> This means that I'll have to create my own lirc
>> config, which means I'll
>> need an IR receiver in addition to the transmitter.
>>
>> So I figured I could build one using the diagrams at
>> lirc.org. I got
>> everything soldered together, carefully checked and
>> re-checked it, then
>> plugged it in. After some initial lirc confusion (I
>> forgot to modprobe
>> lirc_serial) I had lirc running without crashing and
>> attempted to test the
>> receiver via irw and/or irrecord. I get absolutely
>> nothing.
>>
>> At this point, I'm at a complete loss as to how to
>> determine if it's a
>> hardware or a software issue, and I'm almost ready
>> to throw in the towel on
>> this whole Myth thing and get a TiVo instead (except
>> my wife would not be
>> happy about the several hundred I've spent on
>> hardware for the Myth system).
>>
>> Is there a (fairly inexpensive, extensively tested,
>> easy to configure, and
>> readily available) pre-built IR transceiver that I
>> can use instead? Can
>> anyone provide any pointers, suggestions, and/or
>> moral support?
>>
>> Help!
>> Scott
>>
>>
>> ---
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>>
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>
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>
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Shawn Asmussen


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