RE: RE: was Digital Audio/ now Ir and IRDA

[simon still]

From: "Sam Partington" <<a
href="/group/kat5-users/post?postID=EU63HsVfmoN_v4fZ8aJgYk_Lh8vB5e-xuK-lHJwkFx5hWI9_XQaOCLXi_Pe4Z3W74hsHapgafSyoMupKXZxuPk7VvLjP">Sam.Partington@c...</a>>
Subject:

2. An IrDA to serial converter, which I could then connect to a small PIC
or
AVR IR receiver, with a conversion table of known IR commands to IrDA
sequences in the firmware. The IrDA->Serial converter I was going to use
was the MAX3130 from www.maxim-ic.com
(look at <a href="http://dbserv.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm?appnote_number=631";>http://dbserv.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm?appnote_number=631</a>
and <a href="http://dbserv.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm?qv_pk=1947";>http://dbserv.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm?qv_pk=1947</a>
(sorry if these
lines wrap))
I even got as far as ordering some sample chips (which I still have two of
each chip required), before realising that I was going to have to brush up
on my electronics skills before attempting it. I may still do this at some
point, but not just yet.

However, option 2 still seems like the most attractive option to me. With a
suitable uP, you could even make the box a learning converter, i.e. press a
button to reset it, then zap the box with your IrDA remote, then zap it
with
the plain IR command with which you want it to be associated, and so on,
and
then finally press the button again to go out of learning mode. Would be
very neat.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=
Sam - the second option sound like it would do the job and might be similar
to Tivo's solution which involves a wall-wart powered black box between
Tivo
and the IR emitter.

Does anyone want to build one? Digital cable with a cable modem has the
potential to be a great platform but i'm close to getting a Sky+ box at the
moment, part of the frustration being the sheer annoyance of having to
switch between 2 remotes. A 'learning' volume control should be a minimum
requirement for any set top box which should 'convert' your TV and become
your main source.

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