RE: IR to Serial on a PC

["Paul Gale" <groups@xxxxxxx>]

Sounds like we've got a lot of similar-ish kit :-)



I bought a Pronto Pro back in Jan - but still haven't programmed it yet - h= ad visions of the ultimate controller but it just takes soooo long to do it= , I've just not got around to it :-(



Does the Tosh DVD only do NTSC prog scan - I believe that Arcam are the onl= y 'official' PAL prog scan certified manufacturer at the moment? I did borr= ow it from my local Sevenoaks but kept with the Onkyo DV-S939 which was abo= ut =A3300 more expensive at =A31100.



Paul.



-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Griffiths [mailto:mike@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 23 November 2002 16:42
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx Subject: RE: [ukha_d] IR to Serial on a PC



>
> I missed the serial bits in ACE - I guess you use a HomeVision event i= n
> ACE?

[Mike] No it is a separate tab so any button on ACE can send a serial
command
Or Homevision can instruct ACE to send it out - works well

> I use Win2K server for all my HA apps - decided on this route as I'm > also running Exchange 2000 and IIS. Only trouble is I've run out of > serial ports (4) as I've got connections to Comfort, HV, Meteor and > something else I can't remember! Might go for a USB serial option as > I've had a few problems in the past with IRQ sharing and the serial > ports :-( + expandability would be better.
> I run PC Anywhere on it and other PC's (my BT Satellite gateway) quite=
> successfully - shame W2K doesn't have a desktop sharing app that's
> compatible with the XP desktop sharing tool (and works in the same
> way):-(

[Mike] That is the problem I encountered so I opted for a separate PC to play with for my Win2K server

> Shame that Pioneer don't publish the serial protocol - seems rather > strange. My Panasonic plasma has the codes in the user manual and Onky= o
> sent me a load of docs about their kit on request (excellent tech
> support).


[Mike] I couldn't believe the guy at Pioneers attitude but browsing the
Newsgroups I see it isn't uncommon

> How are you getting on with your screen? I'm loving mine - just ordere= d
> a load of Component cables from RGB Comms (broadcast cables hugely
> cheaper than the audiophile rip off merchants!) + an RGB to Component<= BR> > converter from rgbtosvideo.com. The Onkyo amp (989) has 3 component > inputs and switches between them.

[Mike] The Pioneer screen is excellent
I'm feeding Component from my Toshiba 900e DVD the progressive scan looks amazing
Sky/Tivo go in RGB
Then the Shuttle goes in VGA at the native 1280x768
I use my ATI capture card then to input the small Pace freeView box set to<= BR> RGB then converted to S-Video using a rgbtosvideo.com converter the new box=
is good as it also passes through RGB
I've also been playing with the an RGB to Component converter on my PC
Monitor - it gives great results

My Biggest problem at present is redo-ing the Pronto and HV controls

At present I have about 4 new remotes and I'm afraid it is doing my head in=



> Paul.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Griffiths [mailto:mike@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: 23 November 2002 12:16
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx > Subject: RE: [ukha_d] IR to Serial on a PC
>
>
>
> I do this  Paul
>
> I use a mixture of IR and Serial
> The IR bit is easy
> Just learn the IR into Homevision
> Fire it off with ACE and distribute from HV via little emitters
>
> Serial control is as easy once you get the protocol sorted
> ACE allows you to send ASCII to serial ports and Dan has done a great<= BR> > job of
> modifying ACE to allow the flexibility needed for the termination
> characters
> Best way is to prove the control without ACE, then programme ACE
> To be honest the real advantage of serial is that you can interrogate<= BR> > the
> serial controlled kit so that you know what state it is in
> I used to do that with my own VB program but ACE is so simple to use I=
> have
> moved over to it totally, I'm sure that using scripts within ACE I cou= ld
> get
> the status working again - it is just finding the time.
> ACE will olso send serial out on any PC connected to the network ( ver= y
> useful!)
>
> As you can normally find now discrete codes for IR on the web, there i= s
> little difference in practice with controlling between IR and Serial >
> I use the ByteRunner x4 PCI board for the serial
> Works like a dream
> For the IR I use Xantech ket for neatness BUT you can source everythin= g
> individually
>
> I have a dedicated PC (Terminator from Overclockers or Scam) This has<= BR> > HomeVision, Comfort, ACE , ACE webserver, serial card.
> I find by leaving a dedicated PC to control the house it works for
> Months
> without touching it - and the cost of the PC now is very small. I run = XP
> on
> it so that I can remote desktop onto it so the unit itself has neither=
> Mouse
> nor keyboard.
>
> Hope this helps
>
> Mike
> PS If anyone can get hold of the serial protocol for a Pioneer 503HDE = I
> would be eternally greatful
> I have the protcol for the 503 MXE but it differes slightly and Pionee= r
> in
> their wisdom refuse to give out the HDE protocol even though the MXE i= s
> available on their web site.
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Paul Gale [mailto:groups@xxxxxxx]
> > Sent: 23 November 2002 09:50
> > To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx > > Subject: [ukha_d] IR to Serial on a PC
> >
> > My Plasma, DVD and Amp all have an RS232 port for remote control.= I'd
> > like to use them as there are a number of benefits including abso= lute
> > control of volume (set directly to a level), input switching and = no IR
> > LED needs to be stuck over the IR window.
> >
> >
> >
> > I'm running Comfort, HomeVision, ACE and a multi-room audio syste= m
> with
> > IR distribution. This means getting IR to HomeVision (and possibl= y ACE
> -
> > but I'm not too sure about this) is easy.
> >
> >
> >
> > What I want to do is have a PC (with a few more *cheapish* serial=
> > ports), take the IR signal and depending on what it is, issue a > > definable serial command over a selected serial port i.e. IR code= X
> > received - Serial command string Y issued over serial port Z.
> >
> >
> >
> > Any thoughts on the PC software/hardware needed?
> >
> >
> >
> > Paul.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
> >
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