Re: Ability to drive multiple IR transmitters independantly from PC

[ddl@danlan.*com (Dan Lanciani)]

In article <457a08f5.465820843@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston) writes:
| Alexis <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
|
| >Dave Houston wrote:
|
| >> What are the details on the codes you need to send? Carrier frequency, code?
| >> It may be possible to design something quite cheap to accomplish this. Can
| >> you program in Basic?
| >
| >I have to admit to my ignorance on this unfortunately.  The projectors
| >are NEC VT650 models, but unfortunately I'm unable to find any details
| >of the IR specifications on the 'net.  Is there anything you can suggest
| >without knowing this information?
|
| The RS232 serial commands are listed in the user manual. I would forget
| about IR.
|
| You can get single port USB-serial adapters for $10 each. Run 4-wire modular
| cable from the RS232 end of each adapter to each projector. Cost: $10 +
| cable + connectors per projector. The only problem is getting 20 USB ports
| to plug the adapters into. I have 4-port USB expanders on a couple of
| machines but I haven't seen a 10-port or 20-port version.

Another possibility would be to use one or more Ethernet terminal servers.
IOLAN 16-port units can often be had cheaply on eBay.  They can be configured
to provide a transparent tcp/ip connection to each RS232 port.  The application
on the PC would open one socket for each projector connection.  An advantage is
that all you need on the PC is a standard Ethernet port.

				Dan Lanciani
				ddl@danlan.*com