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remote control issues

donkey

Feb 26, 2011
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Feb 26, 2011
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hey all, designing a remote cos I wanna.
the reason i chose remote was my TV and set top box seem to share some similar "codes"
when i press volume up on set top box the tv turns off. when i press volume up on tv it changes channel..... multiple other examples have been found. I am too cheap to by a new tv and the tuner in it died ages ago so the set top box is what i use.

I hear you ask "Donkey you smart intelligent sexy beast, why not buy a universal remote?" very simply put the same issues would arise of the transmission being received by both devices and alternate functions happening.

SOOOO my theory is this.
take the better remote (TV) put a micro inbetween (ARDUINO COS I CAN) and pug in 1 reader and 2 ir led's that are the same range. if the volume is pressed then the TV changes volume. if the channel is pressed then the set top box is pressed.
to stop the codes being mixed between I am gong to put some thick tape over them and pretty much stick them to the receiver on the device I want.
SOOOOOO the question now becomes how do I get the codes? I was thinking of using the receiver on the arduino to read them and then output so statements like
if (Code for volume up) use led 1 and output (volume up code) if code for channel change use LED 2 and channel change etc.
before I get started is this viable?
 

Harald Kapp

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Nov 17, 2011
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That's basically viable. To make it fit for your living room (increase WAF) may require a bit more than just sticky tape. But I'll leave the design to you.
to stop the codes being mixed between I am gong to put some thick tape over them and pretty much stick them to the receiver on the device I want.
You don't put tape over codes, do you? I think you'll want to attach the LEDs to the IR ports of the respective devices (LED1 to TV, LEd2 to set top box).

how do I get the codes?
Look the up, e.g. here.
I was thinking of using the receiver on the arduino to read them and then output
That is another possibility. But there's one catch: A standard remote control sends the codes repeatedly in order to give you a chance to aim the remote and ensure the code is received by the receiver. Thus the arduino will receive a long string of repeating 1's and 0's which will quickly clobber up memory. For this to be viable you'd have to have the codes received by the arduino, transmitted to a PC, manually edited to separate the relevant code parts, possibly compressed and returned to the arduino for use. Further reading see e.g. here.
 

BobK

Jan 5, 2010
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All good info from Harald. In addition, when you look up the codes, you might find that the devices actually have more than one code for a function, which may allow you to select alternative codes without interference.

Bob
 
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