Best IR receiver/transmitter

[Ron]

Hi Amok,

Please!! Share the settings, I think people will be very eager to know this!

-Ron

[Ron]

That sounds good! Could you tell us the settings that you use in the serial plugin ? Maye even export those settings ?

I'm glad Girder has been of help to you!

-Ron

[Yvonus]

Mikele ; morval seems to be interested by an emitter also which the RealMagic remote hardware doesn't do.

However, I would also discuss the real need for emitting. I mean receiving is the major part, and will enable you to remote control your computer from your remote. This is why we're all excited about Girder on this forum.

Sending IR from the htpc comes, in my opinion, in a second time.

From this point of view, yes, I also suggest the RealMagic remote. Com port receiver, ready to use remote, very good support from Girder and quite cheap.

[Darmok]

There is also the RedRat2 which is not cheep at $120 but still much cheeper than $250, and you don;t have to build it yourself.

[sticks123]

Believe it or not I use the Packad Bell Infrared Reciever with a 7 Device Universal remote and the combination is quite good and can reach a good distance so far the farthest I tried was about 40ft. no joking. and it is about $10 on eBay or Yahoo! auctions.

[ACClarke]

you can try this
http://people.a2000.nl/rwvgesse/FixFrame.htm?Uirt.htm
it seems to be very easy to do

[Mikele]

Why don't you try the Realmagic Remote? It's $20 I think... it's not the ultimate in science development but it's cheap and works fine.

[morval]

I've searched this forum and the internet looking for the best receiver and transmitter. The Slinke looks great, but is very expensive.

Does anyone have any other suggestions. I can find lots of receivers, but I want the combo.

I would rather not have to go through the process of making my own :smile: but the $250us plus accessories for the Slinke is a little steep.

Thanks,

Konrad

[morval]

Thanks for the responses, but I was looking for a receiver/transmitter combo that I did not have to make myself. The Irman is only a receiver and the other one you have to make yourself and I have read others trying to get it to work in this forum with not the greatest success.

It looks like the Link-e is the only option :smile:

KJ

[mwoolen]

I use the is receiver and it is great. The price is $35 USD.

http://www.evation.com/irman/

[augustynr]

Does RealMagin receiver work as well as IRMan?
What are the other differences between the two? ( function )
Thanks

[Jihel]

Hi Yvonus

As a newbie I'm trying to setup RealMagic remote controller on my Win98SE and without any knowledge it is hard for me to do it.
As it seems you are experimented please can you tell me some tips to do that ?
I saw for example that all send buttons give the same code ?

Thanks in advance for poor frenchie

Jihel

[glorydog]

If you are willing to spend more, I just started using Pronto Neopro from Phillips. It has a fantastic flexability in terms of complex macros whem coupled with Girder. What I really want is to use my PDA with a Bluetooth card in the slot so it can interface with Girder and my
PC. Then I could have a true wearable computer.

[glorydog]

Oh my, I garbled the name of my unit (Philips Pronto NEO (TSU500). There are "hard" buttons so you can do simple adjustments by feel (volume, channel, mute, power). For more complex tasks the buttons on the LCD screen will execute macros that bridged some gaps (such as set time delays between macros)that I failed to manage with Girder. Together you can control anything electronic completely. I paid $180 US.
There is a serial to pronto cable that allows you to edit your pronto setup on the PC and download to the remote unit. Then you can replace it with your IR receiver. There are a few IR codes prontoNeo has trouble learning.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: glorydog on 2002-01-24 18:15 ]</font>

[Amok]

Forget about IR (infrared) devices!!!
RF (radiofrequency) is the way to go!
IR needs line of sight, i got my pcs stored away from where im controlling girder (to avoid noise, and beige cases)
Try the Audiostation remote (cost me $70 here in argentina, in usa must be lot cheaper) http://www.turtle-beach.com it comes locked with crappy media player "audiostation" but u can use the serial input plug-in get it to work perfectly with grider
(ask for settings, can be tricky to set up but works perfect)
i can control winamp from anywhere in my house with the remote, and set different audio outs (via a windows command directed to the mixer aplet on an multi out soundcard) to chose in wich room music is playing.
I've set up a minimal (no monitor,keyb,mouse just a sound card and 100gb of disk) pc in a closet just as a music server

[Amok]

Girder RF control how to:
1.Get an AUDIOSTATION remote from Turtle-beach,
2.Plug the remote receiver in a serial port
3.Download and Install the generic serial support Plug-In by mark Fiechtner
4.Download Import the excellent Register Demonstration .gir file for keypad functions by ????
5.Program your heart out
6.If you want digital out (for long cables without noise) I recommend winamp ('cos wave out driver can be selected instead of forced in windows) and the aark 20/20 soundcard for it's reliability (24/7 operation on a very high temperature room)
7.Wave out switching (for multi room playback) is not very reliable with the hardware I’ve tried (can hang the wave out driver), more testing is required
8.Use a dedicated pc with win Xp or 2000 for reliable 24/7 operation




Notes:
sadly the remote it's not sold separately but in a bundle with their AUDIOSTATION
media player software (witch by the way, sucks ass)
houses with high RF noise (for example buildings with lots electrical lines) will reduce the remote range, but any cable will serve as an antenna for the remote receiver (tie a cable around the receiver)
the serial plug can be tricky to set up, the word size and length setting are buggy or use a logic that's beyond me the setting I use are size:8 lenght8 and others default
also on a win200 pc the serial plug settings page sometimes crashes (access violation)
Info on the serial plug usage is very welcome
Info on setting this on linux??

If anyone wants I can email my .gir file
If I missed something, please post


Links:
Audio Station 5 web page with remote info (scroll down, very brief) http://www.voyetra-turtle-beach.com/site/products/dlas5/indetail.asp
Register Demonstration .gir file for keypad functions
http://www.stack.nl/~stilgar/files/playlist.gir

Rob: Girder made my life better. . . . .I mean it.
Im honored that you showed interest in my post :wink:
Miguel A. Garcia
Buenos Aires, Argentina

[Amok]

serial plug setting: size:8 lenght8
and leave others default
but is not that easy, for a setting to work u have to:
choose your word size( 8 for this remote)
then click on recieve (another page opens, why can't it be on the same page??)
set your fixed lenght (8) click ok(the page closes)
click on recieve again, click on variable lenght click ok (the page closes)
then recieve one more time (page opens)and fixed lenght again click ok and close the pluging page
in 4 seconds you should be set up
Basically what u have to so is switch between the two lenght modes for the plugin to start working as it should
This behavior ocurrs on 2 pcs i've tested (win xp and win 200)
i guess when u import setting u have to do the same

Rob: Good luck with that nice big plasma death ray you are working on! :wink:

*.ini
[Device]
UserName=2
[Properties]
BaudRate=6
Handshaking=0
ParityBits=0
WordSize=4
StopBits=0
[InputMessage]
Timeout=1
TimeoutValid=173
Timeout2=1
Timeout2Valid=0
ShowEvents=0
TermVal=29
TermSize=1
TerminatorProcessing=0
PrefixProcessing=0
Length=8
Translate=1
Type=1

[Amok]

i realized on demand wave out switching (witch is buggy) is not mandatory for multi room music playback, just setup all the outputs to play as default then mute the speakers on the rooms you are not in.(this is posible on multi out souncards that let u pipe a playback driver to more than one output, and anyway u don't want to amplify your audio signals in the pc, it is best to get to your speakers or amplifiers digitaly and amplify there.)

[Amok]

for pronto users: does the pronto reciever comes with a serial out?? or. . how do u send commands from pronto to the pc??

anyway i think for normal functions (play, pause, ff ect) it's better (and cheaper) a remote with "real" buttons, a pronto would be great ,for example, for winamp playlist and albumlist managment (image seeing and controlling all your albums in the pronto)
Have u seen the new color pronto!!??
it looks soooo kicks ass!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Amok on 2002-01-20 18:33 ]</font>

[ktjensen]

Okay here goes with a post after much research.

1. Get the Packard Bell Receiver/ Transmitter combination unit being sold on ebay ($14 with shipping). This includes a remote and a Serial Port reciever. If you can not find it on ebay then email me at ktjensen@yahoo.com and I will find the exact ebay auction.

2. Go quickly to radio shack (or call a few in the state you are in, ask about any available in the district) and ask if they have the discontinued 15-1994 remote. These are programmable remotes (6 in 1) with a backlight. Cost is $20. These remotes can work with almost anything and there is a way to modify them to upload and download codes to a computer, via a serial port connection (hard wire). There is much discussion of this at http://www.remotecentral.com .

Good luck!!

[ombre42]

I hate to mention that dirty word (we all know those annoying ads for X-Cam), but the X-10 remotes/controllers, work quite well.
I agree RF that rules. The other day I was scrubbing the shower basin with one hand and changing songs in winamp with the other using my x-10 UR47a :wink:
The receiver is the MR26a
For $50+shipping you can get:
-MouseRemote and receiver combo or
-6in1 Universal remote and receiver(sep)<-this is what I have or
-6in1 Remote and Appliance Tranceiver and Lamp module kit and receiver(sep) or
-8in1 learning remote (UR24a) and receiver(sep)
I would go for the learning remote (6in1 is good but it is outdated as far as IR codes go-I control everything but my DVD player with it). I'm only 90% sure the UR24a works with MR26a-ask X-10 (www.x10.com)

Kevin