[mythtv-users] Advice on IR blasters

[mythtv at derdev.com]

On Tue, 11 May 2010 11:26:28 -0400, Dan Wilga
<mythtv-users2 at dwilga-linux1.amherst.edu> wrote:
> On 5/11/10 9:57 AM, Michael Tiller wrote:
>> I've seen mention of USB-UIRT devices they seem a bit pricey and don't
>> even seem to come with an emitter (just a port for it) and I've not
>> clear how good the support for them is.
> 
> I've been using one for several years. LIRC supports it just fine, 
> though I have had trouble getting it to blast to one TV. But, for my 
> equipment which does work, it's great.
> 
> Given that I'm about to have one MBE and several FEs, I've decided to go

> a completely different route. I've got one of these:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FL9E6U
> 
> and have started to buy an additional remote (without the base) per FE. 
> These remotes communicate very quickly with the base, which then blasts 
> the IR signal to the receiver on my HDHomeRun. LIRC is running on the 
> MBE, which decodes the signal. Each FE connects to LIRC on the MBE.
> 
> This has several big advantages over using IR receivers on each FE:
> 
> - It's much faster. I've had to add delays to keep my main FE from 
> repeating too quickly. My old 2006 MacBook Pro now has a real remote, 
> without any additional hardware, which is faster and has many more 
> buttons than the Apple Remote.
> 
> - I no longer have to point the remote directly at an IR receiver to 
> control Myth.
> 
> - I'm using a single remote configuration which is cloned to all of the 
> others. This allows me to use any remote in any room, just by choosing a

> different "device" on the remote.
> 
> - In the future, I plan to have the MBE power the appropriate FE on via 
> wake-on-LAN when a TV Power On signal is received from the remote. WOL 
> seems to be much more bullet-proof than worrying about whether or not 
> your FE-attached IR receiver will work correctly when the FE is asleep.
> 
> - I have macros set up to switch the TV and amp (via IR) to the correct 
> mode, when choosing between different video sources in the same room.
> 
> - I also plan to integrate home automation using these same remotes, 
> since the MBE also controls the house.
> 
> The only down sides I can see are:
> 
> - If a neighbor or something else in my house happens to use the same 
> radio frequency as the remote, there could be signal loss or unexpected 
> keypresses.
> 
> - While initial testing is promising, I'm concerned that four people all

> using their own remotes at once might cause problems for the one base 
> station. Only time will tell.
> 
> One of these days, I'll try find the time to write up a wiki article 
> describing the whole setup, if anyone is interested. The lircd.conf is 
> pretty massive, since each FE is essentially treated as a different 
> device in LIRC.

Dan, I'll give you the "second" to go write that wiki entry, sounds
interesting!