IR Blaster

Mrsash · **11th June 2008, 03:53 PM**

From what I have read(I could be wrong) I only need the USB transiever/reciever to get the STB to change channels with the VMC requests is this correct?
If so can anyone provide links to buy the buds only rather than the whole remote. I do have imon remote which I love and dont need the microsoft remote.
I did try googling it but it kept giving options to buy the remote..

thanks

Astrotoy7 · **11th June 2008, 10:47 PM**

Unless you find a user that is willing to part with them either here or on ebay etc, they are not sold individually as retail items..

astro

knurl · **12th June 2008, 04:52 PM**

That's right. When you buy the IR Blaster, you get the MS URC plus the IR adaptor and the IR bud. The USB IR adaptor is preset to the IR frequency of the URC and as far as I can see there is no way for us to change that frequency. So, sadly, you need to buy the lot.

Mrsash · **13th June 2008, 04:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by knurl

That's right. When you buy the IR Blaster, you get the MS URC plus the IR adaptor and the IR bud. The USB IR adaptor is preset to the IR frequency of the URC and as far as I can see there is no way for us to change that frequency. So, sadly, you need to buy the lot.

Hmm I am confused here. I have the imon conrolling all aspects of media centre.
dont I just need the BUD which recieves and transmits the IR signal? I would be using my STB remote for the numbers to be recognised(as per fequency) by the reciever(this I need to do only once for VMC. And then I need the transmitter to transmit the required channel freq to the STB. Well I could be wrong. Please explain..

thanks

knurl · **16th June 2008, 02:28 PM**

Mrsash, everything you say is correct....except (as far as Foxtel iQ is concerned) the IR Bud only transmits from the PC (for channel-changing etc).

While the bud is capable of receiving input, the STB doesn't have an IR output as far as I am aware. Maybe someone else can tell me what IR ouputs occur from a Foxtel unit and for what purpose (other than hand-shaking)?

Generic IR is asynchronous (ie. transmit and receive) but I do not know of what extra use I can make of the IR blaster, say for communications between my PDA and PC.

Mrsash · **16th June 2008, 04:18 PM**

The way I understood it was you get the reciever/Transmitter bud seperate to remote reciever. Can someone who has brought this shed some light.

thanks

disorganise · **16th June 2008, 11:39 PM**

I bought the Ms stuff - remote + blaster and IR transmitters (x2). The transmitters plug into the receiver, and the reciever is USB to the PC.

Trouble is, I could get the thing to transmit anything useful. In the end I've used the MS reciever to receive the remote control commands only. I don't have a STB but do have an amp I wanted to control behind a wooden door. I ended up buying a kit from jaycar to re-transmit my signal.

hope that kinda helps

misterp · **17th June 2008, 02:41 PM**

Umm...

If I read this right, your asking if you need the MS receiver to repeat IR commands to a STB? (theres been a few interpretations I can see).

Not sure what your IMON receiver does, but definately the MS receiver is needed if you want plug in and away you go functionality.

Your best bet is to buy the MS remote set. I know its money, but for $39 you get a MS remote (can always sell it here to someone) AND the all important MS receiver and IR buds.
Also worth remembering that you can make up IR buds yourself and/or buy something similar from Jaycar/Altronics.
The good thing with the MS buds, are nice and small and come with sticky pads so you can stick the IR blaster to the front of your STB.

Simply put, the IR buds repeat an IR signal from the receiver (the USB device) and repeat the signal to another device (STB/TV etc)

If you want to use your IMON remote, then as long as it can use the generic MS receiver, then theres no reason why you cant set the system up to repeat the IR signal to another device.

Now comes the tricky part..hardware aside, there are a few ways on getting the IR receiver to repeat the signal to another device.
if you stick with 'as installed', you will only be able to set the system up to repeat the IR signal if during your TV setup. You select 'yes' to having a set top box, and go through the IR learning process.
This is good if you simply want a STB to work with VMC/MCE.

Now, if you want to do funky stuff (like get other buttons to work and/or macros and/or control different devices through different IR beads (the MS receiver has 2 ports)) then look at HIP and the modified MS receiver driver.
This along with HIP allows you to program the IR receiver and remote buttons as you want, BUT you lose the triple tap functionality (text entry vis the remote).
You can also check out Girder, but as its not free, I didnt venture down that path.

EDIT..just had a thought. If you already have the IMON remote and receiver AND theres provision for IR repeater on your IMON receiver, then HIP may be able to do what you want without having to buy the MS receiver/remote.
You`ll still have to get the IR buds from somewhere (buy them or make them) but the HIP drivers for your IMON im pretty sure should be able to repeat commands. Not sure how this would integrate into VMC though.

For my money Id stick with the standard MS jobby. Lots of people here can testify that its one of the few MS things that 'just works'

Hope all the info helps.

knurl · **18th June 2008, 12:07 PM**

I quite agree with misterp. The $39 IR blaster kit is one of the few things from MS that just work.

I've had VMC for 1 month now and have managed to get the TV guide and the link to foxtel to work and I've come to the conclusion that VMC is basically a load of rubbish based on the premise that software should be easy to configure and manage and be flexible with a lot of different hardware devices. It is not good software and I have been developing the stuff for 40 years.

Why the heck do we need a whole online Forum like this for a piece of ill-suited software.

I bought my Dell system so that I could record and burn foxtel programs to DVD in the simplest possible manner. I spent 3 weeks discovering that VMC is not fit for purpose.

I've now purchased Pinnacle Media Studio 11 (i've used version 9 for some three years now) and can capture AVI and edit foxtel programs and save them to DVD with a lot less fuss than using this silly MS HD file format that is incompatible with any industry-standard video software.

So that's my rant for the day. I don't want to stuff around with the IR Blaster or VMC.

Ararat · **20th June 2008, 12:02 AM**

Sorry if I'm kind of hijacking this thread but... did you say the Foxtel receiver is capable of repeating commands to a STB? As in, if it receives an IR signal, it will repeat it through the IR buds?

This has piqued my interest, as the Foxtel iQ2 box is kinda loud (at least at night, when everything else is turned off), and switching it 'off' only seems to cut the outputs.

So, if I put the box into the next room, and ran the IR buds through the wall, would the MS receiver forward commands from the Foxtel remote on to the STB? (btw, i don't have foxtel setup in VMC, i only use vmc for fta, if that matters).

Thanks.