IR Remote Format for the Foxtel IQ2

After analysing the Sony and JVC remotes, I moved on to the remote for the Foxtel IQ2. The unit is a Pace TDC850NF set-top box. Actually, to start with I started with the plain old Foxtel remote. In the past, it had met with a small accident and the IR filter was shattered. So I opened it up and did the usual - soldered a pair of wires to the IR LED and brought them out. But the signals did not follow the usual pattern.

IR Remote Formats

In the previous blog, I connected two wires to the IR LED of a Sony IR remote control. Now it is time to study the IR signal format. I hooked it up to a USB Logic Analyser. The signal looks like this.

Sony IR Remote Control RM-AAP050 Teardown

As part of a project, I needed to study signals sent out by IR remote control units that control TVs, Receivers, etc. The signal itself will be captured using a USB Logic Analyser. But how do I get the signal itself? There are two ways to do this. Use a simple photo-transistor to sense the IR output or directly measure the signal going to the IR LED inside the remote. I decided to use the second approach.

Sa Re Ga Ma to MP3

It is hard learning music. I have a good memory for music I listen to but when I have a piece of paper in front of me in the Indian music notation, I am a bit lost. I don't see Sa Re Ga on paper and hear the tune in my head. Mainly because I am clueless when it comes to music written down. Oh, it is easy, just play it on an instrument you say? Well, I can't play an instrument either. I could hunt and peck my way on a keyboard but the results are not very useful. What if I can type in the notes from the piece of paper into a file and get a piece of music I can listen to over and over again till it is etched in my mind? How do I convert a piece of Indian music written as Sa Re Ga into an MP3?

Ethernet based PIC SBCs

Almost every PIC project has to deal with implementing some kind of a user interface. Buttons, LEDs, LCD display – the hardware is not trivial to add and the result is far from user friendly. What’s more, you have to walk up to the unit to interact with it. This is far from ideal – a rolling potato gathers no couch.

An Ethernet based SBC (Single Board Computer) is one solution. Such an SBC will at the very least have an Ethernet connection. It should have the ability to host a web server. The code for this should be available. Writing one from scratch is way beyond my abilities. With the web server must come a large amount of flash storage, not a few KB but hundreds of KB.