sean@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sean P. Nolan) (10/05/89)
Hey there... The other day whilst playing with an oscillating circuit, I happened to flash an infrared LED in from of my cable box, just to see what would happen. The Remote Control unit in the box thought I was sending a "7." "Gee," I thought. "Maybe I'll make a remote control for the TV and save the whopping $3.50/month or whatever they charge for one." But I don't know the whole set of frequencies, and trial-and-error doesn't seem like a pleasant task. Sooo, if anyone out there has a list of standard (if in fact they ARE standard) frequencies that these boxes respond to, I'd really appreciate an email note. If not, I'll go with the trial and error method. *grin* Thanks... --- Sean Oh, by the way... the make of the box is General Instruments Jerrold 460. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Sean P. Nolan | | "Let's face it: | | Dartmouth College | Net: Sean_Nolan@Mac.Dartmouth.EDU | IBM is no fun." | | Hinman Box 2658 | MCI Mail: snolan | :::::::::: | | Hanover, NH 03755 | | John C. Dvorak | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
flash@lopez.UUCP (Gary Bourgois) (10/06/89)
sean@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sean P. Nolan) writes: >Hey there... [wants to build a TV remote control and save CATV charges] >But I don't know the whole set of frequencies, and trial-and-error doesn't >seem like a pleasant task. Sooo, if anyone out there has a list of standard (if >in fact they ARE standard) frequencies that these boxes respond to, I'd They are not "frequencies" exactly, they are PULSES. and there are NO standards. By pulses, I mean short ones for digital 0 and longer ones for digital 1. >really appreciate an email note. If not, I'll go with the trial and error >method. *grin* Because we are dealing with pulses of varying duration, a simple oscillator will not suffice. You hit it lucky with the 7, which in your box is probably all 0's or 1's or is a default "in the middle" digit. Trial and error? You do not have to go THAT far. There are other solutions. Solution # 1 Find the manufacturer of your cable box (jerold, General Instruments) etc. That company WILL sell you a remote control, for about $25. I know; one of mine got melted with a hair dryer. I got a replacement from the Distributor and NOT the cable company. Solution #2 Purchase one of those "trainable remotes" which "learn" the codes. This is more costly. Solution #3 If you WANT to build one, get an infrared detector. Connect it to an oscilloscope. set bandwidth appropriately and read the output. Build an IC pulse circuit using diodes to program the 0's and 1's. Recommended more for a learning experience. I would go with Solution 1 myself.... -- ------------------------------------------------------------------- | Gary Bourgois, ...rutgers!sharkey!lopez!flash (flash@lopez.UUCP) | | Nationwide Amateur Radio NIGHTLY after 0200z on 3950 KHz | -------------[ WB8EOH = The Eccentric Old Hippie ]-----------------
mcw@wet.UUCP (Martin Warnett) (10/07/89)
In article <850@lopez.UUCP> flash@lopez.UUCP (Gary Bourgois) writes: >sean@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sean P. Nolan) writes: > >>Hey there... > >[wants to build a TV remote control and save CATV charges] > There is a potential problem here, some cable boxes will only accept remote control signals if told to do so by the cable company computer. It just the same way that it will only decode scrambled signals you have paid for, it will only honor the remote control signals is you have paid for the remote. My Zenith box works that way. -- +====================================================================+ | Martin Warnett | uucp: ...sun!claris!wet!mcw | | San Francisco, CA | claris!wet!mcw@ames.arc.nasa.gov | +====================================================================+
sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks) (10/07/89)
In article <15939@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> Sean_Nolan@mac.dartmouth.edu (Sean P. Nolan) writes: >Hey there... > Hey yourself. >But I don't know the whole set of frequencies, and trial-and-error doesn't >seem like a pleasant task. Sooo, if anyone out there has a list of standard I don't know what the standard pulses are but I did find out something neat while over a friends house. We were playing with his video camera (RCA brand, model unknown) when we found out that if you flash an infrared remote control at the camera, you can *SEE* the pulses on the monitor! Somehow the camera shifts the infrared down to the visable spectrum. This may help you out if you have a camcorder handy. The pulses were fairly slow on the remote we used so it won't (shouldn't) be to hard to figure out the pattern. But this 'feature' of video cameras (I am supposing that it works on all ccd video cameras) opens up new doors, eh? wonder if one could use this to make a cheapo 'nightscope'. -- John Sparks | {rutgers|uunet}!ukma!corpane!sparks | D.I.S.K. 24hrs 1200bps ||||||||||||||| sparks@corpane.UUCP | 502/968-5401 thru -5406 To err is human. To forgive is unusual.
jharkins@sagpd1.UUCP (Jim Harkins) (10/10/89)
In article <850@lopez.UUCP> flash@lopez.UUCP (Gary Bourgois) writes: >That >company WILL sell you a remote control, for about $25. I know; one of >mine got melted with a hair dryer. Should we ask him about this? Naaah, if it wasn't embarrasing he would have told us freely. jim
hb@uvaarpa.virginia.edu (Hank Bovis) (10/12/89)
In article <645@wet.UUCP> mcw@wet.UUCP (Martin Warnett) writes: >In article <850@lopez.UUCP> flash@lopez.UUCP (Gary Bourgois) writes: >>sean@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sean P. Nolan) writes: >>[wants to build a [converter] remote control and save CATV charges] >There is a potential problem here, some cable boxes will only accept >remote control signals if told to do so by the cable company computer. > ... My Zenith box works that way. Zenith Z-TAC boxes do work this way, but as far as I know, most Jerrolds don't. I believe the poster said he had a Jerrold 460. I'm not familiar with that one; is that baseband or RF? Hank Bovis (hb@Virginia.EDU, hb@Virginia.BITNET)