USB-Uirt IR Leds

[Squintz]

I have a usb uirt and I want to add another LED in my bedroom.

Currently the Uirt is located in my basement and I have Cat 5 running from my basement to my attic where i will drop the LED through the ceiling. I do not yet have the LED or the stero jack. Can someone tell me a part number for the LED so that I can pick it up from radioshack on my way home. Also is the stero jack 1/8?

Any other comments you may have for me please share.

 

[Squintz]

Ohhh Shucks....

It looks like the 1/8in Jack is for an emmiter only and not a receiver also. Is this true. If so then I will hold off on the IR emmiter but you can tell me any ways for later use. I was hoping to be able to use the TV remote to control my lights. I can do this now in the basement but not in my bedroom since the LED is in the basement. Works very Nicely using "Charmed Quark Controller (CQC)" along with Z-wave devices

 

[smee]

Yes, it's true that the jack on the back of the USB-UIRT is for emitters only. In the newer version, it actually allows two separate zones - giving three when you include the blaster built into the USB-UIRT.

In order to get IR back to the USB-UIRT, you will probably need to add some additional hardware. You can use wired or wireless technology to repeat IR.

A recent thread on wired systems: Discussion of Xantech IR distribution

For wireless solutions, look at things like the X10 PowerMid. These receive IR and retransmit it as RF to an RF receiver which then emits the IR. You could put IR receivers in any room in which you want to use the remote and one RF receiver in the room with the USB-UIRT.

Both of these approaches have been discussed pretty extensively here and on the HomeSeer boards.

 

[Squintz]

First of all sorry for calling them LEDs when they are not.

Smee or anyone,

Do you know if the Buffalo and/or xantech IR distribution modules would work by hooking up a $2 IR Phototransistor or IR Emitter from my local electronic store instead of the more expensive IR transducers the are being sold in the home automation stores?

 

[Mike]

I read a note somewhere that emitters are all the same, it is the recievers that are different (some are 5v and some are 12v was the difference). This is just what I remember reading though.

Depending on your setup, you may be able to use flood emitters and prisms (but will probably cost more than several $2 emitters as the flood emitters are around$12 and the prisms $4 I believe), they let you blast out the IR and the prisms reflect it into the eye. It looks cleaner than the individual emitters as the prisms stay on the units (the emitters seem to 'fall off' after awhile).

http://www.audioplex.com/IRFlood.htm

http://www.audioplex.com/IRPrism.htm

Just an option (it is not the cheapest solution)

 

[Squintz]

Thanks for you help Mike. I went ahead and sent an e-mail to the customer support of Buffalo just to be sure. To me the more expensive receivers just seem like Phototransistors mounted in a fancy pacakage to make them easier to mount and connect wires to. I am not saying they are not worth it but they are overkill for what i want to use them for.

 

[Squintz]

Here is what he said. So it looks like I wont have to buy the expensive ones.

Generally, I can say YES.
Voltage is a parameter you need to watch, however.
Our units do NOT like DC voltage in excess of 14.2 VDC.

Also, frequency parameters should be confirmed.
Our IR-100 is receptive to frequencies from 30 to 130 KHZ.

Larry Beach
Operations Manager
Buffalo Electronics Inc

 

[Squintz]

Here is another answer from the same company just a different person. I sent it to two e-mail addresses at the same time because I wasnt sure which could answer my question.

David,

You are limited only by your imagination and your electronic design capabilities. Many transducer circuits can trigger the IR-100 for many different applications and you can use the flasher outputs to cause many different types of event outcomes to occur. Since the options are almost limitless I'll just give you the IR-100 interface specifications.

The IR-100 outputs (the 4 flasher jacks) the power supply voltage level (voltage regulated to a maximum of 12VDC) current limited to 20mA. The input pulse (SIG on terminal block) needs to be about 2-3V to "trigger" the transister causing an output event. The IR-100 is a digital device only passing 0's and 1's where 1's are equal to the power supply voltage level and 0's are at ground potential.

The rest is up to you and your imagination, you can build many circuits that will work well with the IR-100, have fun.

We usually don't support DIYers since we don't have enough tech support people but if you get stuck drop me another e-mail and I'll try to help.

 

[Squintz]

Based on the last e-mail it seems that one could come up with a world of new ideas using the IR-100.

This is where I need a little expert help though. Now that I know it can be done I need help choosing the best parts for the job. I am no good at looking up specs for parts.