...for Home Automation
Currently I use a Raspberry Pi 4, LIRC and some cobbled together IR receiver & transmitter components hanging off the GPIO pins. LIRC is used to decode several dozen different NEC1 button presses to trigger HA actions and also used to send out a few IR commands (turn on/of receiver, set to HDMI 1, etc.).
I would like to upgrade this arrangement to a thin client PC* and eliminate the GPIO mess. I wouldn't mind staying with LIRC if a suitable transceiver could be obtained. I like the look of the `USB Infrared Toy v2` device but it looks like it is sold out in most places that used to sell them.
Looking at Globalcache devices, they seem to be up for handling the transmitting of IR signals just fine but possibly not onboard decoding of received signals.
Any recommendations of a suitable device would be most appreciated!
*The thin client PC that I purchased does have a real serial port onboard.
What device are you using to send and receive IR signals?
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Hmm, the question is a little bit too broad to give a simple one-sentence answer. Most importantly, what is your home automation "eco system"? Many (including myself) use Homeassistant. There are also other alternatives.
Raspie 4 or similar (I use a BananaPi 5 myself) make a good host for homeassistant -- but be sure to have the root file system on a reliable disk, not a micro-SD.
Lirc is a vastly overrated project suffering from fundamentally bad design, and is 25 years old. Stay away.
I prefer to have IR transmission and reception handed by a non-multitasking board, like Arduino, see for example this project, that does transmission, reception and learning. (Yes, there is a Lirc driver available
)
The IrToy is not available any longer, but IrDroid has 2/3 of the functionality for 3/2 of the price... Plus a housing.
The GlobalCache devices work, I have several in my possession. The GC-100 can only handle one simultaneous connections; better use a more modern model. The Homeassistant GlobalCache integration is severly broken; I have written a new implementation, unfortunately I have not quite completed it and published it through the normal channels. (Shame on me!!
)
For decoding, in the context of sending commands to a HA system, see this project.
Let me know what you are thinking. Of course you have further questions...
Raspie 4 or similar (I use a BananaPi 5 myself) make a good host for homeassistant -- but be sure to have the root file system on a reliable disk, not a micro-SD.
Lirc is a vastly overrated project suffering from fundamentally bad design, and is 25 years old. Stay away.
I prefer to have IR transmission and reception handed by a non-multitasking board, like Arduino, see for example this project, that does transmission, reception and learning. (Yes, there is a Lirc driver available
)The IrToy is not available any longer, but IrDroid has 2/3 of the functionality for 3/2 of the price... Plus a housing.
The GlobalCache devices work, I have several in my possession. The GC-100 can only handle one simultaneous connections; better use a more modern model. The Homeassistant GlobalCache integration is severly broken; I have written a new implementation, unfortunately I have not quite completed it and published it through the normal channels. (Shame on me!!
) For decoding, in the context of sending commands to a HA system, see this project.
Let me know what you are thinking. Of course you have further questions...
Last edited by Barf on Fri May 09, 2025 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks for the information. I just ordered a couple Arduinos to try out with Girs!
I was a little vague with my question because I did not want my current choice of HA system to influence the answers. Right now I am using openHAB on a Pi 4 with some home-brew IR components hanging off of the GPIO pins. I use LIRC along with it's openHAB binding to decode received signals (all NEC1) and send them to 1 rule with a big case statement that executes the appropriate action based on what button press is received. For sending IR signals I just have rules that call the irsend command line for the few commands that need to be sent out. This all works really well but as I stated I want to move off of the Pi and thus needed something to replace my current IR via GPIO solution.
I agree that LIRC is a big pain in the rear and was thus hoping that something like Globalcache would at least handle decoding of simple NEC1 signals onboard and report something like"NEC1,DEVICE123,BUTTON1,PRESSED'.
But if I can get the Arduino/Girs solution to play nicely with LIRC, I will certainly be happy with that arrangement.
I was a little vague with my question because I did not want my current choice of HA system to influence the answers. Right now I am using openHAB on a Pi 4 with some home-brew IR components hanging off of the GPIO pins. I use LIRC along with it's openHAB binding to decode received signals (all NEC1) and send them to 1 rule with a big case statement that executes the appropriate action based on what button press is received. For sending IR signals I just have rules that call the irsend command line for the few commands that need to be sent out. This all works really well but as I stated I want to move off of the Pi and thus needed something to replace my current IR via GPIO solution.
I agree that LIRC is a big pain in the rear and was thus hoping that something like Globalcache would at least handle decoding of simple NEC1 signals onboard and report something like"NEC1,DEVICE123,BUTTON1,PRESSED'.
But if I can get the Arduino/Girs solution to play nicely with LIRC, I will certainly be happy with that arrangement.
Nice that you were able to do something with my answer.
GlobalCache is good for sending, but does not really have a solution for receiving/decoding. (However, for example iTach does a decent job when capturing.)
GlobalCache is good for sending, but does not really have a solution for receiving/decoding. (However, for example iTach does a decent job when capturing.)
This Arduino sketch (included in AGirs) does exactly that. I use it in conjunktion with the dispatcher, a daemon program running on the home automation host, since around 10 years.... handle decoding of simple NEC1 signals onboard and report something like"NEC1,DEVICE123,BUTTON1,PRESSED'.
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Re: What device are you using to send and receive IR signals?
It looks like my post got bumped
I guess I should give an update with what I ended up doing. I tried using Arduino/Girs with LIRC for quick integration with openHAB. I don't think that sending worked at all and the receiving worked but would flake out after a time. I gave up on that in short order. This guide was helpful however: https://www.drejo.com/blog/arduino-lirc/
But as an aside, Girs is really awesome to use with IrScrutinizer! I should have done that years ago.
In the end I purchased a Windows MCE USB IR receiver (OVU4003/00) and it is working with LIRC without any drama using my existing configuration files. For sending, I ended up purchasing a Global Cache ITach IP2IR. It integrates nicely with openHAB and now my configurations for the IR commands to send live natively therein. Maybe on the next upgrade I will finally get rid of LIRC but for now I am happy with my current setup.
I guess I should give an update with what I ended up doing. I tried using Arduino/Girs with LIRC for quick integration with openHAB. I don't think that sending worked at all and the receiving worked but would flake out after a time. I gave up on that in short order. This guide was helpful however: https://www.drejo.com/blog/arduino-lirc/
But as an aside, Girs is really awesome to use with IrScrutinizer! I should have done that years ago.
In the end I purchased a Windows MCE USB IR receiver (OVU4003/00) and it is working with LIRC without any drama using my existing configuration files. For sending, I ended up purchasing a Global Cache ITach IP2IR. It integrates nicely with openHAB and now my configurations for the IR commands to send live natively therein. Maybe on the next upgrade I will finally get rid of LIRC but for now I am happy with my current setup.