Capture IR without Widget?

General JP1 chit-chat. Developing special protocols, decoding IR signals, etc. Also a place to discuss Tips, Tricks, and How-To's.

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
abishur
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:06 pm

Capture IR without Widget?

Post by abishur »

Is it possible to capture an IR signal from any IR receiver that is attached to my PC (such as the one that came with my media center remote?) Or is there something special about the IR widget that let's it decode the signal?
cauer29
Posts: 236
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:15 am

Re: Capture IR without Widget?

Post by cauer29 »

abishur wrote:Is it possible to capture an IR signal from any IR receiver that is attached to my PC (such as the one that came with my media center remote?) Or is there something special about the IR widget that let's it decode the signal?
A media center IR receiver would not be able to capture the sort of detail that the widget can, since a media center IR receiver would only provide the envelope of the signal without any frequency info. Also, you wouldn't be able to use the software available for use with the widget. If you don't have or for some reason don't want to purchase a widget, the next best thing is a JP1 learning remote, as much of what the widget can do, a JP1 remote with cable can do, just not as conveniently.

A.A.
abishur
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:06 pm

Post by abishur »

ah, I was afraid of that. It is a learning remote, I just didn't want to have to teach it that much! :P
vickyg2003
Site Admin
Posts: 7109
Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2004 12:19 pm
Location: Florida
Contact:

Post by vickyg2003 »

Most of the time a remote will capture everything a widget will. However sometimes signals are not "learnable" because they are too complicated but a widget doesn't care how complicated the signal is, it captures the timing information.

A widget is a very convenient capture mechanism. I have a lot of trouble with the awkward remote-to-remote learning. I could never remember what I put where, and often had bad learns, so the process was annoying enough that I wasn't capturing all of my remotes. BAD MISTAKE.

If it were just one piece of equipment, I don't know if I could have justified the expense. However I am learning signals all the time.
Remember to provide feedback to let us know how the problem was solved and share your upgrades.

Tip: When creating an upgrade, always include ALL functions from the oem remote, even if you never plan on assigning them to a button. Complete function lists makes an upgrade more helpful to others.
The Robman
Site Owner
Posts: 21947
Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2003 9:37 am
Location: Chicago, IL
Contact:

Post by The Robman »

Do you still have the URC-8910 that you bought a few years ago? And if so, do you also have a JP1 cable? If you have both, you have everything that you need to capture the signals from a new device and use the captured info to build an upgrade.

We're here to help if any part of the process is too challenging.
Rob
www.hifi-remote.com
Please don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help!
Post Reply