Hauppauge IR Emitter with MCE Remote Kit

[Braklet]

I would like to increase range of my IR emitter. I'd like to buy a few emitter assemblies for experimentation but can't find a source.

Hauppauge simply resells equipment from SMK:

http://namerica1.smkusa.com/webinfo.nsf/...enDocument

Googling around I find that SMK sells 3 basic types of IR blasters:

SSR-IR01 : http://www.smk.co.jp/product_e/pdf/remoc...297642.pdf
SSR-IR02 : http://www.smk.co.jp/product_e/pdf/remoc...297643.pdf
SSR-IR03 : http://www.smk.co.jp/product_e/pdf/remoc...297653.pdf

I've emailed a couple of electronics resellers but they all want a large minimum order. Anyone know where I could score a few of these things?

Alternately, I could just wire up an emitter from bare parts. Does anyone know if these Hauppauge blasters include a resistor, and what is the plug polarity?

Thanks!

[dvasco]

Do you live in the US?

[Braklet]

Do you live in the US?

Yes, I'm in the US.

I talked to a component sales rep (All South Sales) who told me that none of their distributors stock any of these SMK IR blasters. He was in the process of getting me samples, but I held off as it was apparent he expected some actual sales out of the deal.

I also talked to Hauppauge who said they'd sell me additional IR blasters for $7.50 each plus shipping. That seems a little high, but doable if I really need one.

At this point I plan to buy some IR LEDs and 3.5mm mono jacks from Radio Shack and have a go with the soldering iron. Has anybody tried that out? Know what the tip polarity is and whether the blaster pod contains a resistor?

I'll start out with a small visible LED and work up to IR, I suppose.

Thanks!

[Ted the Penguin]

just to clarify you turned down free stuff? :eek:
dont feel bad about that, they are authorized to give away free samples, that is hopefully how I plan on getting lots of the parts for my senior year engineering project.

[dvasco]

I remember a post in this forum or one of the other HTPC forums about adding a resistor to the IR emitter to make it better. I think he mentioned opening it up and reporting the contents of the pod and the polarity. You will have to search this forum and the forums at SageTV, greenbutton, avsforum, etc to find that post.

Home Depot has a Smarthome Stick-On IR Emitter for $5.99 each.
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_...+100396884

[Braklet]

just to clarify you turned down free stuff? :eek:
dont feel bad about that, they are authorized to give away free samples

They wanted a UPS, FedEx, or DHL shipping account # to bill Japan->US shipping. They were unable or unwilling to give me a source address to estimate costs so I pulled out of the deal.

[Braklet]

Home Depot has a Smarthome Stick-On IR Emitter for $5.99 each.
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_...+100396884

I think that is actually an SMK part, or a dead ringer repro.

I'll see what I can do about Googling for emitter info, but I've been pretty unsuccessful so far.

[Braklet]

Here's a whole bunch of IR emitters from different manufacturers. Notice that there are two versions: IR-only "high output," and visible/IR "low output?" I'll bet these are drop in replacements for the SMK emitters that come with the Hauppauge systems.

I think I'll track down a cheaper source, though.

http://www.hometech.com/infrared/emitters.html

[Braklet]

I finally got around to installing my MCE Remote Kit from Hauppauge, which is all SMK-sourced parts.

I have no idea whether the emitter has one or two LEDs, but it certainly emits visible light while blasting.

My emitter also has no range problem when driving my Dish Network/Echostar 311 receiver. While testing I waved it around by hand up to 6" away from the IR reception port and it never had a problem changing channels.

I was able to leave the stock emitter pod dangling over the settop IR reception port and now GB-PVR can easily change channels. I also retain the ability to use the standard remote.

I am happy and a little surprised that I didn't encounter many of the blasting problems I've heard about with this setup.

Hauppauge MCE Remote Kit Part #01069, US$39, call Hauppauge sales @ 800-443-6284.

[Braklet]

Surprise, surprise, the sales rep just showed up at my workplace with an SMK blaster sample! That is in response to two emails, BTW. The component sales must be thin this quarter.

Anyway, this particular blaster is supposedly a low cost version of the SSR-IR03 I linked to earlier. (Prerelease drawing # RWS1000-1101E)

It has a clear shell so that I can easily identify internal components.

There is NO resistor in the blaster assembly. The IR diode has its anode connected to the gray-striped conductor; kathode to solid black. I am pretty sure the anode is connected to the plug tip (no multimeter handy).

The upshot here is that if you're experiencing poor IR blaster performance you can probably make your own from raw RatShack parts quite easily.

Here's a good tutorial:

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/led.htm