ir signal generator

[stevesxm]

hello troops,
i am a long retired ME and well out of my area of expertise and need some help, please. i need a device that acts like a typical ir remote control to control a bunch of devices simultaneously. in an simple on/off sense. i believe i can program all the devices on the same frequency so i only need a single/dual freq device... now... i know i can simply take the existing remote and make a device that pushes the button and on the face of it that seems simple enough but for a variety of reasons i need something more reliable and elegant that that.... so the question for you guys that actually know about this stuff.... is that something i can buy off the shelf ? a programmable ir signal generator ? or failing that, how much would something like that cost to build? OR could i hardwire the remote's circuit board membrane switch to a relay or something ?

when and if you answer... remember you are talking to an old mechanical guy.... so pretend you are explaining it to your 11 year old...

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I'm not sure we've established with certainty that the remotes are indeed RF. It would be easy enough to verify – just test with a hand over the end of the remote or from outside a closed door.

Don't be 'too' confident with the hand over trick - your hand doesn't block IR 100%, and I've seen occasions where it still works through a hand. From a different room is best.

On a slightly related occurrence I once had a remote with a stuck button 'somewhere' in our 800 sq/feet workshop. Unfortunately it was a Sony remote, and many of our repairs were Sony sets - and it caused a great deal of bother

It took a VERY long time to locate it!.

 

[Tony Stewart]

Until you can identify all the baseband modulation types e.g. Bi-phase- M,S,I, the synchronization methods and the entire data protocol such as simple big or small endian+parity or rolling-code with CRC , you must have expertise in cloning, decoding and repeating such signals with the proper carrier , be that RF or IR at some frequency and modulation type. Perhaps after a few years in telecommunication work designing test equipment, you might be able to pull it off. I once had to design a baseband pay-TV scrambler/descrambler to simulator every method used by all satellite and cable TV carriers in the early 80's

Otherwise, you need to hire someone with that experience.