hardware fix for video toads?

[bvwelch]

Greetings,

I've been usng the 6131 with extender for the past year or so, and it is terrific!

But once in a while, someone can't resist the urge to physically turn the VCR on/off and confuse my 6131. Admittedly this is not a big problem-- if you know the trick, you can just hit an extra button on the remote to toggle the vcr back in sync. Or if you don't know, you can walk over and manually sync it back up.

But, as may you recall, I'm a bit of a software geek, so when a friend of mine suggested a fix, I found myself seriously considering it.

His idea is-- to enhance my previous "IR to IR" translator project, to include a simple circuit to monitor the composite video out signal. Then, set up a new device that has discrete on/off IR codes. The "translator" will then use its built-in "IR Blaster" to send the "toggle" power code to the VCR, only as required, thus always staying in sync.

At least one drawback, and it is a big one, is that unless/until I ever implement software that can handle lots of different protocols, each unit would need custom programming for the particular VCR or whatever. This isn't terribly bad, since the cpu (probably a 16F88) can be re-programmed in-circuit using free software tools and an rs232 or usb serial cable.

My original posting about the "IR to IR" translator project is here:

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5380

Any comments, other problems?

thanks,

William

[bvwelch]

Greetings,

I built the prototype for this over the weekend, and it is working fine.

You can find the write-up, source code, and schematic here:

http://bvwelch.com


William