JP1 Remotes

[davegsm82]

Ok, well its not really a homebrew, but one day I was given the remnants of a broken TFT television, screen was smashed and the case was so broken that even the speakers were missing.

Anyway, i removed the main PCB and it hung about until I got REALLY bored one day and had a play about with it and found the interface to the screen was a standard LVDS signal which I cut-and-shutted to a 15" TFT monitor screen.

It worked fine so i've built the TV board into the back of the junked monitor. However, I was wasn't given the remote with the TV, and I CAN NOT get anything to work with it apart from one 'Toshiba' remote which a few of the buttons perform random functions on the TV, such as vol+, CH-, a couple of the channel buttons and mute.

I even went to the extent of creating a 8x8 key matrix of tactile switches on PCB, removed the driver chip from the remote, added it to my key matrix and made sure all AVAILABLE codes were pressed, nothing astounding happened, one or two more functions discovered but nothing useful.

Would a JP1 remote be useful here? or is there any way that anyone knows of that I could analyse the codes which DO work the TV and attempt to recreate the ones which are likely to perform the rest of the functions?

I've tried googleing till my heard's content and cant find any decent answers to my predicament.

Thanks, Dave.

p.s i'll add pictures of the 'THING' and the partially functioning remote if anyone is interested.

[vickyg2003]

Hi Dave, sounds like you really like to tinker, . I thought TFT was a brand, but after googling the term I realize that TFT is a type of tv or monitor. If you have the brand and model number of the original tv, you could check to see if someone has already built an an upgrade in our file area or over at . Since you already have a partially working Toshiba remote, chances are pretty good that you could figure out the rest of the remote signals. I'd recommend getting a jp1, jp1.2 or jp1.3 with LEARNING, you could capture the signals that do work, and then fill in the missing functions. I think you'd enjoy this hobby.
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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.

[davegsm82]

[The Robman]

Hey Dave, you certainly like to get your hands dirty, don't you. We could use someone like you around here, so I hope you stick around.

Anyway, to the subject at hand. Like Vicky said, if you know the brand and/or model number of the original TV, we might be able to find you the right code that way. Alternatively, if you know what device the Toshiba remote came from, we might get close enough that way. If the other remote is for a Toshiba TV, then chances are good that the signals would match out TV/0156 setup code.

If you were to get a JP1 learning remote, you could absolutely capture the signals from the Toshiba remote and then see what they look like. Our software would tell you the IR protocol, the device code(s) and the original button codes (OBCs). With that info, you could build a new upgrade that you could load into your JP1 remote with all the functions on the right buttons. You could also try all of the remaining button codes to see if any of them do anything. There are typically 256 possible OBCs per device code.

We do have a few other UK folks on board. I'm from the UK myself, but I moved to the States a long time ago, so I guess I don't count anymore!

Do you have a serial port on your PC? If so, you could build yourself a Serial JP1.x cable using the instructions found here:

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload.php?action=category&cat_id=121

If you can't find a "One For All" remote locally, I can sell you a URC-8820 8 device learning remote for $20 USD, plus $13 postage. $33 is about £20.
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Rob
www.hifi-remote.com
Please don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help!

[vickyg2003]

[The Robman]

[vickyg2003]

[davegsm82]

Hi again guys,

Thanks for the warm reception, hopefully i can be useful to someone while i'm around. For the Record i'm an electronics technician, who also does TV repair etc in my spare time.

I've taken some pics now that i'm back home, firstly, my 'lab'



Also, some shots of the 'borg' tv and the remote I made.





This is where I interfaced the old TV board to the monitor screen



Does anyone recognise this simple menu system?



Slight modification of the original button notations



Here's the remote...




While I was looking about tonight I found this remote in one of my junk boxes, its made by 'Tevion' which is a cheaper brand usually found in one of the local swedish/austrian supermarkets such as LIDL and ALDI. Model number MD41666. It has no JP1 connection, however when I took it apart this is what I found, the controller is a blob on the board, and it has a memory chip attached which is a serial EEPROM, 24C16.




On the Keypad I noticed one 2 little buttons marked MACRO and LEARN.

Buttons at the top have options for TV, VCR, DVD, CD, CBL, ASAT, DSAT and AUX, all backlit with green LED's. I'm thinking this could be something along the lines of what you guys are using. At the very top is a tiny LCD screen, but its only a clock, literally just the quartz clock out of a £1 wristwatch wired into the PCB

If you guys think this could be a 1.1 type then i'll try and attach some leads to the EEPROM and read it off.

Sorry for the large picture content.

Thanks, Dave.

[The Robman]

[davegsm82]

[The Robman]

If the remote isn't made by UEI, none of the stuff that we've developed in the JP1 world will work with it. Looking at the instructions in the manual and the codes in the code list, this remote just doesn't sound like a UEI remote.

I'd be interested in seeing the contents of the EEPROM also, but I can't guarantee that I'll be able to decode the contents.

Yes, the device you're looking for is called an IR Widget, Tommy sells them here:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9405
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Rob
www.hifi-remote.com
Please don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help!

[Thomas]

@davegsm82
You can read the contents of these 24C EEPROMs for a few USD (the cost of a PIC chip), though it's a bit complex. I have scanned a couple in home security systems (owners forgot the password). I programmed a PIC chip and isolated the Vdd pin on the EEPROM, attached jumpers to Vss, SCL, SDA, and dumped the data to my computer terminal program. The PIC chips are easy to work with, the complex part is getting the program right.

Alternatively, there are gadgets for around USD70 that will do the job, take a look at the i2cchip website.

Tom
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Tom Carlson

[The Robman]

If you had a JP1 (EEPROM) cable, you could probably read the contents of the EEPROM for free simply by hooking up some wires and a 6-pin header, then using the cable and IR.exe.

If you have a parallel port on your PC, you can make the old fashioned "Simple" cable really easily, it just contains a diode and 2 resistors. If the sole purpose is to read the EEPROM, you can skip the IDC and 6-pin header and just wire the thing straight to the EEPROM.
_________________
Rob
www.hifi-remote.com
Please don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help!

[wnewell]

[davegsm82]