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If you do not yet own a supported
IR (infrared) hardware device then the device you choose will
depend to some extent on your intended usage. The following
table compares features and capabilities of the supported IR
devices:
|
Supported IR Device
|
Actisys IR200L |
My.TV MyBlaster |
Home-Electro Tira2* |
USB-UIRT ** |
|
Feature |
| Listen Triggers9 |
Yes |
Not
supported |
Maybe1 |
Yes |
| Transmit Range |
Fair |
Good |
Good |
Good |
| Universal Codes
Support |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Cross-device
training2 |
Yes |
Limited |
Yes |
Yes |
| IR Band Detection3 |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Usable IR Band
Range |
32-250kHz |
32-100kHz |
32-80kHz |
20-60kHz6 |
| Transmit Response
Time4 |
Fast |
Slow |
Medium |
Medium |
| IR Emitter output
Jack7 |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Zone Support8 |
No |
No |
No |
Yes,
3 zones |
| Size (inches) |
.6h
1.4w 2.4d |
3.5h
2w 3.4d |
.7h
1.4w 2d |
.7h
2.4w 1.5d |
| Power supply |
from
PC |
Power
pack |
from
PC |
from
PC |
| Interface |
Serial5 |
Serial
or USB |
USB |
USB |
Notes:
* Support for Tira2.1 requires version 3.74 or later
** Support for USB-UIRT requires version 3.74 or later
1. Tira2 will listen in "timing mode", which has very
limited range intended for training (1-2cm). If you have an IR
distribution system installed then sticking a mouse emitter to
the Tira2.1 should work for listen triggers, though this has not
been tested. The original Tira2 is not sensitive enough in
timing mode for this to work.
2. Cross-device training means that you can train a signal with
one type of device (e.g., IR200L) and then transmit it with
another type of device (e.g., Tira2). Likewise for listen
triggers. MyBlaster is shown as "limited" because some
of the signals it returns during training are in a proprietary
format that cannot be decoded into the IRC2 "standard"
internal format.
3. IR Band Detection indicates whether the device is capable of
determining the sub-carrier frequency of a signal during
training. The IR200L cannot do this and must be pre-set to a
specific band. However, starting in IRC2 v3.62 you can set the
band to any value in the supported range.
4. Transmit response time is an indication of how fast the
device can transmit a signal and be ready to transmit again. All
the devices are fast enough for most home applications.
5. Newer versions of IRCommand2 have greatly improved the
reliability of the IR200L when it is used with a USB-serial
adapter (see tech
note).
6. USB-UIRT can train signals and transmit in the range
indicated, but support for listen triggers is limited to
34-40kHz (which works for the majority of remotes) and it can be
ordered with support for 56kHz trigger signals.
7. A jack for plugging in an external emitter can be very useful
if there's more than one device to control or equipment is not
all located together. This output can also be used to drive an
infrared distribution system. Check this application
note for
more information.
8. A dongle supporting zones allows IR commands to be directed
to one of several outputs, which can then be directed to
different locations (zones). Starting in v3.85, a device can be
configured to send all IR commands to a specific zone. The
default is to send IR commands to ALL zones.
9. Listen Triggers are an IRCommand2 feature that
"listens" for specific IR (or X10) commands from your
remote controls that will "trigger" corresponding
buttons in IRCommand2 to execute their programmed actions.
Where to buy the hardware
- The following are some sources for the supported IR
hardware:
Snapstream
-- offers the IR200L (called "IR Blaster") and USB-UIRT
My,TV
-- offers IR200L and MyBlaster
USB-UIRT --
manufacturer of the USB-UIRT dongle
Actisys --
manufacturer of the IR200L
Important Note: There are a number of
Actisys devices, such as the IR210 and IR220, that appear to
be identical to the IR200L, but those devices are
strictly for Irda applications and will NOT work with
IRcommand2. Make sure you're
purchasing an IR200L.
- The following are some sources for the CM11A and HD11A (for X10 applications):
X10.com
X10 devices can also be found on eBay
Note: The HD11A is a clone of the
CM11A. There are no functional differences between these two
devices when used with IRCommand2.
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