USB Ultra IR-Receiver to PC remote control and power ON – OFF v1.1

USB Ultra Infrared Receiver to remote control and power on/off the PC

UPDATE: This Version 1.1 is now replaced by the new USB Ultra IR Version 2.0, to ensure the operation also on newer PCs with more recent motherboards.

The extended guide for the infrared receiver with hardware side function to remotely switch the PC on and off as full USB variant is now available and got the name “USB Ultra infrared receiver” or briefly “USB Ultra IR”.

This is the finished USB infrared receiver to remotely power ON/OFF and control the PC  with a conventional remote control units ...

Where is the sense of an infrared receiver at the PC …

If you like to use the PC to watch television or S-VCD/DVD, or if you like to build a complete J-box II project with LCD display, etc. for the HiFi rack, you would also like to enjoy the comfort to remote control all applications of this PC easily from the sofa.

So the first Luxus/Lowcost infrared receiver circuit was published in July 2002 on ocinside.de and the goal was a remote controlled PC with a connection to the serial port. The next development was the USB infrared receiver guide to control the PC with a conventional remote control unit, but with an USB connection instead of using the serial port. So, there’re a few ways to manage this very comfortable – may be with the well-known Luxus IR, Lowcost IR, USB IR, or with the new USB Ultra infrared receiver which is now also offered as a complete kit in the Fanshop.

That is new at the (USB) Ultra infrared receiver …

Well, but what can the USB Ultra IR receiver contrary to conventional infrared receivers ? Very simple – on the one hand it receives the signals to send it to the PC Software (like Girder, WinLIRC, etc), but on the other hand it can also compare infrared signals to power off or power on the PC. So it’s possible to remotely power on the PC (ATX Power Button, WoL, etc.), watch a film or hear some music and hardware side power off the PC. The PC can thus be completely controlled with a usual remote control unit (38 kHz RC-5) e.g. of the television, or another HiFi component and/or all universal remote control units.

Take some pretzel sticks or chips, loll on the sofa and watch TV, hear music, etc. 🙂

The latest version 1.1 of the USB Ultra IR receiver got a new IC for the USB processing – the Atmel Tiny45 IC (ATtiny45 20PU). The USB firmware for this Atmel 8-bit RISC processor was completely rewritten and it’s no more necessary to overclock the new Tiny45 ICs, because they allow frequencies up to 20 MHz.

These units are necessary …

! Now with both programmed Atmel ICs available in the Fanshop !

These parts are necessary to solder the new usb ultra ir receiver ...

1x Vishay TSOP 1738 (38 kHz infrared receiver) Comparable to this are also: Vishay TSOP 1838, Vishay TSOP 11xx, Siemens SFH 506, or Siemens SFH 5110 ! Attention ! the pin layouts of those compared types are not the same of necessity as the ones used in the TSOP 1738 circuit; refer to the manual of the chosen IR receiver!

1x Atmel AT90S2323-10 or the new ATtiny45-20PU (this IC have to be programmed like in the Fanshop
!) 1x Atmel AT90S2343-10 or the new ATtiny13V-10PU (this IC have to be programmed like in the Fanshop
!) 2x 8-pin IC-Socket 1x 12MHz quartz 1x optoelectronic coupler CNY17-2 1x 4.7µF / 16 volt capacitor (Elko or Tantal) vertical construction 1x 100nF capacitor (ceramik, layer or multilayer) vertical construction 1x 1.5 K resistor
(0,25 watt) 1x 390 Ohm resistor
(0,25 watt) 1x 2-pole strip for the jumper 1x Jumper 1x Printed circuit board (PCB); approx. 3,5 x 3 cm with 15 x 11 holes is sufficient 1x USB A-Plug 1x approx. 1 meter shielded data cable with at least 4 pins (As one chooses a finished USB cabel with A plug can be used as describes in the fanshop kit) 1x 2-pole cable approx. 1,5 meter

Optional: I’ve also published an additional circuit with two LEDs, so it’s also possible to use low-current LEDs with a resistor.

The circuit diagram and how the USB Ultra receiver works …