The Pinscape unit can send and receive IR commands if you have the
necessary extra components attached. To send commands, you need an
IR LED; to receive, you need an IR sensor (TSOP38438 or equivalent).
The transmit and receive capabilities are independent, so you can
attach either or both components. The Build Guide has details on
what you need and how to attach everything to the KL25Z.
You can program the Pinscape device with a list of IR commands
learned from the remote controls for your TV(s) and other devices.
An IR "command" is the signal sent when you push a button on one
of your remotes. Each button generally has a unique IR signal
associated with it. Pinscape can learn these signals and store
them in the command list, and then use the stored commands to
repeat the same commands via its IR transmitter, and to recognize
the commands when they come in on its receiver.
Each entry in the IR Command List has the following elements:
- IR Code: this is a magic number representing a particular
IR command. In most cases, you'll want to obtain these codes
using the "learn" function.
- Learn (
):
Click this button to bring up the "learn" dialog, which lets
Pinscape learn a code by reading the IR signal from one of
your remotes through the Pinscape IR receiver.
- Test (
):
Click this button to test a code by transmitting it through the
Pinscape IR LED. This lets you confirm that the target device
gets the signal when Pinscape sends the code.
- TV ON (
):
Click this to include the IR command in the TV ON sequence when
the system powers up. This lets you turn on your cabinet TV(s)
with IR commands.
- Key (
):
Click this to select a keyboard key or joystick button to send
to the PC whenever Pinscape receives the IR code. This lets you
use a remote control to send key presses to the PC.
- Description: You can fill this in with the name of the remote
control button programmed into the slot ("Vizio TV ON", say).
This is purely optional. It's just a memory jogger to help you
keep track of what's programmed where, since the "IR Code" field
is pretty cryptic by itself.
IR Code Numbers
Each IR Code is a magic number that tells the Pinscape firmware how
to read and send a particular remote control code. It's "magic" in
that it's really only meaningful within the Pinscape software. The
number encodes the type of infrared signal protocol the remote uses
(these vary by manufacturer, and there are many) and the data bits
contained in the IR signal.
The best way to determine a code is to use the "learn" function,
which lets Pinscape determine the code for a particular remote button
by reading the signal that your remote sends when you press the
button. You can also simply type in a code if you happen to know the
number, such as by getting a code from another Pinscape user.
But you can't generally use code numbers you might see published in
third-party IR code tables on the Internet, since every table uses its
own numbering system that probably doesn't match the Pincsape format.
Things Pinscape can do with IR
You can use the IR capabilities in several ways:
- Turn on your cabinet TV(s) when the system starts up
- Send key presses to the PC on receiving an IR command
- Transmit IR commands when you push a cabinet button
These are all described in more detail below.
TV ON with IR
The IR transmitter can be used to turn on your cabinet TVs when
the system starts up. This is a less invasive alternative to the
hard-wired TV ON feature (where you have to open the TV's case
and solder wires to your TV's "on" switch). With IR, you don't
have to do any surgery on the TV.
If you haven't already configured the basic TV ON settings, you'll
have to set that up first. Go to the TV ON section in the
settings, enable it, set the delay timer, and set up the input pins.
If you're not using the Pinscape expansion boards, you'll need to
build some external circuitry, which is explained in the Build
Guide. The "Power status input" and "Status latch output" parts
are required. The "Relay output" isn't required if you're only
using IR (but it's also okay to use both IR and the relay; they're
happy to work together or separately).
Next, set up the Pinscape IR transmitter LED and position it so
that your TV can see the commands it emits. See the Build Guide
for instructions on wiring the IR LED. Position the LED so that
it's near to and pointing at the remote control sensor window on
the TV.
All that remains is to program the TV's "ON" command into a slot in
the IR code list. Get out your TV's remote, and program the ON button
into a slot as described above. Click the TV ON icon
(

)
to include the command in the power-up sequence. Pinscape will
now transmit this command through its IR transmitter when the
power comes on, after the delay timer finishes.
Send a key press on receiving an IR command
You can program the Pinscape unit to send a key press to the PC on
receiving an IR command.
For example, suppose you want to be able to adjust the audio volume
on your PC, but you don't have any spare buttons on your cabinet.
And suppose you have an old remote control lying around for something
you're no longer using, and it has some kind of Up and Down keys.
You can program Pinscape so that it sends a keyboard "Volume Up" key
to the PC when you press the Up button on the remote, and a keyboard
"Volume Down" when you press Down on the remote.
To use this feature, you'll need to set up the Pinscape IR sensor,
and position it so that it can see IR light from your remote. This
means positioning the sensor outside the cabinet, or through a hole
in the cabinet. You can't place it entirely inside the cabinet, since
IR light from the remote won't penetrate the cabinet walls.
Now go to the IR Command List in the settings. Program in the
remote control button codes, as described above, for the buttons
that you want to turn into keystrokes. For each one, click the
"Key" icon (

)
to select the key to send. Once that's all set up, Pinscape will
"press" the programmed key whenever it receives the corresponding
IR command.
Send an IR command when you press a cabinet button
You can program Pinscape to transmit an IR command whenever
you press a cabinet button.
For example, suppose that you want to be able to adjust your TV's
volume via cabinet buttons. To do this, you can configure buttons
on your cabinet to send Volume Up and Volume Down commands
to the TV via IR.
To make this work, you need to set up the Pinscape IR transmitter LED,
as explained in the Build Guide, and position the LED so that the
TV's remote control sensor can see it. This is the same arrangement
needed for the TV ON feature via IR, so you probably already
set that up.
Now you just need to assign an IR command to each button that you want
to use to send IR signals to the TV. The first step is to program the
IR command codes that you want to send. Program the desired commands
into slots in the IR command list as described above.
Once you have the IR commands programmed, go to the Buttons section in
the settings. Find the row for the button that you want to use to send
an IR command, and click the IR Command icon in the row
(

). Select
the desired IR command from the menu.