Infrared remote control clone utility

IR Clone is an open-source IR remote control analyzer tool. This utility can analyze any IR remote control that modulates the IR signal with a 38kHz carrier signal. This utility has an option to store and retrieve up to 16 IR signals. In addition, it has PC software to analyze and edit captured IR signals.

The hardware component of this analyzer is built around the STM8S003F3 MCU. It has 24LC32 EEPROM installed to store the captured IR signals. This unit is designed to operate with a 5V to 9V DC power source or a 3V battery.

Finished prototype of the IR Clone module

Operating modes such as capture or replay can be changed using an onboard jumper on the PCB. These operating modes can change at any time without restarting the unit.

In addition to the IR clone PCB, the only external component needed to operate this system is a 4×4 matrix keypad. Most of the generally available 4×4 keypads can directly couple with this system.

The dimensions of the IR Clone PCB are 41.2mm × 32.1mm, and it has been designed using both SMD and through-hole type components. In this given design, the TSOP1838 IR decoder has been used to capture the incoming signals. The output stage of this system consists of LD271, KCL5587S, or equivalent 880nm to 950nm (IR) LED. The 38kHz modulation signal required by the output stage is generated using built-in timers of the STM8S003 MCU.

Modulation process of the IR Clone utility.

Captured waveforms stored in the EEPROM can be decoded directly using the IR Clone software provided in the repository. Using this application, the user can visualize and edit the captured signals. Both IR clone software and hardware supports up to 16 channels.

To transfer the EEPROM data to the PC, use any 24LC family compatible EEPROM reader or programmer. In our presentations, we used an inexpensive CH341A based programmer to read and write the 24LC32 EEPROM.

In addition to the IR Clone software, the repository also contains a sample Python script that exhibits decoding of EEPROM data.

IR Clone is an open-source project. All the documentation, schematics, PCB design files, firmware source codes, and application source codes are available at the project repository at GitHub.com.

Comments

CD2003 - yet another simple FM radio receiver

In the last few days, we are looking for some simple FM radio receiver to integrate into one of our ongoing projects. For that, we try several FM radio receiver ICs including TDA7000, CD2003/TA2003/TA8164, CXA1019, and KA22429. Out of all those chips we select CD2003 (or TA2003/TA8164) based receiver for our project because of its simplicity and outstanding performance. Except to CD2003, Sony CXA1019 also perform well but we drop it because of its higher component count. We design our receiver based on Toshiba TA2003 datasheet and later we try TA8164 and CD2003 with the same circuit. Either CD2003 or TA8164 can directly replace TA2003 IC, and as per our observations, TA8164 gives excellent results out of those 3 chips. A prototype version of CD2003 FM radio receiver The PCB design and schematic which we used in our prototype project are available to download at google drive (including pin-outs of crystal filters and inductors ). Except for CD2003 IC, this receiver consist...

Arduino superheterodyne receiver

In this project, we extend the shortwave superheterodyne receiver we developed a few years ago . Like the previous design, this receiver operates on the traditional superheterodyne principle. In this upgrade, we enhanced the local oscillator with Si5351 clock generator module and Arduino control circuit. Compared to the old design, this new receiver uses an improved version of an intermediate frequency amplifier with 3 I.F transformers. In this new design, we divide this receiver into several blocks, which include, mixer with a detector, a local oscillator, and an I.F amplifier. The I.F amplifier builds into one PCB. The filter stage, mixer, and detector stages place in another PCB. Prototype version of 455kHz I.F amplifier. In this prototype build, the Si5351 clock generator drives using an Arduino Uno board. With the given sketch, the user can tune and switch the shortwave meter bands using a rotary encoder. The supplied sketch support clock generation from 5205kHz (tuner f...

Calculator for audio output transformers

Audio output transformers are heavily used in a vacuum tube and some (older) transistor base audio power amplifiers, but these days output transformer are quite hard to find and expensive item. For homebrew projects, the best option is to construct those transformers by ourselves and this script helps to calculate winding parameters for those transformers. This " AF output transformer calculator " script is written using Python and it works with most of the commonly available Python interpreters . The script is available to download at google drive under the terms of GNU General Public License version 3.0 . Homebrewed 25k: 4 output transformer Once supplied the input parameters this script provides a winding ratio, the number of turns required for primary and secondary winding and required copper wire gauges for both primary and secondary windings, etc. We construct several AF output transformers based on results of this script, which including transformers for M...