EDIT:
Ok, to update a little bit:
I will instead of that below make a simple device that makes it possible to control your USB equipped Amiga using any common IR based remote control, just as the EZ-Link/InfraRexx thing did for the Classic, only a whole lot better/faster/more accurate.

How would that sound?!
Rough estimated price for a complete product with software: ¤15-25

---------------------------
Few of you may remember my wierd little hardware project ParIR I released a few month ago. I just uploaded a few snapshots of the hardware. (The images ended up in the reverse order, bottom is first.)

This thing consists of two devices and is able to transfer music over an ethernet cable, and IR signals back through the same cable to the computer to control the music - all at the same time as the cable is used independantly for real 10/100 ethernet.

Now I'm planning a great update to this device duo with the following features:
* USB interface (compared to parallel in ParIR)
* An LCD 20x4 chars with blue backlight display unit in the remote device used for displaying the current MP3 song playing
* Better sound quality
* Much more interference tolerant IR communication
* Much smaller device on the computer side, but slightly larger at the other side due to the nice display

Due to the USB interface it can be used on any computer with USB, such as AmigaOne, Amiga Classis, Sam, Pegasos, or even PC if someone wrote/ported the software.

The display can be used for anything, not just the current MP3 although that is what I will implement. It could display current computer status for a monitor less machine far away, or time left of a torrent or anything...

Would anyone be interested in this thing if I produced it?
I'm estimating about ¤70 (+p&p) for everything built and ready for a run of atleast 10 (ten) units.

Last edited by Deniil715 on 02-Dec-2008 at 08:15 AM.

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@Deniil715

I would have been interested in this device if my house had another layout of the room placement. As it is now I don't have a direct TP-cable from the computer room to the room with the receiver and it would be too much work to do it... But it sounds great!

Keep up the crazy work!

Um, Im not sure which electronics magazine it was recently, Elektor maybe? that had an article in comparing the use of the normal line display LCD as your saying, and that of the latest OLED displays. Has the circuit diagram, and says its.. SDI Interface?.. the ones you get on PICs for a port.

Then again, it did say 30mm by 55mm for 25E or so, so it looks still too small and too expensive?

Sorry bout that 8(.. Just something to keep your eyes on, the technology is finally getting useable.

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@Menthos

Do you have a normal audio cable? That could also be used for the audio and IR+display data

Perhaps I should make a simplified version based on just an unbalanced audio cable, or an ethernet cable with exclusive access to all wire pairs.

@RodTerl

The display I'm aiming at is an ATM2004D with a parallel interface and HD44780 controller. It's ¤20 and is 76x25mm.

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@Deniil715

No cables directly from computer room to receiver/TV room (all music and movies travel by disc I'm sorry to say)...

Ok, pretty cool interest... almost a little chilly

But what about a simple IR remote control device for USB then?? No ethernet cables or audio or any of that.

Perhaps just a general purpose display unit with driver and software that could be used in a number of applications? It could be used to tell you if you have an e-mail or instant message waiting for you, or as I proposed, what song is currently playing..?

I know many of you have your computers running 24/7 and there has to be some reason they are doing that. My reason is to always be online if someone wants to leave me a message, and to be able to instantly start the music player when I get home (of course without waking up the slow monitor and start waving around with the mouse).

Last edited by Deniil715 on 27-Nov-2008 at 12:17 PM.

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- Don't get fooled by my avatar, I'm not like that (anymore, mostly... maybe only sometimes)
> Amiga Classic and OS4 developer for OnyxSoft.

@Deniil715
Quote:

But what about a simple IR remote control device for USB then?? No ethernet cables or audio or any of that.

I'd at least be interrested in a simple USB based IR receiver. I had an old IR receiver that used an Amiga gameport and could be trained to use almost any remote control. I'll be gone for a few days so I can't respond or comment any further right now.

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@Xenic

Yeah, the InfraRexx project. That was a pretty cool bit of kit - in fact, I'm still using the receiving end of that and its software for the MP3 player I'm working on at the moment. A USB version might be nice, along with a driver with a simple ARexx interface would be great for the A1 - could put it to good use on my setup anyway!

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Ok, so I'll make a little IR receiver and possibly transmitter for USB then

It is/will of course be able to learn codes and it will even recognize a few brands and their coding schemes. (Note that I already have all this working on my A1 now, but on the parallel port, so it's not a far fetched dream )

The USB-IR will of course be much cheaper than the ¤70 that I estimated for the preview two units with display and stuff. Also note that this device is (ParIR) and will be (USB-IR) MUCH MUCH more responsive and accurate than that EZ device plugged to the gameport of a Classic ever was!!

What's the interest in the transmitter* part that the EZ thing had? I never used it.
*For the uninitialized: This made it possible for the computer to control the device the remote control used to control, i.e. change volume of your stereo or switch on the TV and start the VCR/HD recorder or anything, by sending out the IR signals learned from the remote control.

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@Deniil715

I would also be interested in it. I hope I am correct in my reading of the
post and that the 70 euros is for both hardware and software (that is,
it is not a do it yourself assembly project)?

Ned

@Deniil715

One for me to please !

Martin

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@Ned

¤70* is for the two devices, USB with audio transmitter over TP, and the IR receiver with LCDisplay - completely build in small cases and ready to be plugged in and used with the supplied software.

I did overlook two important harware pieced though: The actual cases, and the power supply for the IR-receier&display part. This probably adds ¤15* or something, but I'll know for certain when I have my own final version built.

However, since noone (else) seemed interested in this kind of device I decided to make just a simple IR-receiver for USB also. This will probably be just ¤15-20* or something. The USB chip and making the PCB are the expensive parts where price cannot be pushed much lower unless I place a HUGE order.

* Note: All prices are very rough estimates. May be higher, may be lower. I'll know when I have my complete version finished.

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- Don't get fooled by my avatar, I'm not like that (anymore, mostly... maybe only sometimes)
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@Deniil715

I'd be definitely up for a receiver only... Yeah, the InfraRexx (and the Eyetech clone, EZ-IR or something) were a little laggy and unresponsive on my machine, but that didn't matter because it had the very same responsiveness on a bog standard A600HD! It was great for controlling stuff via the A600 which I built some relay controller hardware and wrote some software for...

Never once used the transmitter side of it, and since built my own receiver-only for the joystick port of classic Amigas.

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@Deniil715

Looks interesting.
How long before you think you will have completed your own test version?
Cheers

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@Daedalus

Cool :)
EZ-Link was it I think.
Ok, no transmitter then. I tried that with the EZ-Link but it worked very badly...

@TiredofLife

A prototype in January/Frebruary perhaps unless I get held up with other stuff, which I often tend to be.

Full version - no idea.
The greatest problem is the PCB. There is no PCB program on the Amiga that I know of that can generate an industy standard format, such as Gerber. AmiPCB looks good but I would have to make a converter from its custom format (which i got documentation for) into Gerber and that won't be easy since I have nothing to test the Gerber files on.

I used to make my PCBs in PPaint which works excellent when I etch my own cards but I intend not to do that this time. It's not like any manufacturing plant would accept an IFF picture

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- Don't get fooled by my avatar, I'm not like that (anymore, mostly... maybe only sometimes)
> Amiga Classic and OS4 developer for OnyxSoft.

@Deniil715

Yeah, AmiCAD and AmiPCB have been two of the most important packages for me in the past 10 years. Yeah, the formats aren't standard, but I've used the export to graphics format at a high resolution and then converted it. Pain in the rear but it works :)

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Bumped with new title... Please re-read the beginning of the first post!

@Daedalus

But it only works for stuff I make myself, not for sending away to a PCB manufacturer.

Last edited by Deniil715 on 02-Dec-2008 at 09:23 AM.

_________________
- Don't get fooled by my avatar, I'm not like that (anymore, mostly... maybe only sometimes)
> Amiga Classic and OS4 developer for OnyxSoft.

@Deniil715

How much for a wireless version of this IR-thingy then?

@Menthos

Wireless? It is already wireless - IR, as in Infra Red

But I get what you mean. You like it as bluetooth or something... That would be cool, but probably have to wait until v2.0

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- Don't get fooled by my avatar, I'm not like that (anymore, mostly... maybe only sometimes)
> Amiga Classic and OS4 developer for OnyxSoft.

@Deniil715

port gerbv?

gerber rs274x is really easy to parse and generate, so shouldn't be very difficult to get an export to that format right

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Using "voltage" instead of "potential", which leads to inventing new words like "amperage" instead of "current" (I, measured in A) or possible "charge" (amperehours, Ah or Coulomb, C). Sometimes I don't even know what people mean.