IR (Almost) Universal Signal Repeater

[oPossum]

Each 2N4401 needs it's own 220 ohm resistor to allow current sharing amongst all of them. With a single 220 ohm resistor one of the 2N4401 would likely be dominant and the others would be starved of base current. There is less than 1/10 watt dissipated in the 220 ohm resistor, so it doesn't have to be any larger than 1/8 watt.

If the range is inadequate, try replacing one or both emitter LEDs with TSAL6100. They are narrow angle, so the range will be extended due to the more focused beam. (More of a spot light rather than flood light).

If you want to make the whole device smaller, then use a single RCR123A or CR123A battery instead of 3 x AA.

Adding more transistors and LEDs to the circuit would probably not be very effective due to the limited current available from T1.

[oPossum]

If you really want more power...






Eagle files

[Snipeye]

... Wow. That's impressive. Unfortunately, it certainly wouldn't fit on a single AA sized PCB with 1 sided traces, but still awesome.

Thank you so much for all the time and dedication you've put into the project, I really owe you one. (or two, or three, or seventy quadrillion)

I'm discussing with the editor-in-chief of MAKE magazine to see what I can do to improve my documentation, and then hopefully resubmitting it to make - I tried hack a day, didn't end up there, either.

[FlyinPhil]

Has anyone built "snipeye's" IR Repeater Device? If so, I have a few questions I hope you can answer:

1. How close does my IR Remote Control need to be placed from the Device in order for the signal to be received properly?

2. Can the circuit board be fabricated using a breadboard, with the traces wired rather than etched?

3. What is the overall size of the board that you fabricated?

If the answers to these three questions are satisfactory, then I will attempt to build this Device as it would help me out greatly in my own project. I am trying to remotely operate a helmet cam with it's IR sensor NOT in a direct line of sight to where my remote will be pointing. Looking forward to hearing back from anyone who has experience from "Snipeye's" impressive device....

Thank You in advance !!!

Phil

[stinkbutt]

You might want to start here:

http://store.tinkerlog.com/store/index. ... ducts_id=4

Sure, it's a visible LED instead of an IR, but I'm fairly sure you can replace it without too much trouble. You might want to stick an IR-transmissive window over the photoresistor, or find another photoresistor that's more sensitive to IR, or use a phototransistor, but this is pretty much a prototype for what I think you're asking for. I imagine you'll need to dicker with the code a bit as well, to get resolution as fine as you'll need, but at least it's a start.

Or you could just skip to the end and get this:

http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/USB_Infrared_Toy

[EDIT]
Oh Jeez, this thread's a million years old. I'm answering a question from like 2009 or something.
[/EDIT]

[FlyinPhil]

Yeah "stinkbutt", it is an old topic, but I am happy and appreciate that you took the time to answer my questions....

I read thru your ideas and checked-out the links you shared. I like the USB Infrared Toy, though I am assuming that it MUST be used with a computer, which I will not have. On the other hand, if the USB port is really only for power, perhaps all I would need is a power source...Any comments on this ???

The first link you shared, about the Programmable LED Kit, what do you think the range of the IR Sensor is ? In other words, how close would my remote have to be to have it transmitted thru the circuit ??? And I am assuming I could use shielded wire and remote mount the IR Emitting LED, correct ???

Thanks again for your input, and I hope you find the time to answer my questions once again in this "Age Old Thread"

[stinkbutt]

I don't see any reason why the toy couldn't be programmed to immediately repeat any signal it recieves. The toy, at least, appears to be built for very nearly that exact purpose. Now, it's true that it's designed to work with a computer, but it can probably be repurposed to just reproduce the signal it'd just recieved with a little reprogramming.

As for the LED repeater, it's already programmed to do precisely that. Only much slower than you'd need. So there you'd probably just need to turn up the clock. As for range, banned, I don't know. Your range is a product of a dozen different factors: photoresistor vs. phototransistor, window material, window size, etc. etc. etc... Test it and find out. I mean, between both products you're spending a whopping $30. If you're attempting to build a product, then it's $30 of extremely valuable research. If you're just screwing around, you may very well learn a few things.

One caveat: This is an AVR board. I'm not saying there aren't people here who don't know their banned with PICs, but 90% of the discussions you're going to see about programming a micro are going to be spoken in AVR. I, for one, don't speak PIC at all. That might be a strike against the toy.