Simple idea/circuit to control REC / STOP for home VCR noX10

[Andre]

I know X10 has the VCR Commander. As a last resort I might use it. I have two and they've worked for me.

I also discovered that M$oft has some sort of coding that they specify operations for REC, STOP, and all imaginal VCR operations. I think this
is ONLY for hardware that is PC compatible boards.

So what did I find that I like?
Radio Shack had , no longer, a VCR controller that would run with a timer
and turn on or off the REC with the time. It cycled through many / all
VCR codes that it has to try to activate your particular VCR. I never found
out of 10 VCRs one that it did not worth with.

1. It only works with time on the clock of the device
2. I have only 2 and can't get them so Im not anxious to hack/ break it.
3. I have an equivilant 'good' idea that might work - called : HAPPY DAY


HAPPY DAY:
This means I thought of brute force. I'd love it if someone out there would
try it. I think everything can be done for nearly $0.00.

1. We're going to be working with 'square waves' so don't worry about the analog aspect of what seems like analog.

Take 1/2 of the phototransistor from a working mouse. Use it as the
input to a sound card. Take the other 1/2 and use that as the 'speaker' or the output from a sound card.

Observe the proper resistor values so that your diodes are not under /over driven. If you have a digital camera it can see the IR signal from the
IR diode.

Record the pulses from the receiver diode by pulling the signal off the
mouse's sensor side by inputting to the input of the sound card. It will be
0 - 5 volts (within the range of the sound card) and it's square waves so
overloading is not a problem. Limit the current to about 0.10ma with a
10K ohm resistor (right?) .

Then playback the recording to the emitting IR diode. The output amplifier
of the soundcard will certainly drive 5-20ma through about 500 ohm (pick
the right number) resistor into the IR diode.

This IR diode should then send the correct code either REC or STOP
depending on which 'song' you select.

I hacked this out.

I'm depending on someone out there to say, "Hmm cool, let's do it"

Please : ) let's get something working that everyone can carry in their
pocket and 'run' VCR's from where ever they are. : ) hehe. J/K .. I'm an
adult and need this for a bunch of projects like home security.

If you need the entire repertoire of my RShack multi unit I'd be glad to
record the output for the REC and STOP since it plays about 80 of them
over a 1 - 2 minute span so that it is likely to hit on YOUR VCR and cause
it to operate the right operation.

Thanks for listening.

Andre
Iit