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Ahh tears of laughter...the pain, so very familiar, so bittersweet. I feel for you Andreas, and I'm delighted your trouble has led to making this video as I'm in the throes of doing something very similar, on purpose even! I felt a thrill of excitement when I read the notification title.

What! did I see you closing the door by hand? Back to the basement.... Otherwise a great video

Your pointer stick needs a tiny white glove.

I can very much relate to the wife/husband relations described in this video... :) But Andreas: giving a VIP user a device without having tested all(!) functions and then not even doing on-site production support for a few hours is really a beginners error! ;)

I don't have a TV or a wife, but the ideas & techniques are super useful for sorting out IR issues. Thanks for sharing!

I was half-expecting you to put a retro-reflector strip on your coffee-table and the Babelfish near the TV, pointing back at the reflector (and user).

Great solution. why not think this further? 1) You could move the sending/receiving diodes to a separate box, which is much smaller. this could be hidden below one of the devices, without the white box to be hidden. 2) you could create a website controlling the sending codes, which you could make available via mobile app (don't forget about security) and/or make it available via an app. This would allow you a much broader controlling system, which is also dimming light, switching input channels and so on. just as some ideas.. but at the end it is all about WAF (Woman Acceptance Factor)

You are a great, loving husband

Next is to automate the opening and closing the front panel and timing of turning on and off each device when the power button is pressed.

Instead of using the optical cable to go to your Yamaha, try using one of the newer HDMI cables. The newer standard which is probably supported by both your Yamaha and Sony TV has bi-directional support on the HDMI cable. Turning up the volume on the TV will actually inform the Yamaha to turn the volume up. I have a similar Sony TV and a similar amplifier although mine is Onkyo and the HDMI has some very extremely handy two way communication built into that cable and protocol. In fact even switching inputs on your amplifier will automatically trigger the TV to come on and they communicate about their volume and understand that the Yamaha should be the audio amplifier. I think if you take some time and try out the latest HDMI cable you will find magic happens. There is a feature called HDMI CEC which provides two-way communication thereby only needing a single cable between your amplifier and television. The optical cable is no longer necessary and in fact lacks features the HDMI cable will give you. Certainly the Sony television supports HDMI CEC specifically to fix the situation which your video describes. The Yamaha amplifier most likely supports HDMI CEC and the bidirectional communication as well although it may not be turned on by default on the amplifier, you may need to find the Yamaha amplifier settings and enable automatic CEC. A final warning however, you must have a new or relatively new HDMI cable in order to support this two-way communication, the connector looks the same but I suspect additional wires or connections on the newer cabling makes a difference.

A Logitech harmony would be too easy right? Sure that your box not controlled the TV via CEC?

Andreas - I see your non-gloved hands at 3:47! (But in all seriousness I don't understand why people "shamed" you into wearing gloves!!!!)

Hello Andreas, great video! Did you really connect the 3W IR LED without any resistors? I could not find a datasheet... And can I connect the GATE of the MOSFET directly to the Arduino output? Referring to position 07:03.

Next: use an esp so you can add webpage for smartphone control. Also add sonoff to switch all devices really off (my old denon consumes a lot in standby) and of course automated panel to hide the TV ^^. Excellent video as always!!!

Happy wife, happy life :)!

Hey, I made the same few years ago ;) Since I only use HDMI1 to HDMI4 on my Samsung TV but the remote has no convenient way to switch inputs, I made an IR transceiver that switches to HDMI1 when I press "1" on my remote, HDMI2 on "2" etc... I used a ProMini and powered it with an 18650. It runs for more than a year. You can use the pin change interrupt to wake the arduino when a signal is received. The IR receiver itself draws almost no current. However, the IR library has to be patched, because the timing of the first pulse will be reduced by the arduino taking time to wake up.

A braver man than me could point you towards remotecontrolofwife.com Brilliant, loved the humour and the insight into life at Spiess Manor - although my theory that Frau Spiess is ficticious remains!. Just going on first hand experience (Julie does not agree). More power to your creative spirit, my friend :)

Ultimate aim in every man's life.. A happy wife.. Irrespective of country, culture or race.. One humanity..

Vielen Dank fuer deine tollen Videos! This video was very clear yet I am a little stuck with trying to build something like this for my usecase. I have built a tripple pendulum for an artist a few years ago. Now I want to repurpose this project and add two IR receivers on the lower most pendulum arms and four emitters on the base of the pendulum. I want user to swing, the program detect and specify when the receiver "detects" so that I can play a different sound and can differentiate between IR led1, IR led2, IR led3.. First though was to program different short bursts for led1, led2, led3, led4. Then there is the issue of delay, etc. I could maybe use IR remote lib and change code for "Sender" like the below and have for each a different sCommand = something. // led1 uint16_t sAddress = 0x0102; uint8_t sCommand = 0x34; uint8_t sRepeats = 0; // led2 uint16_t sAddress = 0x0102; uint8_t sCommand = 0x35; uint8_t sRepeats = 0; ... Maybe with the 0x102 (too much delay for my project). What do you think?

Dear Andreas, we have same kind of remote from UPC and I'm pretty sure u can just change it communication mode for different TV brand. Unfortunately those steps are described in Czech so I'll do my best to translate it. 1. Turn on your sep-top-box 2. Aim remote to STB and simultaneously press and hold volume up and signal source (top-middle button). After 5 Seconds TV power button should indicate red. Release those button 3. Now using numbers enter code based on brand LG 1628 Panasonic 2153 Philips 2195 Samsung 2448 Sharp 2550 Sony 2679 Toshiba 3021 TCL 2856 Thomson 2972 4. Now you should be able to turn off tv using TV power button on remote. If not, according to manual you should try step 2 again. 5. Press REC button to save configuration Source: www.upc.cz/pdf/pece-o-zakazniky/navody/digitalni-televize/HD_DVR_Mediabox_prirucka_pro_samoinstalaci.pdf page 5 Hope this will be somehow useful. Cheers

Just yesterday I was working on an Arduino clone for a ceiling fan remote control. Didn't use any libraries, the signal was simple enough to figure out. My signal came out identical to the original, but still didn't work. Only after a lot of debugging I realized that the fan remote was sending an *even* number of repeating commands, while my setup was sending three (I thought I was playing it safe, repeating the command three times!). Two worked, but one or three didn't. To be honest it's probably a matter of noise-reducing comparison of packets by the receiver, but who knows what goes on inside there.

Die Idee dahinter ist genial weil es so einfach ist! Klasse Video, vielen Dank für die Infos und Ideen 😸

I would like to have seen more of the powerful IR emitter. I’ve been trying for years to build a powerful IR emitter without luck. Where did you get a 3watt Ir

What a glorious error! It brought you a few hours in your most favorite maker room in your house and me a lot of fun watching your video! Thanks a lot.

Bloody brilliant! The lesson for me is simple, if integration of analog and rich vacuum tube stereo equipment is desired with digital equipment, contact Andreas! It would be cheaper and more less stressful than buying all the bits and pieces along with the 3D Printer, diodes, more arduino boards (I've only been fooling around with the traditional arduino boards not the newer versions) and test gear, let alone programming that I would never have figured out. Though I am tempted to do so everytime you have a mailbag video... Well done Sir. At least, now we know, you will be a happy man with a happy wife that will not shut down your RU-vid channel. Bye!!!! :-)

I used an Arduino Uno with a Vishay TSOP4838 IR receiver to capture raw IR codes using the IRLib2 library, for a Vizio TV. The problem is for every press of the same button (example: Volume up), I get different set of IR codes. And the funny part is I took all of those codes and embedded them in my Android app, and they all work. I was expected the same set of IR codes for a certain button every time I pressed it. Do you know why this happens? Thanks.

Why dont you replace with esp8266 and add it to the home automation?

Hah, a Yamaha receiver. I also have my 25 year old Kenwood component system hooked up to my entertainment center. And getting some strange looks from the younger crowd who can't seem to comprehend the notion of a dedicated amp instead of just hooking up active speakers. ;) [EDIT] Oh, but never EVER throw out the remote for a device that still works. That's just wrong! Don't you have drawers? ;)

Haha nice Video. Idea: Creating own remote using the Arduino Pro mini (3.3v) or ESP32 with deep sleep. It should have dedicated buttons to control the volumes. Advantages: Own design, no need for an external device. Disadvantages: Time consuming to build.

Does your wife ever comment that nothing in the house will work if you die? I have a boat-load of home automation and that is a comment I've heard from time to time. ;-) BTW, it would not be as cool but the Harmony remote would have also solved your problem. It would also make finding the codes easier because you program it from your computer with the model numbers of the devices. Apparently Harmony has the codes for just about every IR device on the planet in their DB. Great Maker solution though - thanks!

Andreas, you should try Broadlink Universal Remote Control. Of course, if you can pursuade you wife. But I think she would be wonder asking Alexa to do all the tasks. Good luck!

Here in the US the phrase "You're the man" means you did a great job so, You're the man. This video helped me as I have an IR issue as well. In my lab, I have two sets of LED lights from different Chinfacturers. In the am I have them both doing white color and highest brightness, in the evening I switch to red at the lowest setting. Turning them on/off also requires two remotes. This means 2 remotes and if I the sequence out of order one set of light goes into blinking and changing colors which are annoying. So I'm going to build a simple box with ON, Off, Day, and Night buttons. Thank you for the Arduino libraries and web link these will be very helpfull. Keep broadcasting!!

Hello, you linked 850 nm LEDs but should't RC LEDs be 940 nm ones? Thank you.

ESP32 WiFi IR sender box for all your "hard to interface" home automation..

HDMI ARC is your solution. TOSLINK( and your retriever) sucks.

This is a great idea! I wonder if smart phone IR will ever become more popular. Samsung s5 had IR.

Thanks for the great guide. I wish I had seen it earlier as it would have made figuring out my similar solution on an esp8266 easier. I recently managed using a similar sketch that uses "spare" buttons on the TV remote for controlling other devices. I mapped the the green, red, yellow, blue buttons to do useful tasks on the home theatre setup. The red button switches between stereo and surround on the receiver with alternate presses. The green button turns on and off the the subwoofer, the yellow button turns on and off a lamp. Another advantage with this kind of setup is that the AV receiver can be hidden in a cabinet and only the IR receiver photodiode needs to be visible. There are advantages to retaining the TV remote as the base remote including voice search, mouse functionality etc.

Nice to read about this solution. I had a similar Problem after changing a LG TV to a Hisense TV. Surprisingly the IR Codes are partially the same. But of course not the ones I needed. I wanted to switch the input channels by Alexa. So I sended the code for 'input' and got a list of avalable input channels and pressed 'left' or 'right' button via remote code. But the new hisense had a different button for that operation. the code for that was not documented. So i tired to send all possible 65000 codes and looked what happend on the tv. By that i discovered that the new tv had a particular code to switch dircectly to the required input channel. Of course one was missing since my tv was set to that particular input channel. But I found a source code to decode this remote protocol and due to the protocol format there were finally only 256 options to send a valid code. the missing one was quickly found and it works fine now. And i could find some additional features of the tv which are not accessible by menu or remote.

Can an attiny85 be used with same babble fish code?

It is worth noting that there is such thing as "discrete IR commands" - they either turn TV off or on, or set particular HDMI input. Very useful for automation project when Arduino doesn't know which state TV is in.

Can someone post the schematic please (what kind of resistor?, on Andreas' breadboard was also a capacitor?) How to find the Anode on the IR LED? Thanks

But for at most $50 US, you could buy a universal remote, and just program it for your setup.. lol. As you have said, the codes are fairly standardized across a brand. The universal remote usually comes with a list (or a link to a list) where you look up your brand and model, and it gives you a code to punch into the remote. Sometimes you have to try a few different codes, but it works well for common brands like Yamaha and Samsung.

wow. really great video! I think every manager of companies which produce TVs/receivers etc. should watch this and make a system which interconnects everything that this kind of problem can be avoided.

Not bad, you pretty much made an IR Blaster with it all in one box. My last custom build I followed the typical layout by having IR Buds going to every device. One of these days I need to slap together a Nano to use for programming URC remotes and use to make backups of the Remote codes since 80% of my clients attend to loose or trash the OEM remotes that come with their equipment. Not fun guessing codes from the URC database or hunting them down on Remote Central. This way I can save it to a SD card and tape it to the bottom of the Media Rack hidden so the client doesn't loose it, trash it or delete it.

Don't be tricked into buying a Logitech Harmony Hub and its companion remote. The hardware is fine, excellent even, but Logitech ruins it with horrible proprietary software that cripples the product, preventing it from doing much other than very basic tasks with strict, cookie-cutter steps that you can't change. It doesn't do basic tasks very well either: you might get it to turn on the monitor and amplifier, but it might forget the monitor. Not because of an occluded IR signal - sometimes it never attempts to send the codes. Random glitchy software is what happens whenever you let accountants hire your software engineers.

Just a bit surprised that you don't support Logitech and their Harmony remote. I just swithed from a Samsung to LG and changing the basic functions including ditching the satelite set top box was a snap. Requires a bit more work to adjust the Smart functions but that is possuble too. Also have a happy wife once the bugs were ironed out!

tx for your life experience and wisdom. I will make something similar but then as a IR proxy where I can send commands with the remote or with ethernet (smartphone wifi, home-assistant, ...) and this will "translate" it to the setopbox and/or tv.

I would like to make a universal interface between A) a uniquely tailored physical interface controller for a wheelchair B) a GUI mouse and keyboard interface for school, library and home computer. You have opened the doorway to show how such a universal interface would be inclusive of all remote controlled domestic equipment and with similar creative interests to yourself, an industry-wide adoption of 2D barcode IDs of the respective remote codes utilised by each for immediate recognition by the population of Disabled wheelchair users! By working with a unified intention we can all achieve an improved quality of life for people who use wheelchairs for their mobility and who would benefit most from being able to add any equipment to their list of controlled items independently?

Did you use the 120 degree IR led? (vs. the 60 degree one) I'd imagine you'd want the widest pattern possible.

Now let's try to built an "Somebody Else's Problem Field". (for example, it could be used to sit on the sofa with a beer without the wife noticing it)

Hello, Andreas. Do you have a link for the logic analyzer (affiliate maybe)? I would like to buy one and it would be helpful if you could point out the one you bought so I know that it is a tested product. Thank you.

The most glorious and important inventions of the mankind were started by wifes complaining about (every)things.

Marriage, ha ha. Different priorities, interests, and perspectives naturally result in people having disagreements. You take this as an opportunity to have creative fun and solve a problem, which results in a better final solution for both of you. Your spouse may not understand the "how" but she understands "why" you did this... because you care about her. Kudos to you!

Great video! I'm thinking of a translator gizmo but I hadn't thought of calling it a Babel Fish. I love it.

Just curious: About 7:56 you refered to some other logic analyzer software and said it would have been illegal. What software and why?

have identical yamaha except the fact that remote is silver. so if you need codes I could theoreticaly read them for you. my settop box is hooked up via spdif, so both remotes control volume. still annoying though, because only receiver should ever really do that. Otherwise you run into setuations were sound system skreams when it should not, had the output volume from settop box be slightly lower than 100%

put a mic in there to auto turn down the volume if it is loud maybe?

You CAN program this Horizon remote for use with other brand TVs. Just not for the amplifier.

Our stupid Samsung tv remote uses Bluetooth it may be easier or more flexible to hack but it eats batteries I need to recharge the AAA batteries every 2-3 months what's wrong with you Samsung. IR uses much less power. The remote has a mic for the worst voice assistant in the universe. When I say something to the tv It always says on the screen then push the volume button what volume up or down I tried all the buttons. So at least you are lucky.

I thought Sony and Samsung used different carrier frequencies, isn't it something like 38khz and 45khz? How does one module decode both?

would this be easy with an esp8266 or 32? I just want to turn my tv on with my domoticz home automation (so would want to send a signal via wifi that the tv can turn on... )

I wonder why you did not tried to mask all the other IR receivers but the one you want to drive, and port them pushing the input with a sticked output ir on them which would mask it from other signals ? Thus you will have a perfect solution without possible further interferences (new ir remote for a new toy for example), because you are sure the right signal would go to the right place at correct speed and lenght. And also, your device can be powered as much as you need with a hidden dedicated power supply. You can also solve the power on /off signal, as you can send it to all the dedicated ir outpout at once with the correct values and drive for only the functions you need. What you need to do is just identify the IR receiver aera of all your devices, stick an IR transmitter on it and mask the aera to void any perturbations from any other Ir remote. The drive the correct signal to any of your devices. You will not need anymore your other remotes once done...

I guess some of the very early IR remotes used more power to transmit than modern ones do - my grandad had one and you could point it in any direction including directly away from the set and it'd still work - even standing outside the room and bouncing the light in off the wall worked. Probably putting the TX diode near the telly pointing back into the room will work pretty well as the inside corners of the room will retro-reflect.

Hallo Andreas, cooles Projekt. Aber wieso nicht so ? support.upc.ch/app/faq/a_id/4776/wie-kopple-ich-fernbedienung-meiner-tv-box-mit-tv-geraet

What was the other illegal software that you could have used? I need it for research purposes :D

What a story. Andreas, really pleasure to watching your videos.

Excellent as usual. I had a similar problem but was able to locate my IR transmitter in a fairly large tree like plant at the back of our room. Just need to keep pruning the leaves around the transmitter occasionally.😊

ordinary people, when things works differently or cease to work at all they lose their mind. and when things starts to work again they think its a norm. makers and tinkerers, for the same issues we analyze, fix and improve it. from they we experience and learn. moral of the story is when technology advances, normal people turns dummer and dependent where creative people got smarter.

Now a days you just use the Sony remote and its sends it control signals via hdmi to the connect device and audio via an hdmi arc to the sound system. I'm guessing your sound system is to analog for that but it's worth checking out if the box supports this feature.

Does the babelfish support sending a mute code? For babel wives. 😎

This is exactly the same as a project I currently working on. Marantz amplifier, Chinese HDMI switch, LG plasma, TotalTV box, and HTPC. But I adding options HTTP server for HTPC and serial port because LG TV has well documented serial port for two way communication. That is important for me because I can detect tv state and turn ON/OFF the Marantz amplifier when the tv is ON or OFF (this old bastard sucking power when it idles like a bathroom heater). Gods send this video to me tnx. ps. I also missing the amplifier remote but it has a chinch RC-5 connector I must investigate protocol for that.

Is there a name or type of that prototype PCB? Or even link, where to buy it? Thanks.

Most problems can be solved by replacing the wife :-)

Hi Andreas, ich beschäftige mich gerade mit dem ESP32 und bin dadurch auf deine Videos gestoßen und muss sagen WOW. Echt, der Grad an Details und der Umfang für dein Thema hauen mich echt um. Alle anderen RU-vidr sind nicht so präzise oder machen zuviel Entertainment aus dem Thema. Aber nicht beim Typen mit dem schweizer Akzent :D , der brilliert durch Content und sein Hobby! Ich hab das Gefühl egal was ich gerne mit dem ESP32 machen will oder was mich interessiert, du hast das schon einmal durchdacht und nimmst einem dabei viel Mühe und Recherche ab. Also noch einmal: ECHT TOP!

I have a Sony remote needing a 960khz ceramic resonator. I can't find it anywhere......murata doesn't produce them anymore

Very Nice Andreas. I use them very Long time ago to switch on or of the analog Decoder from telekabel. But i used a self lern Code. But great work!

There is one point I am not getting.... was it a desperate effort to salvage the situation, or few hours having fun in the lab ? :)

At least *we* listen to your explanations... (and a toast on our partners, may their patience for us last!)

I've wanted to do my own "babbel fish" for a while but didnt know how to start...

Can you add a schematic - just wondering how the cap is used? as seen at ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5yyy7h7qh80.html, the layout at ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5yyy7h7qh80.html does not include the cap.

I know this was a long time ago but if you need something similar you can use a Blitzwolf BW-RC1. Flash it with Tasmota and you can set-up a rule that triggers on a received IR message and sends another IR message and you can set-up multiple rules.

Is there any easy way to determine the carrier frequency without a scope? I suppose they're cheap enough to just try a few.

The easiest solution to the problem would have been to change wife...

thanks, great video. I read comments here to get a universal remote but I understand that its also more fun to make it work with this remote.

This was a great video. I enjoyed this one more than usual.

Software that is illegal to measure IR signals? May I ask what software you mean or is that illegal as well?

Where to buy the logic analyser?

Sali Andreas. When are you at iot meeting again? Ill pop by.

Have you thought about upgrading to Wife 2.0?

Warning earphone users 8:57

Useful video 👍 very good

you can reprogram remote :) hold vol - and tv off then input code and accept with rec

Atleast i found somthing that has same name as my sur name (babel) 😂😂

and Happy Viewers. Nice project realisation.

What a great fun. Had a similar problem just a year ago. Maybe your wife and mine are sisters... Because of a more complex setup, the Receiver needs a replacement with ARC Return channel. Additional invest. Now we are back, that the TV control can do it all. Additionally switching ON/OFF the receiver and change to the right input. Nowadays you can skip the "remote send" topic, because most components like ONKYO and LG reacts quite well on RESTful requests. No line of sight required.

Hello Andreas, did you check www.lirc.org/, their data is in hexa. Thank you for your videos

I hope that your wife doesnr scream as loud :)

Unbelievable ! A few days ago I had first thougts on how to get rid of the multiple remotes in my living room. I have a simular volume problem, as my TV-receiver can adjust volume, but the blueray don't, so i have to control volume on the amplifier. I also need to switch the projektor on/off and toggle the inputs on an HDMI-switch and of the amplifier. I was thinking about to use an esp togehther with an app, as we have a family-tablet there. But your idea would be more comfortable and even will get a higher accaptance from my wife. Great ! Thank you.

You could use IR transmitters on cables attached in front of the IR receivers on the TV and Amp such as these tinyurl.com/y96pvz9v The original Tivo recorders used a similar setup.

Gr8 video as usual. Have u tried IR blasters?