LIRC Receivers

General Information

LIRC stands for Linux Infrared Remote Control. It's a program that decodes commands from infrared remote controls and acts upon them. You'll need some hardware to let your computer receive these infrared commands. Enter the LIRC homebrew receiver.

I built 18 receivers for me and my friends. The total cost per receiver was €7.55. The recievers were mounted in small black enclosures.

Schematic

The schematic shows that the whole thing is pretty easy and small. The IR receiver is a great piece of hardware that does all the difficult stuff for you.

Those of you familiar with serial ports will have noticed that this does not conform to the RS232 specifications. Nevertheless it will work with the vast majority of serial ports. Laptops may not like it, though. There is a more advanced circuit that does conform to the RS232 standard, but it requires additional parts.

PCB artwork

The goal was to produce a PCB that would fit in a small enclosure. The TSOP1738 will be bent backwards so the bulb faces up. It will be mounted behind a rectangular hole in the enclosure.