Sunday, February 21, 2010

On IR Remote Codes and resurrecting a lost controller

IR, or CIR Consumer Infra-Red has been around for a long time -- used as a fancy magic controlling device. [Prefaced by inaudible high frequency tones generated by whacking a rod with a hammer?].  Now, IrDA is related technology that has allowed peripherals to beam at each other since before PDAs came with built-in cell phones.  They unite in archaic technology like my Wizard to perform the wonderfully unimportant task of changing the channel on my TV.

Never before has technology been so widespread, so easy to understand, and yet undocumented.  I guess because no one really loses their remote control.  But is it really so easy to understand?  Why does everyone seem to be fooled by the TV-B-Gone?

TV-B-Gone power cycles a list of popular TVs from a far, while most IrDA devices are meant to be used up-close.  But in my case, I don't really care.  I'm just going to use the Wizard's IrDA port to program a universal remote control.

I don't think anyone uses IrDA anymore.  They've been leaving it off of the newer smart phones, and who cares when wifi and bluetooth are so prevalent. [What, you mean your peripheral isn't connected to the internet!?]  So it's a pain to find relevant software for it.

One of the few that I was able to get running was the Novii Remote.  They charge money, but they let you borrow it for 10 days which is nice.  I installed it on a Windows Mobile 6.1 OS.

I couldn't find the IR pulse codes for my amplifier:  a Nakamichi AV-300.  I know they exist somewhere on the net, because I found them before.  Today I could not find them.  But I did find a .ccf file that included codes from a Nak AV-10 on http://www.remotecentral.com/.  From that I was able to extract the hex control codes with Prontoedit4.

Copying the hex codes to buttons on Novii Remote running on the Wizard took way too much time.  That's why I'm writing this.  And just so I don't lose them again, important codes that work on my AV-300 are as follows:



Nakamichi AV-300 Remote Codes

Power ON: Power OFF:
0000 006d 0022 0002 0155 00aa 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0616 0154 0055 0016 0e38

Mute:
0000 006d 0022 0002 0155 00aa 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0616 0154 0055 0016 0e38

Volume +:
0000 006d 0022 0002 0155 00aa 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0616 0154 0055 0016 0e38

Volume -:
0000 006d 0022 0002 0155 00a9 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0616 0154 0055 0016 0e38

Input Functions:
Tuner:
0000 006d 0022 0002 0155 00aa 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0616 0154 0055 0016 0e38

VIDEO:
0000 006d 0022 0002 0155 00aa 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0616 0154 0055 0016 0e38

CD:
0000 006d 0022 0002 0155 00aa 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 0014 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 003f 0016 0616 0154 0055 0016 0e38



And, yes, I'm aware that I could just buy a new remote on ebay, but that doesn't sound very fun.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Crowders Mountain Ridgeline Trail from SC/NC Border to Pinnacle and onward

Dexter and I hiked the Ridgline Trail today.  It's about 17 miles out and back, so it required a bit of endurance and much of the daylight.

The day wasn't that clear, but it was still a pretty hike with vast views, amazing rock formations, and un-vandalized trails.  We started at the main park office and followed the Pinnacle trail nearly to the top where the Ridgeline trail began.  The Ridgeline was just competed last year after decades of work and was hailed as a big win for both the North and South Carolina Parks.

It runs for a little over six miles to the border, which we discovered was the petroleum pipline from Atlanta.  Exciting.  I guess that was the one that was pumping slowly 18 months ago causing sky-high gas prices.

The entire trip was about 6 hours, and I sat-tracked myself on the return.  Temps were in the 30's, but it really wasn't too bad since the wind was calm.  Dexter walked for about five miles, but decided to ride when the trail became covered with snow.

It was nice, but it left me longing for Alaskan views ;)