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IR-wireless keyboards with learning macro/activity-capable remotes update...

Everyone, thanks for your responses.

Update on the IR-wireless keyboard / learning remote experience...

First, for a slimmed-down system, I now consider a remote keyboard a minimum for controlling the beast... If for nothing else, if you use the cPlay volume control like I do, it provides listening position volume (and balance) changes. I went with IR-wireless keyboards because of trying to control them with learning remotes, but you can go with an RF-wireless keyboard if you want. But a side-benefit of the IR-wireless is a little less RF pollution floating around in your listening room.

So that part is to me, an unqualified success. I've tried two different types of keyboards and the one I am using going forward is this one:

http://www.dsi-keyboards.com/solidtek-ir-wireless-keyboard-with-built-in-trackball-ack-571.aspx

The 573 model appears to be the same thing. DSI keyboards does not list it, but I've seen them on Ebay.

I also picked up a 2nd, used one from this manufacturer from Ebay that had a trackball instead of a pointer. Both will work with both receivers, so they haven't changed the protocol.

Two pluses to this one... First, you CAN get it from a retail source (IR-wireless keyboards are pretty rare nowadays). And second, it actually sounded better, even being separately powered, than the other I tried (also used from Ebay, a Sejin Earthwalk... Listing here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370584786218?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

I did not expect this at all... I had received the Sejin keyboard first and compared it to my wired keyboard. I couldn't hear an obvious difference, but over time, the system didn't excite me like it had before adding it. Still, I persisted, thinking it was something like weather or my moods (I was freshly recovering from knee surgery then). A few days later, both of the Solidtek ones arrived. I could immediately hear an improvement... In fact, I felt they sounded better than the wired keyboard! Weird. I'd guess it has something to do with digital noise fed back into the Mobo by the dongle, but in any case, I'm happy with the sound and not gonna spend much time fussing with it.

OTOH, success with the learning remote has been illusive, but not impossible. So far I've tried two brands of currently-available learning remotes that support macros (also known as 'Activities'), one from RCA and another from Logitech. The RCA one has learned two commands out of perhaps 30 tries and I can't get it to learn them consistently. The Logitech one did not learn any commands.

I've also tried a couple of software packages that emulate remotes on older handheld computers. One was TotalRemote by Griffin Software (who currently makes remote software for the Iphone, along with other handy toys for your smartphones) and it included a hardware dongle that fit into the handheld computer's headphone out jack. They provide this because even tho most of the older handhelds of the early-to-middle 2000's had IR ports, those ports were generally not suitable for consumer remote use.

I tried this software along with the dongle with Compaq IPAQ 3730 and 3740 handhelds, and also with an HP IPAQ 2210. It would memorize the keyboard commands, but the keyboard's dongle never recognized them or even saw them (the 'activity' LED did not flicker). Then the 2210 also had a consumer-level IR port and that was an option for outputting the commands from TotalRemote. This too did not work.

But the 2210 also included a piece of SW pre-installed call Nevo, from Unversal Electronics. That SW DOES both memorize the commands from the IR keyboard AND controlled the system through the dongle. SUCCESS!!! But at several prices... Not least of which is that to duplicate this, a person would need to purchase one of these HP IPAQ 2210's or a similar model with the Nevo SW (making sure that it ACTUALLY had the Nevo software on it before laying money down... I've seen reports that some firmware updates to these devices erased the Nevo SW). I've looked for and found a number of then IPAQ 2210's on US Ebay for $25-$90 USD. Some other IPAQ models also included this software... You can find more info on this Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAQ

Do note that the one I have has the 2.0 version of the software. Some of other listed came with the older version and I can't guarantee that they'll work. Actually, I can't really guarantee that any ones but the 2100 will work... But the other models with Nevo 2.0 are probably worth a try.

The other cost is in command delivery speed. The Nevo SW is slow, at least on the 2210. This is not an issue with many commands, but where you need to transmit several-to-many sequential commands, it can feel very slow. Nevo transmits multiple commands at a rate just under one a second when you tap the command button on the screen multiple times. Macros, where you've recorded a sequence of multiple commands that are transmitted via one button tap are almost 2X slower. In comparison, the same commands from the keyboard are transmitted about as fast as you can key them... And I suspect that a hardware remote, if one can be found, will at least be faster than the SW solution.

So there IS currently a path to a fully-remote cMP via a learning remote and an IR-wireless keyboard. It is limited by the models of keyboard (for good sound) and models of remote (for ones that work). Both are a little pricer than I'd like... For example, the Solidtek keyboard new from DSI Keyboards is $40, while various other used IR wireless keyboards on Ebay can be 1/2 that. Then the handhelds with the Nevo SW will likely be at least $40 or more, once you get a new battery for the unit (any LiPo pack that came with one of these handhelds will be dead by now). Learning, macro/activity-capable hardware remotes can be had for under $20, the Logitech one I tried was a model 600 and just under $50. Then the current solution is also not as usable due to the limited command transmission rate. But it does work and is pretty darned cool!!!

I'm reaching out to the guy who told me about this technique to see if he knows of any other HW remotes that may work with the IR keyboards. Hopefully he will know or will be willing to let me send my spare keyboard to him so he can try any remotes he has on-hand (he's been doing HT installations for some time, he might have a variety of ones in his junk box). If anyone out there has a learning remote and wants to try it with the IR keyboard, but you don't want to buy one, I'm willing to send my spare out to people in North America to try.

And if anyone can locate any other brands of IR wireless keyboards, they'd be worth trying. But I'm staying away from the Sejin myself, based on my SQ results with it.

Gack, another ultra-long post. Gonna quit for the night!

Later!

Greg in Mississippi
Everything matters!


Edits: 06/09/12
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