---
title: LIRC IR Receiver
slug: ir-receiver
url: /projects/ir-receiver/
parent: Projects
---
Since my computer was used as a media hub for my two roommates and I my Sophmore
year at UMR, I figured being able to use my A/V receiver's remote control to
control the computer would be nice. After doing some quick research, (Win)LIRC
seemed to be the best solution. Many people either buy a pre-made receiver, or
build their own receiver that fits on the end of a serial cable.

### Parts List

* [A suitable IR receiver module](http://lirc.org/receivers.html) (Vishay 1738 is popular)
* 1N4148 diode
* 4.7 uF capacitor
* 4.7 kOhm resistor
* 7805 5V voltage regulator

### Construction

Construction is fairly easy. I personally used a Vishay TSOP2238 IR receiver
module and a [instructions](http://lnx.manoweb.com/lirc/) found freely on the web. Below is the circuit diagram
that I used. In the schematic, the - pin (GND) on the IR receiver goes to the serial
GND, the +/Vs pin receives the +5V from the voltage regulator, and the Data pin is
connected to the DCD on the serial port. Beware that many IR receivers have different
pinouts! More details on what does what can be found at the [LIRC guide](http://lirc.org/receivers.html). Once the
receiver is complete, the easiest way to position it is to connect it to a serial
extension cable and mount it somewhere.
Schematic:

### Usage

Since I primarily used Windows for day-to-day tasks back then, I used [WinLIRC](http://winlirc.sf.net/) to
handle the receiver. It's configuration files are identical to LIRC. Pre-made
configuration files are available for a [wide range of remotes](http://lirc.org/receivers.html), but your remote can be
programmed manually if it needs to be.

My two main media players were [Winamp](http://winamp.com/) and [Media Player Classic](http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=82303&package_id=84358), which both have some
sort of support for LIRC. Media Player Classic has it built-in (configuration in the
Keys options), but Winamp requires a plugin. Luckily, there is one available on the
[WinLIRC website](http://winlirc.sf.net/).

### Links

* [LIRC](http://lirc.org/)
* [WinLIRC - A Windows port of LIRC](http://winlirc.sf.net/)
* [List of known working IR modules](http://lirc.org/receivers.html)
* [Nice construction instructions](http://lnx.manoweb.com/lirc/)
