Remote Control

REM File Editor

Use this JavaScript REM Editor to create or to modify remote definition files for the Keyspan DMR mapper. It doesn't eliminate the need to know a little about how remotes work, but it makes the job far less tedious.

LIRC to REM Converter

Use this JavaScript LIRC Converter to turn Linux Infrared Remote Control (LIRC) remote definition files into Keyspan DMR remote definition files.

DMR Dump Application

Download: binary source

Do you want to find out which codes your remote control sends? Stop Keyspan's mapper and start this program in a terminal window. This program watches for IR codes and reports what it sees. Unfortunately, this does not work with UIA-10 receivers.

After downloading the binary, unzip it and mark it executable as follows.

$ ls -l
total 56
-rw-r--r--  1 dan  dan  25952 23 Aug 08:14 dmrdump.bz2

$ bunzip2 dmrdump.bz2 

$ ls -l
total 144
-rw-r--r--  1 dan  dan  73192 23 Aug 08:14 dmrdump

$ chmod +x dmrdump 

$ ls -l
total 144
-rwxr-xr-x  1 dan  dan  73192 23 Aug 08:14 dmrdump

That needs to be done only once. Then, before running dmrdump, make sure the Keyspan driver is not loaded, as follows.

$ sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/DMRantiClassic.kext 
Password:
kextunload: unload kext /System/Library/Extensions/DMRantiClassic.kext succeeded

$ ./dmrdump 
PPM q=346 h=7,7 b0=3,2 b1=2,4 bits=15 val(lsb)=5038 val(msb)=0e05
PPM q=346 h=7,7 b0=3,2 b1=2,4 bits=15 val(lsb)=5038 val(msb)=0e05
PPM q=346 h=7,7 b0=3,2 b1=2,4 bits=15 val(lsb)=3038 val(msb)=0e06

By default, dmrdump uses a sample time of 66 µs, which is short enough to make a decent guess at the bit time for many remote control protocols. If you know the bit time of the remote you are using, providing it to dmrdump will enable more reliable decoding. For example, to decode signals from a JVC remote with a bit time of 527 µs,

$ ./dmrdump -q 527

Reference Material

I find this information useful for development and testing. The "OFA Codes" are setup codes for a One For All URC-8017 universal remote control.

Protocol	Carrier	Quantum	Coding	Data Sheets	Other Info	OFA Codes
IR 60	38 kHz		BPM [A]	Siemens SDA2008
ITT	none		PPM		San Bergmans
JVC	38 kHz	527 µs	PPM	VIS H 1401		DVD 0558
Kaseikyo	37 kHz		PPM		John S. Fine Denon Codes	TV 0250
Mitsubishi 50560	38 kHz	520 µs	PPM	Silan SC50560		TV 0624
NEC	38 kHz	563 µs	PPM	NEC UPD6121 Yamaha Codes		CD 1023 SAT 1109
NRC17	38 kHz	500 µs	BPM [A]		San Bergmans
RC-5	36 kHz	889 µs	BPM [B]	Philips SAA3010		AMP 1269
RC-6	36 kHz	444 µs	BPM [A]		San Bergmans	DVD 0539
RC-MM	36 kHz		PPM		San Bergmans
RECS 80	38 kHz	2532 µs	PPM	Philips SAA3004
Remotec	38 kHz		PPM		Celadon TRX
Sanyo 7461	38 kHz	563 µs	PPM	Sanyo LC7461M		CD 0124
Sharp	38 kHz	350 µs	PPM		John S. Fine Denon Codes	AMP 0186
SIRC	40 kHz	600 µs	PWM [A]	US Patent 5319487	San Bergmans Sony Codes	CD 0490 AMP 0689 DVD 0533
Toshiba 9148	38 kHz	422 µs	PWM [I]	Toshiba TC9148P
Toshiba 9243	38 kHz	563 µs	PPM	Toshiba TC9243		TV 0060
X-Sat	38 kHz	526 µs	PPM		San Bergmans

BPM [A]	bipolar modulation, value taken from first half of cycle
BPM [B]	bipolar modulation, value taken from second half of cycle
PPM	pulse position modulation (a.k.a. pulse distance modulation)
PWM [A]	pulse width modulation, cycles of varying length
PWM [I]	pulse width modulation, cycles of constant length