simple IR extender

[MichaelK]

I need a simple IR extender; it's for just a few feet, but it would make watching TV better.

I have a blaster (from an old TV); it has several feet of wire attached, which will be plenty. I'm hoping to use it for this project.

I found this project:   http://www.electronics-lab.com/project/ir-remote-extender/    Is this the simplest that such a project can be? That is, could I get an IR sensor and the appropriate PS for it and the blaster, and then feed the sensor's out to the blaster's in?

Or, does the signal have to be demodulated? If so, could I just use a TSOP1738 (or similar), and feed it into the blaster (perhaps with some extra components, like Q2)?

So, why does that circuit need a 555?

[audioguru]

The remote controls for my TVs work for 20 feet or more so yours should be fine at a distance of only a few feet. Maybe the battery in your remote is dead?

I do not know what you call a "blaster".

The TSOP1738 is not made anymore but there are similar ones available. Its output is the demodulated signal so the 555 is needed to create a new 38kHz carrier that the TSOP 1738 modulates.

You might have interference between the original IR signal and the extender IR signal.

[MichaelK]

5 hours ago, audioguru said:

The remote controls for my TVs work for 20 feet or more so yours should be fine at a distance of only a few feet. Maybe the battery in your remote is dead?

The problem is that the amp is outside of LOS. So, I'm in the recliner, watching a movie; if I have to change the volume, I have to contort my arm to get the amp to see the signal.

I just checked with new batteries -- no improvement.

5 hours ago, audioguru said:

I do not know what you call a "blaster".

I thought that was the colloquial term for an emitter that some TVs had; you plug it into the TV and stick the emitter onto the auxiliary device's IR sensor.

5 hours ago, audioguru said:

The TSOP1738 is not made anymore but there are similar ones available. Its output is the demodulated signal so the 555 is needed to create a new 38kHz carrier that the TSOP 1738 modulates.

Is that worded properly? You have 2 TSOP1738 ICs there. Why does the circuit have to "create a new 38KHz carrier"?

5 hours ago, audioguru said:

You might have interference between the original IR signal and the extender IR signal.

I'm figuring that the 'blaster' will block the sensor. If I need to, I could mask it with electrical tape.

[audioguru]

The added TSOP1738 on the left side of the schematic is mounted where your remote can shine its modulated 38kHz IR on it. It demodulates the signal and modulates the added 555 38kHz oscillator that drives an added transistor and added IR LEDs mounted where the TV IR detector can see them.