Reddit reviews Jon Rhees USB-UIRT (Universal Infrared Receiver/Transmitter)
We found 4 Reddit comments about Jon Rhees USB-UIRT (Universal Infrared Receiver/Transmitter). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Grab a USB-UIRT receiver/transmitter and EventGhost. The USB-UIRT has an internal IR receiver, an emitter and also an 1/8" headphone jack on the back for installing an external emitter. Emitters like this or this can be used with it. The USB-UIRT is also an IR Learner so, using EventGhost, you can program the functions of any remote into your system and recall them using several methods. I'm using an old Directv remote to control XBMC (there's an XBMC plugin for EventGhost that has full controls), my TV, and a BluRay player. I'm also using the EventGhost app for Android as a remote for my system. EventGhost is pretty slick and can do a hell of a lot of stuff. And if it can't do it, you can write a Python script to do it. This is the poor man's Crestron. If you have questions or need help, just ask. This is actually what I do for a living.
This is how I have my set up as well. Here is the USB-UIRT I bought for Eventghost. It works pretty great.
If you wanna save some money and have a more robust system, you could try one of these: UIRT
I hooked mine up to my media PC and I use tasker with the AutoVoice plugin to control my whole living room. The media PC runs Event Ghost (basically tasker for windows), which controls the IR blaster. The two communicate through the AutoRemote plugin.
The setup is great! I have Event ghost setup on my personal PC as well so I've got all sorts of commands. For example, when I tell my phone to turn on XBMC, it uses the IR blaster to turn on my reciever, switches the input to the PC, turns on my TV, the media PC starts up XBMC, and my phone launches yatse. I've also got one for listening to music while I cook. It turns on my receiver, switches the input to PC, starts up AirPlay receivers on the PC in my room and the one in the living room, then it opens MediaMonkey in my pc, switches the output plugin to AirPlay, and my phone boots up MediaMonkey remote. So with a single voice command I've got synchronized music playing throughout my house while I cook or read or whatever. I highly recommend this setup if you've got a PC you can hook it up to. It lets you do so much more.
I've got a question for other people though. I wanna automate some lamps, and possibly some over head lights in my apartment as well; can anyone recommend a good solution that I could integrate into my setup? I'd prefer wifi enabled so I don't have to worry about where I plug stuff in.
How much do you want to spend?
IP2IR looks cool: https://www.amazon.com/Global-Cache-IP2IR-iTach-Wired/dp/B003BFTKUC
You could also try to find a used MCE remote and buy some IR blasters. If you can find them at Good Will they usually run $3-4.
https://www.amazon.com/Jon-Rhees-USB-UIRT-Universal-Transmitter/dp/B005TX3LOU
http://www.iguanaworks.net/products/usb-ir-transceiver/