For all you Panasonic projector owners frustrated without discrete on or off. I found reliable work arounds for both.

On - power, return

Off - power, return, power(4secs)

Power(4secs) works as a toggle. So forcing on then toggle off works. If the projector is not on it the fan will cycle but the lamp will not come on.

Wish I could find work arounds for discrete Component inputs.

Could you not use an IR to RS232 converter such as:

[Link: industrologic.com]

Needs to be programmed (very easy) and this would give you true power and input discretes.

Brilliant. I didn't know such a thing existed.

Rob,

How would that work? I mean, what does the RS232 hook to, and how does it help in knowing if a particular device is on or off?

Ed

Page 66 in the manual shows the serial (RS232 port) and control commands. You will see there are commands for (amongst others) Power ON, Power OFF, VID, YUV etc.

You'd probably have to make up a suitable serial cable.

It won't help you determine if the PJ is on or off, but you should be able to send the PON command and it will switch on, but if already on it should ignore it.

I don't have a PTAE900 so can't say for sure this works, but I do have an IR232 and have used it directly with my Lumagen HDQ and I now use it with a PLC which in-turn sends RS232 commands to the Lumagen and it works a treat. I see no reason why the IR232 wouldn't work with the PTAE900.

If I can help any more, please ask.

Rob,

I ordered one of the IR232 converters and downloaded their instructions. It seems fairly self evident. But I am a bit confused about the SIRCS protocol. What does the 5 bit device and 7 bit function code look like on the Pronto? Would it be sufficient to learn from any Sony TV remote button 1 to get, for instance, M1=1,0, ?

I am already thinking of things I can control with relays and the IR232. Thanks for your help.

Herb

The most general way to get Pronto Hex for those Sony signals is with the MakeHex program using the sony12.irp file. You can select any device number (0 to 31) and generate Pronto Hex for all possible function numbers (0 to 127).

There are lots of other ways to get common Sony codes, including learning from a Sony remote. But if you have a Sony remote, that suggests you have the corresponding Sony device and might be better off not selecting that same device number for use with the IR232 (so the two don't interfere).

Thanks for the input. How do I get the MakeHex program?

Rob,
I didn't mean to hijack the thread, but I'm not interested in controlling a projector. I have seen the IR232 mentioned before in the context of solving the discrete P-ON/P_-OFF problem with devices such as Samsung DVD players that don't offer discretes. But these devices do not have RS232 ports, generally speaking, and little user-programming facilities, so I just can't see how the IR232 would solve the problem. I'll just butt out here and lurk so you can work with the OP.

Thanks.
Ed

Nevermind. Found MakeHex in the files.

Herb

I guess that obsolete copy is OK for Sony12. But for most purposes, use the current copy at
[Link: hifi-remote.com]
Either way, be sure to read the readme file. You'll get nowhere if you try just running the program.

Got it thanks. A little off topic but if I wanted to make a clean code for a specific function how do I identify the device code and function numbers. For instance, for a Sony vol up for a TV? Is there a look up table of sorts?

Herb

Herb - as John has said use MakeHex. That's what I did, I made codes for device 2 and functions 0 to 127. You won't need that many functions for the PTAE900. I then used Hex2CCF to create panels which I could alias my buttons to.

Ed - as you have said the IR232 won't help you with most devices. I really wish my PJ had an RS232 port (which I could control using the PLC and IR232) as since adding my anamorphic lens (I run a constant height 2.35:1 set-up) the IR receiver on the PJ is obscured by the lens some times and I really have to point my pronto at it and press the buttons several times to make it respond!

This might help with Sony devices:

[Link: hifi-remote.com]

I haven't looked for discrete power for the projectors but we have discretes in our library for the plasmas. No-one's asked for discrete power as most of our customers use RS232. However I have some discretes for projectors where the commands match plasmas. Worth a try with a device number change?