Does anyone know how to build an IR receiver for a connecting block? Something similar to the Aton AIR1 found here: [Link: atonhome.com]

I purchased the Aton DLA4 found here: [Link: atonhome.com], and from what I've read they send an IR remote control with it, but there's no actual built-in IR receiver. Instead there are 4 connecting blocks on the back of the device where you can connect an IR receiver for each 'room/zone'.

Needless to say, I'm looking for a cheap solution to obtaining 4 IR receivers that I can use to connect to the blocks on the back of the DLA4, and I'm not against building them...just not entirely sure how to go about it.

Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated.

I've been involved in cirecuit design to the board level, and have also laid out PC boards, photo reduced the artwork, etched the boards, and built protoype products.

I would not think of touching an IR receiver, especially one as small as the one you link to. I chatted with an engineer at Xantech back when they were developing an IR receiver similar to the one pictured, and it took them months to get it right. This was a pro staff with prototyping and manufacturing facilities!

The best you're likely to be able to do is to put an IR receiving sensor into a chassis or a project box much larger than what you're looking for, and you'll have to come up with the proper shielding and bandpass filtering for the needed carrier frequency.

Of course, I'm also at the point where I'd rather buy something already made than go through the hassle of dealing with the board layout, mounting the board in the chassis or project box...do this enough times and the time overhead of the little stuff makes the accomplishment a lot less satisfying. I'd jump into it in a heartbeat if it were for a product to be manufactured, though, for two reasons:
*I'd be paid for the time I invested
*I'd not just have one, but I'd get to see lots of little babies from my ideas and work.

My background is in a different area, but my experience is that you can very seldom build something as cheaply as you can buy it.

When I owned a small factory, we built some of our own machinery, but only because it was so specialized that it was not available commercially.

Thanks for the info...looks like I'll be spending the extra bucks to buy, just wasn't sure how difficult it would be and thought I might be up for a project.

Thanks again,

These receivers can be purchased fairly inexpensively through a site like www.partsexpress.com. I purchase stuff from them all the time. Far easier than trying to build something.

As mentioned above one of the ubiquitous inexpensive IR
receiver/demodulator modules is likely all you need and
almost certainly what they are trying to sell you packaged
in a fancy enclosure.

Two considerations to observe however are carrier frequency
and operating voltage. 5V receivers used to be common but
aren't necessarily guaranteed to function at 3v3. 3v3 devices
are available but are rarely found from surplus/hobby
suppliers. If you can access the individual receiver module
connector, check the voltage being supplied to the device.

The other consideration being the IR carrier frequency of
which a few semi-standard values exist in the range of
30..56Khz. Ideally you would want to match the remote
and receiver's carrier frequency for maximum sensitivity.

That said I recall doing some informal experimentation in the
dim past back at TiVo. We used Vishay TK1838 (38Khz
devices) but found them to respond surprising well to a
56KHz carrier. If memory serves correct that device was
formally characterized by Vishay at 5V but we actually
deployed it in the series 2 systems operating at 3V3.
I don't believe 3V3 devices existed at that time (~2001).