Friday, May 01, 2009

Universal IR Remote Controlled AC Outlet for Appliances (110V)





- Picked it up for $5.68 from dealextreme (takes about 3 weeks).
- Plug any 110v appliance into this device and then plug this device into an electrical outlet. This device can learn any IR signal. Then, when it receives the learned signal it will toggle the power on/off that goes to your appliance.
- This is a great dirt cheap solution for letting say your universal Harmony remote control a devices that don't have proper IR controlled on/off capabilities. I currently use this on my Popcornhour (to completely cut power from the pch) and my XBOX 360 Cooler. This solutions is much more reliable and cheaper than say using x-10 with an IR to x-10 converter.
- Simply plug the device into a wall outlet and hold down the button until the red light starts flashing. Then, just press a button on your remote that you want to use to control it with. That's it. It really is that simple.
- Note the 110v written on the side sticker.
- You plug your appliance into the front facing socket. I'm not sure what the side slits are for. It accommodates both 2 prong and 3 prong appliances though unfortunately the IR device itself isn't grounded (no 3rd prong).
- If things fit a bit loose try carefully bending the prongs apart a bit.
- You might need some ac extension cords so you can sit this device where you have line of site for the remote to work.
- Another thing you can do is use a USBUIRT and maybe eventghost + microsoft scheduler. I actually wrote my own software to control usbuirt but I can see using a setup like this to have a computer power cycle a device on a regular schedule which is what I do with my HD PVR.

Highly recommended. I've been looking for a device like this for a long time. I liked them so much I bought 8 of them.

3 comments:

L said...

This is extremely cool. I need to figure out where I can use these devices. Now I have a use for those spare remotes from the lightning fried T.V.s.

Unknown said...

Looks cool. Do you know if this can work with high-current devices such as a large plasma TV or power amplifier?

ARogan said...

I would definitely say no to using with high current devices. If you tried it would probably start a fire :-)