Ramsey Electronics ICI1 Assembly And Instruction Manual

ICI1 Page 1

Ramsey Electronics Model No. ICI1

Do you have a ton of old remote controls around, or even a
universal remote? Put those to real use by training this unique
kit to recognize the remotes, and allow you to turn a set of four
relays on and off! Turn on lights, TVs that have no remote,
small appliances and more!

•

IR Receiver module with sensitive element can receive your
remote control up to 11 meters away.

•

Control up to four devices independently via relays.

•

E-Z screw terminals hookup for each output.

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Easy to train to recognize almost any remote control!

•

Universal 7-15V AC or DC operation. Use our AC-1 wall adapter for
battery free operation.

•

Convenient LED indicator lets you know Infra Red status.

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RAMSEY TRANSMITTER KITS

•

FM10A, FM25B FM Stereo Transmitters

•

FM100B Professional FM Stereo Transmitter

•

TXE433 or 916 Transmitter & Encoder Module

•

RXD433 or 916 Data Receiver& Decoder

•

RR1 Wired remote repeater

•

RRW1 Wireless remote repeater

RAMSEY RECEIVER KITS

•

FR1 FM Broadcast Receiver

•

AR1 Aircraft Band Receiver

•

SR1 Short-wave Receiver

RAMSEY HOBBY KITS

•

WEB1 Walking Electronic Bug

•

LEDS1 LED Strobe

•

BE66 Blinky Eyes

•

EDF1 Electronic Dripping Faucet

•

TFM3 Tri-Field Meter

•

LC1 Inductance-Capacitance Meter

RAMSEY AMATEUR RADIO KITS

•

HR Series HF All Mode Receivers

•

QRP Series HF CW Transmitters

•

CW7 CW Keyer

•

DDF1 Doppler Direction Finder

•

QRP Power Amplifiers

RAMSEY MINI-KITS
Many other kits are available for hobby, school, Scouts and just plain FUN. New
kits are always under development. Write or call for our free Ramsey catalog.

ICI1 REMOTE INTERFACE KIT MANUAL

Ramsey Electronics publication No. MICI1 Revision 1.4

First printing: July 2002 JJH

COPYRIGHT 2002 by Ramsey Electronics, Inc. 590 Fishers Station Drive, V ic t or, New York

14564. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be copied or duplic ated without the
written permission of Ramsey Electronics , I nc. P rinted i n the United Stat es of America.

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ICI1 IR CONTROL

INTERFACE KIT

Ramsey Publication No. MICI1

Price $5.00

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ...........................................4

Theory of Operation ..............................5

Learn As You Build ...............................7

Parts List ...............................................9

Schematic Diagram.............................10

Parts Placement Diagram...................11

Assembly Steps...................................12

Testing.................................................17

Programming.......................................18

Wiring and Custom Application...........21

Troubleshooting ..................................22

Specifications......................................25

Warranty..............................................27

KIT ASSEMBLY

AND INST RUCT ION MANUAL FOR

RAMSEY ELECTRONICS, INC.

590 Fishers Station Drive

Victor, New York 14564

Phone [phone]

Fax [phone]

www.ramseykits.com

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ICI1 INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the ICI1 kit (and if you don’t have the time, the wired and tested
version). We will make an attempt at helping you understand IR remote controls
and how they typically work, and also how this kit works to help you understand
what you are building.

Virtually any modern day consumer audio or video device contains an infrared
remote control unit. Usually our living room contains several of these to control
several different pieces of equipment. In fact we often have so many of these
little gems that it becomes necessary to obtain an “all in one” remote control
that controls all the functions of your entertainment system. Of course, this
leads to having several remote control units delegated to the junk drawer, and
that brought about the idea for this kit. Let’s put the old remotes to use
controlling an easy to build kit that will control four separate outputs. By toggling
a relay for each, we can live the life of the future by remotely controlling our
fans, lamps, and even the coffee pot!

Let’s dig into these units a little bit. A typical infrared
remote contains a few functional parts in common
with each other; we’ll examine them. First there is
some type of keypad assembly. Nowadays this is
typically a large molded sheet of rubber with the
buttons protruding outward. The end of the button you
cannot see is typically coated with a carbon “button”

that will make contact with the printed circuit board
underneath, completing the circuit when the button is depressed (no, it’ not sad,
it is just making contact!). This switch closure will cause an Integrated Circuit on
the circuit board to repeat a pre-determined code at the output. This digital
signal typically drives an infrared diode to conduct on the front of the unit
“broadcasting” the infrared signal to the equipment to be controlled.

Our eyes are sensitive detectors in the visible light range, but the wavelength
of the infrared diode falls outside that detection range. So we can’t see the
diode performing its function. But rest assured, given a fresh battery, it is
dutifully doing it over and over again. These codes are unique so that the
infrared detector on the equipment can determine what function each of the
buttons should be, and perform that operation. These controlling codes are
unique to each manufacturer, so our kit needs to “learn” these codes to perform
the functions we require.

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ICI1 THEORY OF OPERATION

At first look the ICI1 may seem quite simple, but there is actually quite a bit
to it on the “inside” of the components. Many items are inside the IR receiver
part (U4) and if built up with discrete components it would never fit in this little
kit case. Inside this part there’s an IR detector diode, amplifier, AGC circuit,
band pass filter, a peak-hold circuit, an integrator, comparators, and an output
amp. Heck, the part is a kit in itself! Just be glad it is in one nice module all

ready to go. The pre-programmed microcontroller houses several thousand
transistors, memory locations, and an oscillator circuit. As a matter of fact,
building this kit 20 years ago would ha ve bee n nex t to impossible with the
complexity of the circuit(s) to accomplish the tasks at hand.

Your IR remote controls send data on a 38kHz carrier, much like radio does.
The digital information is actually modulated onto the carrier frequency. A few
of the reasons for this is to increase range, and decrease interference from
other IR sources such as ambient light. Remember that infrared can also be
thought of as “heat”; it is one of the components of energy that comes from a
heat source. The modulation is transmitted in an OOK (on off keying) fashion,
meaning the IR LED is switched on and off at a rate of 38kHz for a certain du­ration for a one, and another certain duration for a zero, with pauses of no car­rier in-between each one and zero. A common remote control format does
some special things to differentiate a one from a zero for digital sending and

receiving of data.
When the IR detector “sees” a 38kHz

IR signal, the output of the detector
goes low (it is inverted), when there is
no 38kHz signal, the output idles high.
On the output of the IR detector you
won’t see the 38kHz, just the data that
the 38kHz represents from your IR re­mote control. This allows the remote
control to save power since the IR LED
is “on” for a minimal amount of time.

SAMPLE

0 Bit

1 Bit

START

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Typically a remote control will send data in a format consisting of time slices.
To send a zero, the IR LED will be off for one time slice, and then toggled at a
rate of 38kHz for the second time slice. To send a one, the IR remote will use
three time slices. Off for two time slices, and on for one. This makes things
easy on the receiver side, because we just have to look from the edge of the
first on-to-off transition to the middle of the second time slice (1 1/2 time slices
from the start) to determine the bit that was sent.

It’s important to note, however is that most remote controls send a unique
first code that can be identified for each and every button, as well as each and
every remote control. Some remotes will send a full data stream over and over
as long as you hold the button down, up to 48 bits per data stream. Other re­motes will only send this full data stream once for the first depression, and
then a very short repeat code usually of only one bit, to save on batteries.

The ICI1 recognizes the full codes, and discards the short repeat codes
unless you are holding a relay in position. If we didn’t do this, we couldn’t tell
one button from another! You will find that with some remotes, you need to
press the button twice to train the ICI1 to remember a certain button. This
means the remote you are using is using repeat codes. Other remotes just
require you to press and hold the button, so these are the ones that send the
same code over and over.

One other variance is the data rate from the remote. Generally most remotes
send at a rate of 2400 Hz time slices, but others send at only 1200 Hz time
slices. This presents a problem on slower remotes since the sample period
will always lie in a high or low portion of the subsequent data, meaning we will
receive nothing but ones or zeros. Ther e is a speed jumper you can install to
allow the ICI1 to work with these remotes. If an incorrect speed remote control
is detected, the micro controller emits a special beep to let you know the for­mat is wrong. Then you can switch the jumper over to the other speed and try
again, then you will get either a recognized beep if you have trained the but­ton, or an unrecognized be ep if you ha ve not.

When you train the ICI1, the micro controller looks at the IR data stream and
rejects those codes it sees as useless or unverified. The ICI1 looks at the data
from the remote sensor, makes sure it is not a repeat code, checks that it is
not the wrong speed, and then compares it to a previous send before saving
the new value in the Flash m em or y of the controller. That is why you have to
press the button twice on some remotes; so you can get the same code for
verification before saving.

When the ICI1 is normally receiving, it looks at the data stream, and com­pares it to what was saved. If there is a match, the corresponding relay is set
or cleared depending on the mode. If there are repeat codes within the allotted
time, the state of the relay is held until there are no more signals seen for that
time.

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RAMSEY “LEARN-AS-YOU-BUILD” ASSEMBLY STRATEGY

Be sure to read through all of the steps, and check the boxes as you go to be
sure you didn't miss any important steps. Although you may be in a hurry to see
results, before you switch on the power check all wiring and capacitors for
proper orientation. Also check the board for any possible solder shorts, and/or
cold solder joints. All of these mistakes could have detrimental effects on your
kit - not to mention your ego!

Kit building tips:

Use a good soldering technique - let your soldering iron tip gently heat the
traces to which you are soldering, heating both wires and pads simultaneously.
Apply the solder on the iron and the pad when the pad is hot enough to melt the
solder. The finished joint should look like a drop of water on paper, somewhat
soaked in.

Mount all electrical parts on the top side of the board provided. To install
parts, the component should be placed flat to the board, and the leads are bent
on the backside of the board to prevent the part from falling out before
soldering (1). The part is then soldered securely to the board (2-4), and the
remaining lead length is then clipped off (5). Notice how the solder joint looks
on close up, clean and smooth with no holes or sharp points (6).

There are two option switches OP1, and OP2 which allow you to switch the
modes of Relay 1&2 with OP1, and Relay 3&4 with OP2. If the option jumper
is in, then the corresponding relays are in “auto-toggle” mode. It means that as
long as the remote button is pressed, the relay will remain energized. Let go of
the button, and it de-energizes the coil. The typical action of the relay is in tog­gle mode. Press the remote button, and the relay changes state. If the initial
state was off, it turns on, if it was on, it then shuts off. This is useful for switch­ing external circuits on and off without having to hold down the button.

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NOTE TO NEWCOMERS: If you are a first time kit builder we hope you find
this manual easier to understand than you may have expected. Each part in the
kit is checked off as you go, while a detailed description of each part is given. If
you follow each step in the manual in order, and practice good soldering and kit
building skills, the kit is next to fail-safe. If a problem does occur, the manual
will lead you through step by step in the troubleshooting guide until you find the
problem and are able to correct it.

Although we know that you are anxious to complete the assembly of your
infrared controller kit it is best to follow the step-by-step instructions in this
manual. Try to avoid the urge to jump ahead installing components.

Since you may appreciate some warm-up soldering practice as well as a
chance to put some landmarks on the PC board, we’ll first install some of the
larger components. This will also help us to get acquainted with the up-down,
left-right orientation of the circuit board. Remember that all of the components
will be mounted on the component side of the circuit board and soldered on the
solder side of the circuit board (the side that contains the printed circuit traces).
Have a look at the parts layout diagram to help with your assembly.

Use the boxes to check off your progress.
Check all received parts against the parts list. The parts list describes the

various markings that may be found on the kit parts. Carefully sort the parts into
small piles to aid in finding the correct part at the required time.

We will begin by installing the input and output connectors on the rear side of
the circuit board. These will act as our landmark components and make the
orientation of the rest of the parts a bit easier.

Proper Component Installation:

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PARTS SUPPLIED WITH YOUR ICI1 KIT
Capacitors

 2 10 pF ceramic capacitors (Marked 10 or 10K) (C1,8)
 4 0.1 µF ceramic capacitors (Marked 104) (C2,3,6,7)
 1 10 µF electrolytic capacitor (C5)
 1 1000 µF electrolytic capacitor (C4)

Resistors

 1 10 ohm resistor (brown-black-black) (R13)
 4 100 ohm (brown-black-brown) (R14,15,16,17)
 1 220 ohm resistor (red-red-brown) (R5)
 5 1K ohm resistors (brown-black-red) (R1,2,3,4,20)
 6 10K ohms (brown-black-orange) (R7,8,9,10,11,12)
 1 1M ohm resistor (brown-black-green) (R18)

Semiconductors and Integrated Circuits

 5 1N4002 Rectifier Diode (Black body with white stripe marked 4002)

(D1,2,3,4,6)

 5 2N3904 NPN transistor (Marked 2N3904) (Q1,2,3,4,5)
 1 78L05 5V Voltage Regulator (Marked 78L05 in transistor-like

package) (VR1)

 1 68HC908JK1 Pre-programmed microcontroller (U1)
 1 IR Sensor Module (U2 or U3, see instructions)
 1 Large Green LED (D5)

Miscellaneous Components

 1 20 pin IC socket for microcontroller U1
 4 2 screw terminal jack (J1,2,3,4)
 1 2.1 mm DC power jack (J7)
 5 2-pin headers (J9,10,11,12,13)
 5 Jumper Blocks
 1 DPDT PC mount pushbutton switch (S1)
 1 Mini toggle pushbutton switch (S2)
 4 9 Volt Relay (K1,2,3,4)
 1 9.8304 MHz crystal (Marked 9.8304) (X1)
 1 Mini-speaker (SP1)