I wanted to start this thread to come up with some solutions for mounting these boxes nicely and still having the remote work properly.
I have a few of these Alfawise boxes, and the IR sensor for the units is located on the top side ( cpu side ) of the board, near the center of the unit, which I've circled in the picture below:
Looking at the case material, one can see that the outside edge of the case, in the front, and on both sides, is made of a thin translucent blue plastic, which I presume allows the IR signal to pass thru the plastic relatively unimpeded, as so far these boxes have in my experience a fairly good IR range. For the the large TV in my living room, where the Alfawise box sits just below the TV in the space provided by the TV stand feet, this works well, but for wall mounted TVs in the bedrooms, mounting the Alfawise box and getting the remote to work becomes a small problem.
The ideal location for wall mounted TVs and these boxes to me seems to be the space behind the TV. I can easily rig up some sort of small bracket to hold the units in place without interfering with the wall mount functionality, but in doing so the IR sensor becomes hidden out of sight as well. I had considered mounting the box so the edge peeks out just below, or just above the TV, but due to the vertical orientation that would entail, the IR sensor sensitivity would be greatly reduced.
Additionally, I have ordered some upgraded remotes for these units, the "MINIX NEO A2 Lite" models that people claim work well out of the box with Android/Kodi setups, and it's my understanding that these units use USB and wifi type radio signals for normal functions, but that they have IR in order to wake up the media player boxes from power off / sleep states, so the IR sensor will still be used.
So, it seems to me that hacking in an external IR sensor to these units would be of benefit, so I'm starting this thread to share information on it.
Removing the cover of the Alfawise units reveals a small space in the front left corner ( you can see the board has a notch cut out in the image above ) where one should be able to mount a small phono type 2 or 3 conductor socket and then solder it to the board where the built-in IR sensor is located.
I've not located the data for what type of external sensor, where to purchase, etc. yet, but am working on that.
Thoughts and input from others greatly appreciated.
If I'm over-engineering this and you have a simpler solution, I'm all ears.
UPDATE #1
From reading other posts, it appears a 37.9 Khz IR sensor is the type used on these boards ? If anyone can confirm or dispute, please do so, as I'm making a somewhat educated guess here.
UPDATE #2
Looking at the board, the sensor appears to have 3 conductors, so after some searching, it appears these units on {insert famous auction site here} for $1.31 each would likely work. Item # is 131900164667
UPDATE #3
Found another {famous auction site} listing # 141778008278 ... 10PCS 1/8" 3.5mm Stereo Socket Jack Headphones With nut PCB Panel Mount Chassis ... there are a couple different styles of sockets, but this one seems ideal, as space is very limited, it seems thin and shallow enough to fit in the space inside the case, and it comes with the nut, and has a flat surface for gluing to the case plastic should the nut prove insufficient.
UPDATE #4
{famous auction site} listing # 112121896722 ... right angle single header pins, for soldering onto the board where the IR sensor is, to allow for disconnect should the need arise at some point in the future.
{famous auction site} listing # 232173820582 ... female - female 10cm jumper wires
------------------------------
So, with the parts above, 2 different options, a plug, assuming it all fits well, or just run the IR sensor cable through a hole, secure on inside/outside with wire tires to prevent pull out if not enough room. Both options still allow for disassembly using the headers/connectors.
I have a few of these Alfawise boxes, and the IR sensor for the units is located on the top side ( cpu side ) of the board, near the center of the unit, which I've circled in the picture below:
Looking at the case material, one can see that the outside edge of the case, in the front, and on both sides, is made of a thin translucent blue plastic, which I presume allows the IR signal to pass thru the plastic relatively unimpeded, as so far these boxes have in my experience a fairly good IR range. For the the large TV in my living room, where the Alfawise box sits just below the TV in the space provided by the TV stand feet, this works well, but for wall mounted TVs in the bedrooms, mounting the Alfawise box and getting the remote to work becomes a small problem.
The ideal location for wall mounted TVs and these boxes to me seems to be the space behind the TV. I can easily rig up some sort of small bracket to hold the units in place without interfering with the wall mount functionality, but in doing so the IR sensor becomes hidden out of sight as well. I had considered mounting the box so the edge peeks out just below, or just above the TV, but due to the vertical orientation that would entail, the IR sensor sensitivity would be greatly reduced.
Additionally, I have ordered some upgraded remotes for these units, the "MINIX NEO A2 Lite" models that people claim work well out of the box with Android/Kodi setups, and it's my understanding that these units use USB and wifi type radio signals for normal functions, but that they have IR in order to wake up the media player boxes from power off / sleep states, so the IR sensor will still be used.
So, it seems to me that hacking in an external IR sensor to these units would be of benefit, so I'm starting this thread to share information on it.
Removing the cover of the Alfawise units reveals a small space in the front left corner ( you can see the board has a notch cut out in the image above ) where one should be able to mount a small phono type 2 or 3 conductor socket and then solder it to the board where the built-in IR sensor is located.
I've not located the data for what type of external sensor, where to purchase, etc. yet, but am working on that.
Thoughts and input from others greatly appreciated.
If I'm over-engineering this and you have a simpler solution, I'm all ears.
UPDATE #1
From reading other posts, it appears a 37.9 Khz IR sensor is the type used on these boards ? If anyone can confirm or dispute, please do so, as I'm making a somewhat educated guess here.
UPDATE #2
Looking at the board, the sensor appears to have 3 conductors, so after some searching, it appears these units on {insert famous auction site here} for $1.31 each would likely work. Item # is 131900164667
UPDATE #3
Found another {famous auction site} listing # 141778008278 ... 10PCS 1/8" 3.5mm Stereo Socket Jack Headphones With nut PCB Panel Mount Chassis ... there are a couple different styles of sockets, but this one seems ideal, as space is very limited, it seems thin and shallow enough to fit in the space inside the case, and it comes with the nut, and has a flat surface for gluing to the case plastic should the nut prove insufficient.
UPDATE #4
{famous auction site} listing # 112121896722 ... right angle single header pins, for soldering onto the board where the IR sensor is, to allow for disconnect should the need arise at some point in the future.
{famous auction site} listing # 232173820582 ... female - female 10cm jumper wires
------------------------------
So, with the parts above, 2 different options, a plug, assuming it all fits well, or just run the IR sensor cable through a hole, secure on inside/outside with wire tires to prevent pull out if not enough room. Both options still allow for disassembly using the headers/connectors.
Comment