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[dave w]

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread of a search for an IR543AH, which is an old X10 controller that receives IR signals from a TV universal remote, and if,  X10 PLC will place them on the homes power lines. The IR543A which tranceives only the house code it's HS dial is set to did not meet my needs. Thanks to forum members dhouston and tuicemen I was able to locate the "AH" model which transceives all 16 House Codes. My quest was spurned by a product called Blumoo. A universal TV remote control app for IPhone and Android cell phones, and a Bluetooth connected hardware IR blaster, which controls all the IR driven junk in a room, such as a home theater room. The IR543AH is something of a rare bird and I really appreciate the help from the X10 forum member, dhouston  for helping me find one.

I am still in the early stages of setting up Blumoo, but I like it more than the more conventional "universal remotes" such as the Harmony, Pronto, or X10 Icon and Nstinct,  in that the screen is 100% configurable. All buttons are nameable, movable, and can have macros attached. Blumoo apparently has, at least a portion of the old X10 Wireless remote control code library, hence Blumoo has X10 codes along with about every other TV IR remote control code for the past decade or two.

I'm thinking Authinx might consider bringing back the IR543AH. But not before the ancicipated X10 WiFi  module!! 

[toasterking]

This device has great potential and I'm sure it is already useful to many people, but I'd much rather have an updated Pronto.

I think 

I agree.  It seemed to only appeal to a small user base while it was being manufactured and sold.  It had an impressive feature set and was unique in many ways but the learning curve turned potential users off, and I don't think they ever conquered that issue.  It would need to be a very different product to compete with current offerings.  I realize that I am in the minority when I say that, despite the rough edges, it was a nearly perfect product for my needs and in many ways still is.

[toasterking]

[...] I was able to locate the "AH" model which transceives all 16 House Codes.

Congratulations on finding one!

This is what the IR543 should have been from the beginning.  At one point before I discovered the "AH" modification, I had three Philips RFX6500 RF-to-IR extenders, each set to a different ID, each modified not to blast ambient IR out of its window, and each with an emitter taped to a different one of three IR543 units, each of which was set to a different house code.  By the time I decided I wanted to make a fourth house code addressable by my remote, I had had enough of this setup and eventually found the "AH" kit, which is much easier to deal with!

[dave w]

[...] I was able to locate the "AH" model which transceives all 16 House Codes.

Congratulations on finding one!

Toasterking, my apologies! I forgot that you provided pertinent information on the capabilities of the IR543AH, which was instrumental in the search. Did not meant to leave you out. 

Thank you very much for your help!

[toasterking]

Toasterking, my apologies!

No offense was taken.  I'm glad I could help.

[dhouston]

While it offers zero details, I did stumble across one link for CodeGenPro that still works.
https://www.laser.com/dhouston/cgp.html

[toasterking]

Thanks anyway, Dave.  This looks to be a complex program that you must have put an awful lot of work into to have then lost!

[dhouston]

I have one of these...
http://www.levitonproducts.com/Catalog/Model_HCPRF.htm?PID=1208
which I used with the Pronto I converted to RF...
https://www.laser.com/dhouston/pronto.html
so I never really needed the IR543AH.

However, this thread (and another current one) have disturbed the cobwebs in my brain so, while it would require the cooperation of Jon Rhees (who designed the USB-UIRT), it would be fairly easy to modify a USB-UIRT to send/receive RF in addition to IR.

[dhouston]

This looks to be a complex program that you must have put an awful lot of work into to have then lost!

I suspect CodeGenPro and Wave2CCF (created CCF codes from RF & IR codes captured as .wav files) were victims of some housecleaning a few years back. I got rid of a PC & CRT monitor I had used with 95/98/2000 and also pitched a bunch of 5-1/4 & 3-1/2 inch floppy discs.

Now, reading the ESP32 datasheet, I wish I had saved CodeGenPro and Wave2CCF as this new WiFi/BT chip has IR built in. The datasheet (Section 4.14) mentions eight IR send/receive channels and says it supports various IR Protocols. This is very preliminary but it looks like this $7 $3.50 chip might turn any WiFi/BT-capable smartphone/tablet into a truly universal remote.
https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/product-files/3269/esp32_datasheet_en_0.pdf

The 162 page ESP32 Technical Reference Manual provides a bit more detail.
http://www.espressif.com/en/support/download/overview?keys=&field_type_tid%5B%5D=13

The ESP32 would make a great front-end for the CM11A, XTB-232 and other controllers (even TTL) linking to them via USB, Serial, TTL, WiFi or Bluetooth with X10 and AV RF & IR transmitters & receivers as inexpensive add-ons.

[dhouston]

Laser found an archived copy of CodeGen.ZIP which they sent me.

Unfortunately, I cannot install it on any of my current machines (W7 & W10). I get a message that SetUp.EXE will not run under this version of Windows. I kept the HDD from my XP machine (installed in a USB housing but not bootable) and it has no CodeGen files so I suspect I created CodeGen (and zipped it with WinZip) on a W98 or W2000 machine.

If anyone has an active version of W98 or W2000, I can send them the ZIP file. It might also install under XP if someone wants to try.

Do any of the Harmony (or other IR-capable) Hubs allow you to import CCF files?

BTW, I found a new Pronto TS1000 plus docking station on eBay for less than $50. I've yet to play with it so don't know whether or not it's operable. If so, and if someone can unzip/install CodeGen, it might prove useful.

[toasterking]

Awesome, dhouston!  I'd love to try out CodeGen!

I get a message that SetUp.EXE will not run under this version of Windows.

That usually (though not always) means that the installer is a 16-bit executable and you're trying to run it on a 64-bit OS, which has no VM support for running 16-bit code.  These usually still work on modern 32-bit variants of Windows.  If it's an old InstallShield-based installer, there exist drop-in 32-bit engine files to allow some 16-bit installers to work in 32-bit mode on a 64-bit OS (though the sane thing to do if you intend to keep distributing it, which you probably don't care much about at this point, is to repackage it with a more modern installer engine).  It was common for 32-bit apps to be distributed with a 16-bit installer engine well into the 32-bit era to provide backward compatibility.  It's still popular for applications to be distributed with a 32-bit installer also.  I deal with this often in my job.

At any rate, I already have VMs set up running both Win98SE and WinXP so I don't expect that it will be a problem for me!  I have a TSU6000 and TSU501, though I'm more interested in using the TSU501.  The TSU501 needs its codes formatted differently as its configuration format is quite different, but that part is my problem. 

[dhouston]

The XP HDD has a WinZip directory but that version of WinZip doesn't want to run under W7. I tried the trial version of the latest WinZip but either it or I don't seem to know which end is up - it only sees about 5% of the folders and files under W10.

Send me a PM with your email and I'll send you the ZIP file. I don't recall whether it included documentation so, even if you can install it, you may be flying blind.

[toasterking]

PM sent.  I have no expectations, so I won't be disappointed.    I'm not sure if this program even does anything that I want/need at this point, but it looks like it would be fun to play with.  I will report back with what I find.  Thanks!

[dhouston]

The ZIP is en route. Good luck with it.

If you can install it, I'd like to have it repackaged so that I can install it on one of my current systems. It and my new TS1000 might be useful with the ESP32's infrared features.

[jl01152]

Hi Dave, I'm new to this forum. I'm currently working on implementing some RF modules in my home automation project. I was reading your write up over at laser and first of all I want to thank you for such great information over there. I was also interested in your program Codegen, however, I noticed that there was no download link. After further searching I came to the conclusion that it is not in the wild. Would you care to share it with me? I'm not able to PM you as I am still a newbie. It would be most appreciated.

Thank You