Choosing a IR sensor to see a tv romote/radio remote etc

[Hawaii00000]

If I was to do something like this with my Arduino so that I can create a robot that controls the tv, radio etc. http://www.compendiumarcana.com/irwidget/ would it matter about the type or IR reciever I get? Could I use the one you get from Radio Shack that comes with an IR LED? How about the type with three pins coming out of it (I already have one of those).

By the way,
I am aware of this post... http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=6879.msg52116#msg52116

[Soeren]

Hi,

Your post is not quite clear to me. You want your 'bot to control your TV etc. (then you'll never again have any say in what you watch ), but asks for a receiver?

The 'bot only needs an IR-LED (of the right wavelength) to control your TV.

[Hawaii00000]

My problem is that I have to first read what kind of "signal" the remote sends, so that  I can imitate it using an IR led on the robot.

[Soeren]

Hi,

You won't be able too see the transmitted signal with an integrated receiver, since they strip all leading AGC-adjust pulses and remove the carrier wave.

If you've got an old PC with a parallel port or an oldfashioned game port, bootable into DOS, you can use an IR-transistor and a resistor to read the signal (I have done that with carrier waves up to 455 kHz w. great success) and a small program to time the signal.

Or... You could try Googling your TV etc. and get the codes without soldering and coding.

[Hawaii00000]

Unfortunately I don't have any of that and I don't not sure everything I want to control is online. Are sure I can't do it with an Arduino and a laptop?