IRForum

We have decided to open a new topic to record our user's experiences with the various IR receivers on the market.

Most Air Conditioner IR protocols send the full configuration or settings every time a button is pressed. This bit-stream is much longer than TV IR protocols.

As IR receivers are tuned for particular jobs, some will fail when trying to demodulate Infrared signals for Air conditioners. Because they are longer signals, the receiver treats them as noise.

So we will list in the following posts in this topic, the feedback reported from users of AnalysIR and members of this forum.

Hopefully this will help to avoid many wasted purchases of the wrong IR Receiver for all!

In general, we strongly recommend IR receivers from Vishay. Do not try to save a few dollars by buying cheaper units, when working with AC IR signals, as you will potentially waste a lot of time trying to decode corrupted signals.

Our first set of feedback is as follows:

AC Remote: YKR-M/001E
AC Unit: Unconfirmed - possibly YORK
Data Bits: 104
IR Receiver: SEN-10266 (actually a Vishay TSOP38238) Status: Pass

=========================================================

AC Unit: Daikin
Data Bits: 64
IR Receiver: TSOP4838 Status: Pass
IR Receiver: Keyes IR receiver Status: Fail

=========================================================

AC Remote: TBC
AC Unit: TBC
Data Bits: 68
IR Receiver: Radio Shack 38kHz Infrared (IR) Receiver Module (276-640) Status: Fail
IR Receiver: Vishay TSOP85338 Status: Pass

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Feel free to add more Pass or Fail feedback in later posts using the following template:
AC Remote:
AC Unit:
Data Bits:
IR receiver: Status:
Optional Comments:

If you are looking for quality IR Receivers, check out the list in our IR component starter kit, which is still available for a limited time (only to people who have AnalysIR).

You can see a summary list below or the full detail here: http://www.analysir.com/blog/2013/08/20 ... nent-kits/
You can get a kit via this page at cost price (subject to availability) http://www.analysir.com/blog/get-analysir/

IR receivers/emitter in component kits:
Model Frequency Description Gain Typical Application
TSSP4038 38kHz 1 x IR receiver Fixed Gain Barrier
TSMP58000 20->60kHz 1 x IR receiver - Learner
TSOP4436 36kHz 1 x IR receiver AGC 4 RC5/6
TSOP4438 38kHz 1 x IR receiver AGC 4 NEC
TSOP4840 40kHz 1 x IR receiver AGC 2 SONY
TSOP2256 56kHz 1 x IR receiver AGC 2 RCA
TSAL6100 - 1 x IR emitter - IR LED transmitter

AGC 2: Standard Applications
AGC 4: Very Noisy Environment

Our best recommendation for AC signals within this kit are the TSOP4438 & the TSSP4038.

Last week we raised a query with Vishay technical support and their response was a follows:

For applications with air conditioners an IR receiver with AGC4 is a good choice. You could use for example TSOP34438 or TSOP4438. They are functionally the same, but have a different IC inside.


Please be aware that this is a general response without knowledge of a particular installation. However, we reviewed the respective datasheets and agree that the above should work fine in most situations. In practice, your choice for purchasing will be influenced by availability at quantities of one, which is why we made a limited number of kits available. You will note that the TSOP4438 is one of the components included in our kits.

Our initial query to Visahy is below:
Hi
I would like to find out which IR receiver (or AGC scheme) is best suited to receiving signals for Air Conditioners, which are typically similar to NEC IR Protocol but with up to 256 data bits or pulses(vs 32 for standard NEC)?

Modulation freq =38kHz

Thanks

USB IR Toy with TSOP34838

AC Remote: TBC
AC Unit: Mitsubishi
Data Bits: 112
IR receiver: TSOP34838 Status: PASS
Optional Comments: The specified IR receiver in the V2 IR Toy appears to be a very good choice for AC signals.

TSOP4838

AC Remote: TBC
AC Unit: TBC
Data Bits: TBC
IR receiver: TSOP4838 Status: Fail
Optional Comments: based on feedback from user melkati

TSSP4038

AC Remote: SHARP
AC Unit: SHARP model ????
Data Bits: 104
IR receiver: TSSP4038 Status: PASS
Optional Comments: Tested with AnalysIR using remote control. This receiver is designed for light barrier systems and does not have the usual AGC schemes. Functionally equivalent to the TSSP58038 which is slightly larger & has a narrower optical window.

Note: This is the default IR receiver we use internally, for decoding signals with AnalysIR. When deploying a project always use a different IR receiver with appropriate AGC & modulation frequency for better range & noise reduction etc.

TSOP38238

AC Remote: HITACHI RAS-63CHA4 Split AC
AC Unit: HITACHI RAS-63CHA4 Split AC
Data Bits: 264
IR receiver: TSOP38238 Status: PASS
Optional Comments: The AC IR signal was successfully captured using the IR Remote module (Arduino Shield from Cooking Hacks). This module is quite pricey and better value modules are available. All you really need is to buy an IR receiver( <$2) and connect it directly to the Arduino. However, if you want an off the shelf solution with integrated emitter then this module is fine and there is an additonal (also pricey) bridge module to interface with the RPi.

TSOP34438

AC Remote: generic
AC Unit: SHARP & DAIKIN AC units
Data Bits: 104+
IR receiver: TSOP34438 Status: PASS
Optional Comments: Tested on a variety of AC signals by a user of AnalysIR.

TSOP34438

AC Remote: KT-100A II Universal AirCon Remote
AC Unit: ROWA RAS-90JAH-R407
Data Bits: 228
IR receiver: TSOP34438 Status: PASS
Optional Comments: Chris had our air con unit codes up and running in no time at all, thanks for all your help guys.