Remote contolled MP3 and AM/FM Tuner

Hi All,

We are installing a Clipsal MRA and have been asked by our customer to supply the following to connect into it:

1) MP3 Player
2) AM/FM Tuner

These both need to be IR controllable and the customer wants this equipment in the audio cupboard and does not want to use his home theatre equipment for this.

Can anyone suggest brands and models? I found a couple of commercial units like Bosch that could do both, but they do not have IR remote control.

They will be controlled by NEOS and a Colour C-Touch.

Regards

 

Does the customer want to be able to play MP3's across a computer ethernet network? or to have its own local storage such as a hard drive? or does he want to have a cd player in it capable of playing MP3 cd's?

Darpa

 

If all the customer wants to do, is play MP3 Cd's, and cost is factor, I would simply go buy one of the cheap little "cube" stereos from coles or woolworths, one that can play MP3 CD's, has an IR remote control, and has speakers that can be detached, then discard the speakers from it, and go buy a cheap Speaker-to-Line Level convertor as used in cars, from a place like supercheap auto, (cost about $20), and use that. But if they are willing to spend more money, or want a different way of playing MP3's, let me know, and I will nut something out for you.


Darpa

 

Darpa,

Thanks for the info. The customer actually would like to walk to their cupboard and place their portable MP3 player (not sure if it an IPOD) on to a docking station, but this would not give me the remote control option. They actually suggested to purchase a cheap DVD player that plays MP3's and hook it up for the audio, which probably would do the trick. But what do I do about an AM/FM tuner.

I would like to give them a couple of options so they can choose the price point that suits them. Does this help ?

Regards

 

LOL - then I reckon go to Target or Kmart or Retravision and buy one of the cheap stereos that play MP3 CD's, has an IR remote AND has a *digital* AM/FM tuner (so you can skip preset channels) AND has Line In jacks (for the MP3 player) AND has Source Select on the remote AND has Line Out or Rec Out jacks (saves the visit to Supercheap)... and then chuck away the speakers from it !

I'm only being half serious in that reply

JC

PS: You can buy docking stations for most MP3 players at Dick Smith, etc. Dunno if they have IR, never bothered with those silly toys

 

Well while we're on the topic of half-serious posts....

How about going and buying a car stereo head unit which has iPod control capability, line level out, and IR remote control (Alpine comes to mind) and set that up?

I'm leaning a little bit more towards the non-serious side than John with that one

But seriously, Jesmond, if you can find out from the customer exactly what kind of portable MP3 player they have, (as you said, probably an iPod), and once you know the make and model of the device, I'm fairly sure I can come up with some kind of solution for you, as there is definately a way of remote controlling iPod's, I've had dealings with similar setups before, so once you know more detail about the customer's current equipment, I'll put a bit more brainpower behind things and nut out a solution for you. I already have some very suitable Radio Tuners in mind for this job site of yours, I just need to check a couple of things before I recommend any of them.


Best of luck,

Darpa

 

Oh, and as another thing,

IF, and I mean IF your client wants to consider this as an option, if they are "computer literate/minded", if you were to buy a bottom of the range PC from Dell or whatever, (cost around $800, comes with an 80 Gig hard drive, which is enough for roughly, and I mean roughly, 10,000 songs on top of the operating system), because you are using a Colour C-Touch, they could load all their music onto this PC, and have full remote control of this system via a plug-in in Windows Media Player on the system, which enables a Colour C-Touch to control things like selection of playlists, selection of songs, play / pause / stop, etc.

Just a thought, and also, can you please ask your client if they want to be able to use the radio at the same time as the MP3 system in a different zone to each other, or if they are happy with only using the radio OR mp3 player at any one time.

Cheers,

Darpa

 

The MP3 enabled car radio is not such a bad idea, because it will allow you to put a proper antenna outside if necessary and they usually have reasonable front ends so if it's in a cupboard next to some RF noisy stuff, it should fair better.

Cheers

Rohan

 

Hi Darpa,

Thanks for your replies, I really appreciate your assistance. I really like your PC idea but I am not confident that I could set this up, would love to learn this though. Is it really difficult ?

In respect to the client wanting to use both MP3 and Tuner at the same time in different zones, yes he does. I am waiting for his reply on the model numbers of the MP3 players and Docking station. He has confirmed that he has 2 MP3 players, both IPODs, but different models, and his Docking Station is a current Apple one. He will call me back later today to confirm the model numbers on all 3.

Thanks once again.

Regards

 

Hi Jesmond,

As far as controlling an MP3 player like the iPod, there are several IR remotes on the market. The MRA Matrix Switcher could quite easily be setup to issue these IR codes in response to C-Bus messages or via the reticulated IR and a suitable remote. This would give you the ability to control the MP3 player. A link to one (not a recommendation) is http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=48657&&source=14&doy=search
There are plenty of others as well.

Cheers

RDS

 

Ok Guys,

The customer has advised me that he has 2 x Ipod 30Gb Black (could not give me model no's etc) I don't use MP3's so I wasn't going to argue. He also has a Logitech MM50 dock. Please do not get hung up on the current dock or technology, as he has asked me to come up with a solution that he can play his MP3's and listen to AM/FM so he is willing to buy more bits if need be.

As always I appreciate all your help.

Regards

 

There are professianl level iPod docks that are controlled via serial. Possibly look at using a PAC to control these docks to give the most "professional" solution.

An example is the iPort http://www.iportmusic.com/iport-inwall.html which also includes a IR remote that may make integration even easier.

 

Um, please forgive me for correcting you almighty Mr Richo, but the iPort doesnt come with a remote, it simply has an IR sensor on it to accept other remotes.

But other than that, that looks like the PERFECT solution to Jes's problem!! They even have the HEX & Pronto IR Codes for the unit available for download!!!

Now, as far as the AM/FM Tuners are concerned, Here are a couple of name-brand ones that feature IR control, that you can take a look at:

A Sony AM/FM Tuner with DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) abilities for $699 RRP, which u can see Here

And a standard analogue AM/FM Tuner from Pioneer, $349 RRP, link to the webpage Here

These are only two common units, I'm doing a bit more research before I post the other units I'm checking out.

And on another note, DAB transmissions are only in their testing stage here in Australia, and there is a chance that the standards bodies will decide on a different system, which would mean that the Sony would only be good for standard analogue transmissions if this were to happen.

Ever searching and researching,

Darpa

 

Almighty Mr Richo ... I like that, I might get my business cards updated.

Yes, the actual remote itself wouldn't be needed only that it can receive IR. So, as you say, it is still a good option.

 

Thanks Heaps again for all the information guys. I will be creating a proposal tomorrow incorporating all the options outlined in this thread. Can anyone recommend a trade dealer for the Iport?

 

Given that you have not used this equipment before, make sure you give yourself a way out if you have problems with radio reception inside a cupboard. You have no idea of the RF quality of the units you are looking at and you might find that the reception is just not up to scratch. I would try to make sure that whatever unit you select has external antenna connections (for both AM & FM) just in case you need to run an aerial outside.

Cheers

Rohan

 

Thanks Rohan, I can see your point and will be looking into it further.

Regards