Hi everyone, just signed up to share a simple and cheap Wireless remote receiver. Wired is good, wireless is better. This post is long and detailed to make things easier for you to understand.
- The options (wired / wireless)
- Parts you will need
- How to build it
- How it works
- My background in case you are curious
- The options (wired / wireless)
The CHDK website features a list of options you can build with simple powerbanks, chinese doorbell, pocket size led lamps, etc. A lot of this information goes many years back and some links are broken, yet the ideas are useful, mine here is just another option allowing Wireless infrared operation. Instead of posting this on a third party website I decided to share it on the forum making easier to keep it online over the years.
- 1 Infrared receiver (3 legs / pins)
- 1 3.7v battery, rechargaeble
- 1 electrolytic condenser
- 1 USB cable compatible with your camera input
- You can use ANY infrared remote control (TV, audio, VHS, etc).
These parts are easily found on broken electronics or you can buy them for pennies at your favorite electronic parts store. You can use the rechargaeble battery from any small cell phone or any handsfree bluetooth, or even a 18650 battery. All of those are rated 3.7v but being rechargaeble means they will reach 4.2v once fully charged. My personal suggestion: go small, as you don't need all the power from large batteries. By power I mean the milliamps. As for the infrared receiver might be easy to buy it, I have extracted some from remote controlled sound systems, you might try that too. The electrolytic condenser doesn't need complex specifics, as long as you use one rated 5v minimum you are good to go, I'm using a tiny one to keep things portable, you don't need large capacities here, this item is only needed to smooth the output signal.
Just follow the instructions on the attached picture, it's really that simple. Just make sure you wire everything according to the polarity of the components and you are good to go. In my case I added a power on/off button, and the battery is recharged via a simple power bank circuit. You can buy any cheap powerbank and just remove the battery that comes with it and wire the one you decided to use for your build. Just keep in mind the charging circuit must NOT be wired directly while you are using the receiver. Why? the charging circuits from powerbank are constantly drawing energy from the battery in "sleep mode", meaning this reduces your power output. You can build a fully functional circuit but as long as you keep the charging module wired it won't work.
It's simple. The infrared receiver works as a switch. When no infrared signal is received there will be NO power output, but when a signal is received, the energy flow will be allowed, producing an intermitent output on the USB cable. The infrared signals from remote controllers are not continuous, in fact are a set of on and off cycles, the electrolytic capacitor will smooth the output. I suggest you keep your multimeter at hand while you build this, and try using a led to test the output before pluging this to your camera, and always double check the polarity output.
- My background in case you are curious
I've worked in photography since 1998. Found CHDK later and used it on my then pocket Canon cheap but useful point and shoot. I have used diff cameras (brands and models) but Canon has been my favorite, specially due to the CHDK versatility and for a while became a fan of thunder photography (thanks to CHDK). A few years ago my exploration of bird photography began, so a decent zoom or just remote shooting become more important. I'm also a DIY and electronics enthusiast. That's all. Just built this module for my camera and why not sharing with the community. Good luck.
