Building a remote keyboard for a Sony MD player

[seppo 0]

A Small Remote Keyboard for MD

I have developed a very small IR remote controller that can be used to operate certain Sony MD players and also to enter song titles. It is based on the GKOS keybord concept so you have to use the GKOS alphabet if you want to enter text with it. It is quite simple to build and consists only of a few components including the popular PIC microcontroller 16F876. The instructions can be found at http://gkos.net (Building project 3).

[Bananatree 0]

That looks cool, but how do you go about typing?

I think I'd have trouble remembering the key commands.

[seppo 0]

That looks cool, but how do you go about typing?

I think I'd have trouble remembering the key commands.

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I had no trouble learning the remote commands like Play, Stop etc. but learning to type fast takes some time of course.

In the beginning, while entering song titles, you can keep the 'virtual GKOS keyboad', visible to you showing the letters and numbers.

My typing speed with a GKOS keyboard is around 40...45 WPM now, and my record is 50 WPM (one-minute typing test). Because this is a new concept it takes some effort to get used to thinking differently about typing.

Once you have the skill, it is really cool not having to watch the keyboard but the text you are producing!

[Christopher 1]

Moving this to the relevant forum..

I may construct one of these during the winter. Can you take pictures or video of remote operation? This is a very interesting project.

[seppo 0]

There are pictures and a video of how the physically similar GKOS keyboard is used for typing remotely on a PC. Pictures are found at gkos.net and gkos.com pages. I only just developed the MD remote control software (works fine now) but have not yet had time to produce a video showing it in operation but I can do that in the near future.

[seppo 0]

I just prepared a demo video (Winmedia) showing the tiny GKOS MiniDisc Remote Controller in operation including entering of song titles. It can be found at gkos.net, or directly at http://personal.inet.fi/koti/gkos/av/gkos_md_demo3.wmv

[MZ-NH1 0]

AHAHAH, that looks AWSOME!!!!!! Well done! Nice video!

seppo, what Hi-Fi unit are you using which can read your MiniDiscs? I have never seen something which can do that!?

[seppo 0]

MD on the GKOS demo video - My MiniDisc player on the video showing entering of song titles is Sony JE-510.

I suppose at least Sony MD products MJ-L1, DHC-MD99/MD77/MD5, CMT-M11C, MXD-D1, and MDS-S37/JE500/JE700/503/J3000 can be operated by my GKOS mini keyboard.

If you want to try building a little GKOS remote control of your own, check gkos.net, building project 3.

[Christopher 1]

I'm going to sticky this. Thank you for your contribution.

[mrsingh 0]

The small remote concept looks amazing, i think it would be useful for my pda, but i havnt got a clue how to build it, instructions are a bit vague on the website, any1 got a more in depth tutorial on this infra red remote?

[yoda_143 0]

The small remote concept looks amazing, i think it would be useful for my pda, but i havnt got a clue how to build it, instructions are a bit vague on the website, any1 got a more in depth tutorial on this infra red remote?

you should have a look at http://koti.mbnet.fi/~gkos/gkosnet/gd-circuit.html it's pretty much self explanatory

[caddydaddyfleetwood 0]

what to the buttons on the remote look like? it doenst show it in the video

[seppo 0]

what to the buttons on the remote look like? it doenst show it in the video

It has three keys with 2 switches each, making 6 switches is total. See the actual layout at http://gkos.net

There's also another video with a view of both sides of the remote:

Cheers!