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Simple circuit for recording ir signals - would it work? (cheating at lasertag)

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teslaguy

Fri Aug 31 2007, 06:01AM

Registered Member #617 Joined: Fri Mar 30 2007, 07:29PM
Location: Buffalo NY
Posts: 49

hi guys,
i was recently playing laser tag at a professional arena (lasertron) and i noticed that the recharging stations use ir light. i was thinking that if i could record that light and then play it back i could effectively increase my score (because i would not have to walk all the way back). I thought that if i plugged in my circuit: Recordingirsignalsov9

to a portable tap recorder, i could capture the potential difference in voltage created by the ir phototransistor, and then i could use audacity (?) to edit out some of the noise and then duplicate the signal in wav audio form. then to play it back i would only need to hook up a ir diode and a aa battery (or possibly no battery) to the headphone jack of the recorder. so are there any suggestions? do you think it could work? and should i use radioshack model number 276-145 or 276-640. If im completely in the wrong direction could someone also help point me in the right one?

[Edit:Image size]

Sulaiman

Fri Aug 31 2007, 07:29AM

Registered Member #162 Joined: Mon Feb 13 2006, 10:25AM
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3140

I don't know the system in use, but if it's IR then I guess it's digital light modulation (on/off)
in a high speed data packet.
I doubt that a tape recorder would have sufficient bandwidth for the signal.

Try one of those "universal' TV remote controllers, the kind that learn from other controllers.

ShawnLG

Fri Aug 31 2007, 07:50AM

Registered Member #286 Joined: Mon Mar 06 2006, 04:52AM
Location:
Posts: 399

Wouldn't this be cheating?

teslaguy

Fri Aug 31 2007, 08:16AM

Registered Member #617 Joined: Fri Mar 30 2007, 07:29PM
Location: Buffalo NY
Posts: 49

ShawnLG wrote ...

Wouldn't this be cheating?

absolutely.

Sulaiman wrote ...

I don't know the system in use, but if it's IR then I guess it's digital light modulation (on/off)
in a high speed data packet.
I doubt that a tape recorder would have sufficient bandwidth for the signal.

Try one of those "universal' TV remote controllers, the kind that learn from other controllers.

that could work to, i happen to have one of those on hand...but it does require a laptop. I was thinking that it would employ digital light modulation, but that it would probably a 15 hertz signal or something simplistic of that nature. in the past i managed to record am light modulation from a laser connected to an ipod on a tap recorder with very little distortion, it just needed to be boosted a few db. Do you think that the tape recorder would not be able to handle 38khz (my second best guess for the frequency) digital light modulation? does anyone else have any ideas surrounding this?

Steve Conner

Fri Aug 31 2007, 08:26AM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

It's unlikely that a cheap portable tape recorder could handle 38kHz, though you could test it by trying to record and play back TV remote signals at home.

If I were doing this, I'd have to sneak in a 96kHz digital recorder somehow, and then take it home and analyze the signals using Spectrum Lab or similar. I'd then know if a learning remote, or whatever, would work, and could maybe even program the remote using the gathered data. The smallest 96kHz capable recorder I have is my laptop with a UA-1EX, so it would be tricky.

I'd probably just spend the time and effort on practicing my laser tag tactics instead

Bjørn

Fri Aug 31 2007, 08:49AM

Registered Member #27 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 02:20AM
Location: Hyperborea
Posts: 2058

A good old tape recorder will not work because there is already a high frequency signal modulated on to the audio signal before it is put on the tape. This means there is a nice filter to remove any high frequency signals from the audio.

HV Enthusiast

Fri Aug 31 2007, 04:52PM

Registered Member #15 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 01:11PM
Location:
Posts: 3068

Actually, those recharge stations are not for "recharging" your gun. Its an old fashioned way of keeping score. When you recharge your gun, you are basically uploading your "score" into the computer. So if you don't upload your "points" to the computer, you lose anyways.

My advice - find a better game. Lasertag is soooo 80's.

teslaguy

Fri Aug 31 2007, 05:35PM

Registered Member #617 Joined: Fri Mar 30 2007, 07:29PM
Location: Buffalo NY
Posts: 49

EastVoltResearch wrote ...

Actually, those recharge stations are not for "recharging" your gun. Its an old fashioned way of keeping score. When you recharge your gun, you are basically uploading your "score" into the computer. So if you don't upload your "points" to the computer, you lose anyways.

My advice - find a better game. Lasertag is soooo 80's.

I was told that might be the case by a friend but your pack has to be in visual sight of the recharging station, if someone stands in front of it,no one else can recharge. So with that i mind, it cant be rf, so how else would that work? I was thinking that it has to just have an ir emitter. Next time i play i will pay attention to when the scores update.

ShawnLG

Sat Sept 01 2007, 06:26AM

Registered Member #286 Joined: Mon Mar 06 2006, 04:52AM
Location:
Posts: 399

"My advice - find a better game. Lasertag is soooo 80's."
People today play Deathmatch with online games such as Halo, Unreal Tournament or Quake III arena.

Electroholic

Sat Sept 01 2007, 11:50AM

Registered Member #191 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 02:01AM
Location: Esbjerg Denmark
Posts: 720

what? halo? Quake III?

Halo 3 is coming out in a few weeks, and Q4 came out like 3 years ago.

lol

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