To make the Arduino transmit IR signals, you need an IR LED. I found a couple from an old Sun optical mouse and an old TV remote control. I used two emitters because that's what the original Pro-Lite remote has inside and it also gains distance (I hoped). I should probably be connecting these LEDs through a resistor and at various stages I did. But I figured the pulses were so short that it _may_ be ok. Besides, there's more where that came from.

I started the IR emitter sketch from this Arduino forum post. Actually, the part that was most interesting, was how to modulate the LED at a certain frequency.

// this will write an oscillation at 38KHz for a certain time in useconds
void oscillationWrite(int pin, int time) {
for(int i = 0; i <= time/26; i++) {
digitalWrite(pin, HIGH);
delayMicroseconds(13);
digitalWrite(pin, LOW);
delayMicroseconds(13);
}
}

This was to be the key to making it all work. I have no way of knowing if the actual modulation of the Pro-Lite IR remote is 38KHz but it seemed to work.

The next step was to pack the pulse widths into the five known types to put it into code. Perl to the rescue again.

A: S001011110110SRS001011110110SRS00100000
B: S001010001011SRS001010001011SRS00101000
C: S001010100011SRS001010100011SRS00100000
..
M: S001001000010SRS001001000010SRS00100100
..
X: S001011101011SRS001011101011SRS00101110
Y: S001010001110SRS001010001110SRS00101000
Z: S001011111010SRS001011111010SRS00101111

You'll notice I said five types yet there are only four represented above. That's because the five pulse (which I've called null) is between every pulse (the dip down to 0 on the graph). You'll also notice that the bitstreams always begin with “S0010” which I've hard coded since every pulse begins with it. You'll also notice the bitstream repeats a few times. So, when you reduce and remove repeats, you're left with this.

A: 11110110
B: 10001011
C: 10100011
..

Which reduces further into decimal, saving valuable memory space on the Arduino.

int A = 246;
int B = 139;
int C = 163;
int D = 170;
int E = 166;
int F = 202;
int G = 135;
int H = 10;
int I = 78;
..

Next up, finish up the code and give it a test drive.