IR Blaster controlling Sky Q box

[mk_chappo]

I have been trying to find out if it possible for the Sony Android IR blaster to control a Sky Q STB.

My conversations with Sony support have only yielded the following response

"With reference to your query, please note that we do not have a confirmation date or information regarding when Sky Q will be supported by Sony IR Blaster."

Since this was pretty much the same response I received over a year ago I'm not too sure when (or even if) this will be implemented.

The IR Blaster is capable of controlling the Sky HD STB and I wondered if it would be possible to build some sort of IR code converter. Whilst looking around at this I came across the "KIRAQ Networked IR and RS232 Control for Sky HD and Sky Q Systems" unit. I contacted the suppliers (Keene Electronics) and they could not have been more helpful. They confirmed that it should be able to take the IR Codes delivered from the IR Blaster and send them on to the Sky Q STB. I ordered a unit and can confirm that using the Sony IR Blaster I can now control my Sky Q System. Generally the response time is very fast (the KIRAQ sends the IR codes to the Sky Q box via Ethernet) and it is only multiple fast key presses (such as scrolling through the Sky Q menus) that can seem a little delayed. However this is more due to the response time of the IR Blaster - but still very acceptable.

The only problem was that the Sony remote did not have a button to directly mimic the Sky Q "Home" button (you could force the IR Blaster to send the code by using the Action Menu - but this is a bit of a hassle when it probably one of the most used keys!). However the guys at Keene Electronics have come up with a custom firmware release which remaps one of the colour keys (not the Red) directly to the "Home" button. Hey presto - I can now control every Sky Q function I need from the TV remote.

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

I will update you when I get more info on this.

Thank you for your patience.

Best wishes,

M

[Tikigod19]

Hi. I'm very intrigued by this. I just bought a 55xe8596 and the only thing left outstanding to setup is getting the Sony voice remote to control sky q (not with voice specifically, just with button presses) 

Do you know if this device would work with the ir blaster that came with my amdroid TV to control the sky q? 

Any tips would be massively appreciated! 

[mk_chappo]

I'm pretty sure it would work as I presume the Android TV / IR Blaster function is the same as is on my 55A1.

Just plug the unit into power and Ethernet. Set it up (via it's own webinterface) and point the IR blaster from the TV at the IR reviever of the KIRAQ unit and it just works. Been using mine for a few weeks now with no problem.Nice to be able to control everything from just 1 remote.

As I said the only downside is that it does not respond as "instantly" as the normal Sky Q remote especially when scrolling up / down lists. I think this is more to do with the IR Blaster rather than the KIRAQ controller though.

[Tikigod19]

Thank you for the reply. 

Ah OK so the ir blaster from the tv still needs to be used? What if the remote has direct line of sight to the new device? Would that work? 

[Tikigod19]

I'd also be interested to know how the remote knows whether you want to control the TV or the sky box. So if I wanted to change TV settings during watching sky could I push the home button and then use up and down the to navigate the TV menus or would control the sky box? 

Also can you get your sky box to turn on and off automatically when you switch to your sky q hdmi socket? 

[mk_chappo]

Does not matter if remote has line of sight to the KIRAQ as the KIRAQ converts Sky HD IR codes to SKY Q commands over Ethernet. The Sony remote does not transmit SkyHD codes the IR Blaster does this (once you have set the IR blaster up to control a Sky HD box).

[mk_chappo]

The TV knows when to output TV control codes on the IR blaster when you are in the "TV" mode (TV button on Sony remote). Therefore when you are doing something else with the TV (watching Netflix for example) the IR blaster does not send any codes to the emitter and hence to the Sky Q box.

The Sony remote "Home" button cannot be used as the Sky Q "Home" function so you need to map a separate key on the remote for this. KIRAQ have mapped the "Blue" function key for this purpose as it is hardly used for anything else.

I hav not managed to get the Sky Q to turn on and off automatically using the HDMI socket. But KIRAQ have mapped another of the colour function keys as the power on/off to the Sky Q box.

[Tikigod19]

"KIRAQ converts Sky HD IR codes to SKY Q commands over Ethernet. The Sony remote does not transmit SkyHD codes the IR Blaster does this (once you have set the IR blaster up to control a Sky HD box)"

The problem is I can't get my TV remote (which also doesn't seem to have a TV button) to control my sky q box at all even when I set it up as sky HD box and/or use ir blaster. Did yours work before you bought this gadget? 

[mk_chappo]

No you wont be able to control the Sky Q using just the Sony supplied IR blaster. Even if you set it to Sky HD output. Sky HD IR codes are not the same as Sky Q IR codes. Try using an old SkyHD remote to control Sky Q - it can't. You need the KIRAQ unit to recieve the Sky HD codes from the Sony IR blaster and then pass these control codes on to the Sky Q box over Ethernet.