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.
