Circuit electrinic

Here is a tester for on-board testing of IR receiver modules used for remote control of TV sets and VCD players. The circuit is very simple and can also function as a remote tester. IR receiver modules are miniature IR receivers sensitive to pulsed infrared rays. These have a pin photo-diode and a preamplifier stage encased in an epoxy case that acts as the IR filter.

Infrared (IR) Receiver Module Tester Circuit Diagram

Internally, the module has an AGC, band-pass filter, demodulator and control circuit. Its output has a bipolar transistor with 80- to 100-kilo-ohm resistor in the collector. Normally, the collector output of the transistor is high and gives 5V at 5 mA. The output of the module is active-low and hence it sinks current when the pin photo-diode senses the presence of pulsed IR rays.


The IR receiver module is designed with high immunity against ambient light and is capable of continuous data transmission at up to 2400 bps or higher. The band-pass filter and AGC suppress unexpected noise to avoid false triggering. The module responds to the IR beam only if its carrier frequency is close to the centre frequency of the band pass.

IR Receiver Module Pinout

Working of the circuit is simple. Three mini crocodile clips are used to connect the circuit to the positive, negative and output of the module. If the module is properly working, its output remains 5 volts. This makes the cathode of LED1 high. So LED1 doesn’t glow and the buzzer remains silent. When you focus the remote handset onto the IR receiver and press any switch, the output of the IR receiver sinks current.

So LED1 starts flashing and the buzzer beeps in sync with the pulsations of the IR beam. On the other hand, if your IR receiver module is faulty, the output of the module does not sink current when you focus the remote handset towards the module and press any switch. So neither LED1 flashes, nor the buzzer beeps in sync with the pulsations of the IR beam.

Power to the circuit is obtained from a 9V PP3 battery and regulated to 5 volts by zener diode ZD1. Most of the IR receiver modules work only between 3 and 6 volts. Storage capacitor C1 releases current to make LED1 flash brightly. (EFY Note. We had used a TSOP1738 IR receiver module while testing. Fig. 2 shows the pin configuration of TSOP1738.)

Assemble the circuit on a small piece of matrix board and enclose in a small cabinet. Use a high-brightness red LED and a small buzzer for audio-visual indication. Connect points A, B and C to the crocodile clips using red, black and blue wires to connect to the pins of the module easily. For easy identification of pins, the pin assignment (front view) of some common IR receiver modules is shown in the table.

This simple circuit proves to achieve surprisingly good results when used with the IR–S/PDIF transmitter described elsewhere in this site. The IR receiver consists of nothing more than a photodiode, a FET and three inverter gates used as amplifier. The FET is used as an input amplifier and filter, due to its low parasitic capacitance. This allows R1 to have a relatively high resistance, which increases the sensitivity of the receiver. The bandwidth is primarily determined by photo-diode D1, and with a value of 2k2 for R1, it is always greater than 20 MHz. The operating current of the FET is intentionally set rather high (around 10 mA) using R2, which also serves to ensure adequate bandwidth. The voltage across R2 is approximately 0.28–0.29 V.

The combination of L1 and R3 forms a high-pass filter that allows signals above 1 MHz to pass. L1 is a standard noise-suppression choke. From this filter, the signal is fed to two inverters configured as amplifiers. The third and final inverter (IC1c) generates a logic-level signal. This 74HCU04 provides so much gain that there is a large risk of oscillation, particularly when the final stage is loaded with a 75-Ω coaxial cable. In case of problems (which will depend heavily on the construction), it may be beneficial to add a separate, decoupled buffer stage for the output, which will also allow the proper output impedance (75 Ω) to be maintained in order to prevent any reflections.

When building the circuit, make sure that the currents from IC1 do not flow through the ground path for T1. If necessary, use two separate ground planes and local decoupling. Furthermore, the circuit must be regarded as a high-frequency design, so it’s a good idea to provide the best possible screening between the input and the output. With the component values shown in the schematic, the range is around 1.2 metres without anything extra, which is not especially large. However, the range can easily be extended by using a small positive lens (as is commonly done with standard IRDA modules). In our experiments, we used an inexpensive magnifying glass, and once we got the photodiode positioned at the focus after a bit of adjustment.

We were able to achieve a range of 9metres using the same transmitter (with a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz). This does require the transmitter and receiver to be physically well aligned to each other. As you can see, a bit of experimenting certainly pays off here! It may also be possible to try other types of photo-diode. The HDSL-5420 indicated in the schematic has a dome lens, but there is a similar model with a flat-top case (HDSL-5400). It has an acceptance angle of 110°, and with the same level of illumination, it generates nearly four times as much current.

The current consumption of the circuit is 43 mA with no signal and approximately 26 mA with a signal (fs = 44.1 kHz) That is rather high for battery operation, but it can handled quite readily using a pair of rechargeable NiMH cells. Incidentally, the circuit will also work at 4.5 V and even 3 V. If a logic-level output is needed, C3 at the output can be replaced by a jumper. Finally, there is one other thing worth mentioning. With the HSDL-5400 that we had to play with, the cathode marking (a dark-blue line on the side below one lead) was on the wrong side (!). So if you want to be sure that the diode is fitted properly, it’s a good idea to measure the DC voltage across R1, which should be practically zero.