I am wondering if it is possible to power and drive a small IR emitter of the kind used for remotes from a regular audio line-out connector as found on smart phones.

Software could generate 1000Hz pulses to form IR commands at max volume and I wonder if a rectifier bridge and a small capacitor produces a DC power strong enough to drive the IR LED.

I don't want to use an external powersource to keep the device simple.
Any suggestions on how this could be done would be very welcome.

 

You could try it, but it is doubtful the audio out has enough current drive to power the LED. A SPEAKER jack could do the job. The speaker output is low impedance and has plenty of current drive.

 

Yeah, thought as much. That is a pitty. I was hoping to construct a very compact ir emitter plug that I can use on my smartphone. The plan is to write an application to drive it.

So I will need to create a slightly bigger contraption with a drive circuit in it.

I am sorry for my ignorance but I am a software developer and not an electronics engineer. Can anyone help me to design a simple circuit powered by a few small button cells. I am thinking 3 volt that uses a line level audio signal to switch on the ir LED? The circuit needs to be a small as possible.

Help will be rewarded by a free copy to the universal remote control program I am writing for Android OS.

Cheers