Usage

Your entities

Capturing a code

1. Turn on Learning mode

   The blaster's LED lights up. The add-on holds it armed and polls it once a second, re-arming every 20 seconds ahead of the firmware timeout.

2. Press a button on your remote

   Aim at the blaster from within a metre or so. The Receiver entity's state updates to the capture timestamp.

3. Read the result

   Last captured code now holds the code, with the full packet in its attributes.

4. Let it close

   The switch turns itself off after 15 seconds of quiet, or 60 seconds total. Each capture extends the window, so you can record several buttons in one session.

What a capture actually looks like

A signal is a list of signed microsecond durations. Positive is carrier on, negative is carrier off. This is a 32-bit NEC frame — the 9 ms header burst is unmistakable on the left, then 32 bits where a long gap means 1 and a short gap means 0:

Getting the raw code out

{{ state_attr('sensor.living_room_blaster_last_captured_code', 'base64') }}
{{ state_attr('sensor.living_room_blaster_last_captured_code', 'timings') }}

The base64 attribute is the Broadlink packet exactly as the official integration stores it, so it drops straight into remote.send_command with a b64: prefix if you still use that elsewhere.

Sending a code

actions:
  - action: infrared.send_command
    target:
      entity_id: infrared.living_room_blaster_emitter
    data:
      timings: [9000, -4500, 560, -560, 560, -1690, 560]
      modulation: 38000
      repeat_count: 1

Or publish to the topic yourself:

actions:
  - action: mqtt.publish
    data:
      topic: broadlink2mqtt/a1b2c3d4e5f6/emitter/set
      payload: >-
        {"timings": [9000, -4500, 560], "modulation": 38000, "repeat_count": 0}

Recipes

Capture straight into an input_text

automation:
  - alias: Store the last IR code
    triggers:
      - trigger: state
        entity_id: sensor.living_room_blaster_last_captured_code
    actions:
      - action: input_text.set_value
        target:
          entity_id: input_text.ir_scratchpad
        data:
          value: "{{ state_attr(trigger.entity_id, 'base64') }}"

React to a remote button press

Leave learning mode on and use the receiver as a trigger, comparing against a known capture:

automation:
  - alias: Dim the lights on the remote's red button
    triggers:
      - trigger: state
        entity_id: infrared.living_room_blaster_receiver
    conditions:
      - condition: template
        value_template: >-
          {{ state_attr('sensor.living_room_blaster_last_captured_code', 'base64')
             == 'JgBQAAABJ5MTOBM4ExMTExMTExMT...' }}
    actions:
      - action: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.living_room
        data:
          brightness_pct: 30

Hold a long capture session

automation:
  - alias: Hold IR learning open
    triggers:
      - trigger: state
        entity_id: switch.living_room_blaster_learning_mode
        to: "off"
    conditions:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: input_boolean.ir_capture_session
        state: "on"
    actions:
      - action: switch.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: switch.living_room_blaster_learning_mode

Flip input_boolean.ir_capture_session on while you work through a remote, then off when you are done. Raising capture_limit is the simpler alternative.

Using it with device integrations

The point of a real infrared entity is that other integrations can drive it. Anything that asks for an infrared emitter — LG Infrared and the rest of the growing set — will list your Broadlink blaster and handle the codes for you, with no captures needed at all.

The receiver opens the same door in the other direction: HAIR lists the official Broadlink integration as transmit-only, and this add-on is what makes its live Sniffer work with a blaster you already own.