Looking back at an old post where I described how to view, record and decode infrared remote protocol with no more than an integrated receiver, a few parts and your computer with the right software, I decided to make a PCB for such a circuit. Back then I used the breadboard to quickly connect the required parts. I also made some other tests. There is an inconvenient of a soundcard IR receiver. It requires power to operate, but there's no usable power output through the audio input of the computer. At first, I believed I could use the bias voltage for electret microphones that is present only on microphone input. But the IR receiver requires a minimum of 2.5 V. And my card only supplied 2 V. This voltage output cannot provide enough current to drive a DC-DC converter, therefore I had to find an alternative.
One option is to provide voltage from USB port. I didn't like this. If I'm using the USB port, I could as well use a microcontroller and send IR data over the same USB port without using an additional cable. Obviously, the second option is to use a battery. I used for this circuit a CR2032 cell, but this may not be the best option. The rechargeable type LIR2032 may as well be used.
Infrared receiver built on PCB
