TV with no Power-return (but will turn back on to same channel)

[johnnyr]

Hey guys,

Well, I THOUGHT the tv had power-return, but I guess not. If I unplug it and then plug it back in within 2-3 min, it will work, otherwise it does NOT turn back on. It does however always come on to the correct channel. So I need some of your ideas on the most simple and elegant way of having this tv turn on. I have a few ideas:

1) Cut a small round hole in the happs bezel and either a) install somesort of pushbutton that will hit the power button on the tv, or b) allow a remote to turn the tv on.

2) use some sort of IR blaster and configure it to send a power on signal when the computer boots up (is this possible?)

I was really hoping I could automate everything, as opposed to having to grab a remote to turn on the tv.

Let me know some of your ideas!

[DolansCadillac]

Have you tried jamming the power button down? Worked for my old TV. I stuck a piece of cardboard into the side of the button so that it was always depressed and taped it down, and voila, power-return.

[Jack Burton]

It might be a little involved, but splicing the wires going to the power button and routing them to a button on the top of the cabinet would work for sure. 

[brock.sampson]

I rigged a universal remote to an lpt cable.  Soldered pin 2 and 25 to the power contacts on the remote and put it fairly close to the remote sensor on the tv.  When the pc boots it polls the lpt port which in turn powers on the tv.  I have the lpt port disabled within windows because it will poll when windows starts.  I run a shutdown script to enable and disable the lpt port which powers off the tv.  It wasn't really that hard and is pretty reliable.

[ivwshane]

My TV's power button was on it's own pcb so I just used a zip tie wrapped around it that held the button down.

Works like a charm and requires very little work and effort.

[johnnyr]

My TV's power button was on it's own pcb so I just used a zip tie wrapped around it that held the button down.

Works like a charm and requires very little work and effort.

I may try to somehow get the power button to stay depressed, thanks for the suggestions guys.

[Nogginboink]

I rigged a universal remote to an lpt cable.  Soldered pin 2 and 25 to the power contacts on the remote and put it fairly close to the remote sensor on the tv.  When the pc boots it polls the lpt port which in turn powers on the tv.  I have the lpt port disabled within windows because it will poll when windows starts.  I run a shutdown script to enable and disable the lpt port which powers off the tv.  It wasn't really that hard and is pretty reliable.

That sounds convoluted. Why not just go from the LPT port to a relay for the TV's power switch? (Or an optoisolator.) No need to involve an IR remote in the process.

[brock.sampson]

I was nervous working inside the tv and wasn't really interested in soldering to the board.  I'm sure there are a ton of different options to get the same results.  I picked the approach I was most comfortable with.