So what is a HIDecho

This little box of trick came about after I ended up running up and down the country resetting systems that needed a manual touch.
In other words, turning off and on again.

Usually something to do with a CCTV system.

A HID device is a Human Interface Device. Think mouse, keyboards etc
The purpose of this little box was to record the inputs from such devices, and replay them upon command.
I designed it with a couple of way of inputting data.
2x Standard USB ports for keyboards or a mouse and an IR receiver, which could either be the onboard one, or a remote one on a lead.

It had a slide switch that gave it 2 modes. Learn and replay.

Finally there was an input trigger bus on the back to initiate the replay of the recorded data.
I fitted a small OLED screen and a pair of buttons (Enter and Select).  A micro SD card stored the recorded data and also allowed you to upload a text file that contained your required transmission data.
So, to use the module you would plug in a mouse and keyboard, and the USB output on the right would go to the device you are controlling.  For instance, a PC, laptop or the mouse of a DVR, NVR.

You would switch to record and after a short countdown on the screen, the unit would start recording any movements you made with the mouse, anything you typed on the keyboard and any infra-red signals it detected.
This recording could be up to 5 minutes long or 500 'events' (mouse clicks, key entries etc).
So as an example.  Start recording....
  1. You turn on a TV with the IR remote control
  2. You select the TV source. E.G. HDMI 1.
  3. You enter a password on a CCTV NVR (recorder).  This might be a mouse pattern or keyboard entry.
  4. You navigate the NVR menu using the mouse
  5. You select items from the sub menus and click them
  6. You enter passwords or change settings
  7. You click save
  8. You exit the NVR menu

The module would record all of these events in real time.  So if it took 1 minute for a PC to boot up for instance, the unit would wait for that length of time.  It records EXACTLY what you teach it.

Playback time

In the setup menu you can select what triggers the replay of the stored data.

This could be an alarm input (using the terminals on the unit), or more likely, a power cycle.

This is what this unit was really designed for.  When there was a power cut, some of the CCTV  systems used to forget their settings.  
This system upon the power returning to the USB port would then transmit the exact sequence you taught it.
Any IR signals are transmitted from the unit itself, but there is also a remote IR blaster you can install as well.