Since there is so much general interest in IR remotes here... please allow
me to suggest an excellent IR receiver:

  The Siemens SFH-506-XX (where XX represents the IR carrier frequency)

  It is physically about the size of an overfed TO-220 and incorporates
optical, radio and carrier filters.

  Sony incidently makes a similar part... but, it is much harder to acquire.

Enjoy,
  Marv