> My parents have an old TV in their bedroom without a remote
> control.  I would like to add the functionality of a VCR,
> but without the tape deck part.

It sounds like you're making a one-off assembly.  Rather
than build a wide bandwidth VHF/UHF tuner and RF modulator,
why not buy a used VCR with remote control?

If you want to include a PIC, have it monitor the VCR remote
control's IR signal for some unique code.  When it sees it,
toggle a relay on and off to control power to the TV set.


> Does anyone know how to capture a code from ANY [remote] control
> (assuming 40kHz IR type) in response to a button being pressed?

Set up a breadboard with an IR receiver module.  Watch the
module's output pin with an osciloscope, logic analyser,
parallel port pin of a PC (with software pin monitoring),
etc.  General protocol might be tricky to reverse engineer
but learning enough to recognize specific button presses
isn't too hard.

                                                Lee Jones