I like to use a USB device from keyspan. It is a small audio/dvd remote
which attaches to the USB port on a PC or Mac through an IR-pod. This
adapter emulates a keyboard, so you can program the keypresses for a
given application such as Van Bascoes or Windows media player. The
current version I have says it is for itunes, but it is the same as one
I got several years ago.

The file player on ebay looks a lot like the Compact flash floppy player
I designed back in 2003. While such a device works well, I am finding
that it is difficult to select songs on such a small unit. That is why
I prefer Van Bascoe's for my primary playback as the songs can be
selected by name and dragged quickly into playlists. Most piano's and
fairgrounds organs require mains power for the bellows pump, so powering
an old laptop is not much of an issue.

A SD card can hold gigabytes of storage, which can probably hold enough
MIDI files for all the MIDI files that exists! Even with 64 or 100MB
cards there are 1000 if not 10,000 songs on a single card. MIDI files
are tiny about 24 Kilobytes for a three minute song. Most floppy
distributions of MIDI files are only half full, enough for one hour or
"Album" of music. By comparison the smallest MP3 file is 10 times the
size of a MIDI file. It took nearly a week for me to play through a
32MB card filled with some of Terry Smythe's MIDI conversions.

If anyone has ideas as to how to improve the song selection in these
small devices, That is the main weakness. I do know that a number of
ipod clones use a thumbwheel or scroll wheel to scan through the songs
and playlists. Note that the iPod "click" wheel is patented so that can
not be copied.

I remain interested in making more of the flashcard players. I still
have a number of floppy based player systems which can be adapted to
flashcard use should there be interest. A US. domestic version of this
system would cost between $75 and $120USD, which is half the price of
the device on ebay. A lead free version could be produced for the same
price (about $300USD) as the unit on Ebay. Note that it is now illegal
to sell such electronic devices in the EU that are made with lead based
solder. I do not see in the ebay advertisement if the unit is RoHS
compliant or not.


-julie

> There was some interest in the past for a device that would enable us
> to operate our midi controlled pianolas remotely. I came across this
> item on eBay (140150642884) here in the UK, that plays midi files and
> can be controlled using a standard universal TV remote. After
> discussing it with the seller, although he developed it for solenoid
> players, he thinks that it would work for us too. I have not tried it
> and have nothing to do with it but it looks like it might be worth a try.
> James