IR transceiver for serial

[comwarrior]

ok, i'm looking to make an IR transceiver module for any serial TTL device to transmit over instead of having to use cables all the time.
The ultimate goal is to have multiple PIC's talking over IR (to be replaced with RF at a later date)

now i purchased 3 L-34F3C IR emitter LED's and 3 L32PC3 IR detectors (photo transistor) to experiment with and i have the datasheet for the emitter but not the photo transistor...
Somewhere several months ago i found a circuit that uses these emitters and detectors but now i can't seem to find it (i lost all my bookmarks several weeks ago!).

in theory...
Can i not just wire the IR emitter from the TX to GND via a ~500 Ohm resistor?
And therefore the IR detectors collector to +5V, Emitter to RX and a 10K resister to pull RX to GND?
Or is that just too simple?
I'll also need one for my laptop, so can i not do the same as above into a max232? Having said that, my USB to serial cable is +-5V so can i not just 'invert' the IR emitter and detector?
Or what about a USB IRDA dongle, are they the same IR frequency and do they have a transmission protocol?

Their is no other source of IR around (except me...), project is mostly going to be inside (no direct sunlight) although a data link to the garage may come in useful.
Speed, well, 19.2K is a must but if i can get more it would be good...

For reference, i'm using 18F4550's...

Any help muchly appreciated...

[mackrackit]

This should get you started
http://www.rentron.com/Infrared_Communication.htm

[dhouston]

Their is no other source of IR around...

As incandescent lights disappear to be replaced by CFLs, you may find many IR sources. Fluorescent lights tend to be heavy emitters of IR in the frequency range used for IR control..

[ardhuru]

The ultimate goal is to have multiple PIC's talking over IR (to be replaced with RF at a later date)

For multiple (and potentially simultaneous) conversations, you would also need to have some sort of collision avoidance / detection scheme incorporated.

Regards,

Anand