Time for another kit review! Today we will examine an easy to build kit from adafruit industries that offers literally hours and hours of fun, if you like to get up to some mischief – the TV-B-Gone. This fascinating little device is basically an infra-red remote control for televisions and some monitors. It has a microcontroller programmed with the “off” code for a wide range of display brands, and four very strong infra-red transmitting LEDs, two with a wide beam, and two with a narrow but longer beam.
The review includes a nice hat mod and some fun video
I’ve been working on making a TV-B-Gone for a while now, and it’s finally done!
It is running from 3x NiMH AAA for 3.6v total or 4.5v if normal cells are used.
I used the same design as the Adafruit version but with my own PCB (single layer design done in KiCAD – because a double-sided board would cause unnecessary difficulty for me) Managed it with only 2 wire links, don’t know if it’s possible to make it without these and keep the size down.
The only real change is that the programming header goes back to the 10-pin version. I had already built myself a PPPPD which does not have a 6-pin interface, so I had to change the TV-B-Gone. Also since the programmer uses power from the target board, I had to power the whole thing from 5v out of the USB port. (Just with the NiMHs wasn’t enough to get the programmer working, and the ATTiny was not detected). I also used different IR LEDs (Vishay TSAL5100 and TSAL6200)
So far I have not done a full test but it seems fine. I can turn my own TV on and off and flood my webcam with IR light, so everything appears to be working
Will have to report back later on what kind of range I get with this one
Thanks to Adafruit industries for making this design open source! I’ll be adding my own board design files if anyone wants them (once I clean them up and fix the transistor orientation – they were backwards!)
If you’re in the San Fran, CA area – this is one event to check out!
After giving his famous workshop at hackerspaces and hacker conferences around the world, Mitch will be at Noisebridge to lead Circuit Hacking Monday, the weekly workshop where you can learn to play with electronics.
This week will be a special edition for the holidays, starting at an earlier time — 5pm. And, in honor of Hallmark Appreciation Day, we will have Open Heart kits available. Open Heart kits have 27 LEDs in the shape of a heart. With an Arduino you can create cool animation sequences. As with all of the kits available, they are way fun, and easy enough that anyone can make them. Mitch has taught thousands of people to solder and make cool things with microcontrollers at workshops at hacker spaces and hacker conferences and schools almost everywhere. He can teach you, too, if you like.
If you have ever had any curiosity about making something with electronics, then please join us for Circuit Hacking Mondays at Noisebridge. Anyone and everyone can learn to make cool things. And it’s fun. And easy! You can learn to make something cool with electronics in one session, and take your cool project home with you.
What: Mitch will be lead this session of Circuit Hacking Monday. You can easily learn all of the skills you need in one session. Make a project tonight, and take it home with you! If you have your own project (advanced or simple), bring it by, and if you would like help, you can get it!
Where: Noisebridge 2169 Mission, San Francisco, 94110 (less than two blocks from the 16th St. Mission BART Station).
When: 5:00pm (2 hours earlier than normal), Monday, 15-February. (It is totally OK to come late.) Stay as little or as long as you like. Most projects take about 1 to 2 hours — but someone will be there to help each person till they finish.
Who: You! It is fun to make things in the friendly community of Noisebridge. Come join us. Everyone is welcome.
Cost: Instruction is Free! If you use any kits, reimbursement for kit price is requested ($10 to $30, depending on kit).
There will be plenty of cool kits available to build, including:
TV-B-Gone (turn off TVs in public places!)
Brain Machine (Meditate, Hallucinate, and Trip Out!)
Mignonette Game (play fun games!)
Trippy RGB Waves (interactive blinky lights!)
MiniPOV (more cool blinky lights!)
MintyBoost (charge your USB enabled gadgets!)
microcontroller programmers (program all your AVR family chips!)
Arduino clones (make just about anything!)
Open Heart (animate fun patterns in the shape of a heart)
And more.
More info on most of most of these projects is available on Mitch’s website: (click on the “maker faire” tab). If you have your own project, please bring it by and make it with us, in the friendly, geeky community of Noisebridge.
I’ve ported the TV-B-Gone code to run on the Arduino board. If you haven’t seen a TV-B-Gone, it’s a cute gadget that you point at a TV that’s bothering you, and it turns the TV off. Internally, it’s an infrared remote that broadcasts more than 100 different off codes that work on almost any TV. I figured it would be interesting to get the TV-B-Gone running on the Arduino.
The TV-B-Gone kit is what you need! This ultra-high-power, open source kit version of the popular TV-B-Gone is fun to make and even more fun to use. This version can be used in both “North American/Asia” as well as “Europe/UK” areas (basically, the whole world)! This kit comes unassembled with all parts necessary. Tools and batteries are not included. This is a very simple kit and great for people who have never soldered anything before. Tired of all those LCD TVs everywhere? Want a break from advertisements while you’re trying to eat? Want to zap screens from across the street? This turns off (or on) most TVs in the world!
Power: 2 AA batteries (not included) Output: 2 narrow-beam and 2 wide-beam IR LEDs Number of TV power codes: 230 total, 115 each for American/Asian and European! You can select which zone you want during kit assembly. Max distance: v1.2 has double the power, goes 150 ft or more!
This covers pretty much every TV of the following brands, including the latest flat-screens and plasma TVs…
In the distant future we will have a new TV-B-Gone kit, the major difference is that it will be both USA, Asia and European all-in-one. So, we’re looking to clear out our current inventory with a SALE! You can pick up the TV-B-Gone for the low-low price of $15.00! If you’re in the USA this is a sweet deal – tune in, turn on and turn off!
I really like TV-B-Gone by Mitch Altman. The idea to have an universal remote to switch off any TV set is just marvelous! But for some real sneaky operation I wanted a much smaller version which perfectly fits into my pocket. So how about a small experiment how small you can go (and still solder by hand). So here it is: (most probably) the world smallest implementation of TV-B-Gone:
The µTVBG is based on the ATTINY85 implementation by Lady Ada. I just downloaded the schematics and replaced some parts, reduced the number of IR diodes and did a new board layout. Nothing special. Even the firmware works unchanged.The whole board measures a mere 1.4 cm to 2.5 cm – small enough to fit in in every pocket.
Printable catalog (PDF) or (EPUB)
