I just got my TV-B-Gone and am staring lovingly at the parts for a little while, before I get to soldering. While it took its merry time meandering through the postal service (after I realized I should have paid more in shipping to get it faster) I started looking for cases and then for battery options.
I have a plan to try hooking up a small external battery pack in the place of the 2 AA clip; this pack has a built in solar panel so hopefully I don't have to change the batteries or crack open the case for years. I'd just flip the whole thing over to charge it. However, it seems these packs usually deliver 5V.
What's the upper voltage limit of the TV-B-Gone? I don't want to fry components. A solar charger would raise the Cool Factor, make it fully self-contained, and environmentally nicer, too!
If I did have to reduce the voltage, does anyone have suggestions on a good (tiny, hopefully) circuit to use?
Thanks, both for answers and for the coolest geeky toy since the day I hacked my BANNED!
(I know the BANNED can do remote functions but the programs for it /suck/ and I'd have to reassemble a code list. Not Fun.)
Upper voltage limit for TV-B-Gone
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Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
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Holy cow you answered fast... ok, once I've had a few runs on the regular battery setup to see how she behaves I'll be getting a solar battery pack... maybe if I choose well I could fit the TV-B-Gone inside the pack, which would be pure excellence. Either way, pictures will be coming. :D
Tomorrow, I solder! woo!
Tomorrow, I solder! woo!
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Success! Accompanied by my maniacal laughter, I have enacted revenge against my home television, and will soon be the bane of confused salespeople wherever I go!
I also made 65 of the most beautiful solder joints I've ever been able to manage, which means competence is close at hand!
I hope to have some sort of thread going soon, demonstrating how to mount it inside a solar charger which could turn it into a combination TV-killer and rechargeable battery backup for mobile devices, and the Perfect Concealment! Forget hiding it in Altoids tins, this baby will masquerade as a perfectly innocent cell phone charger and prevent the TV Police from suspecting a thing!
Oh, and on rechargeables, the thing's so powerful I can aim it down a narrow hallway, let it bounce off the far kitchen wall, return through the same hallway, bounce off the living room rear wall and turn off the TV. That's 2.4V of reflected power off at least two matte surfaces with significant attenuation from me standing at the entrance to the hallway.
Best Buy employees are going to hate me, as well as the guy that thought televised mall advertising was a good idea!
I also made 65 of the most beautiful solder joints I've ever been able to manage, which means competence is close at hand!
I hope to have some sort of thread going soon, demonstrating how to mount it inside a solar charger which could turn it into a combination TV-killer and rechargeable battery backup for mobile devices, and the Perfect Concealment! Forget hiding it in Altoids tins, this baby will masquerade as a perfectly innocent cell phone charger and prevent the TV Police from suspecting a thing!
Oh, and on rechargeables, the thing's so powerful I can aim it down a narrow hallway, let it bounce off the far kitchen wall, return through the same hallway, bounce off the living room rear wall and turn off the TV. That's 2.4V of reflected power off at least two matte surfaces with significant attenuation from me standing at the entrance to the hallway.
Best Buy employees are going to hate me, as well as the guy that thought televised mall advertising was a good idea!
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- Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:15 pm
Humbly I oblige, my dear Lady Ada...
This one, I call Death of a Signal:
And the piece de resistance, here is Fire at Will!
Oh, and you can thank the 1970s for my computer desk in the background, which spent too much time as an ugly-ass table.
I'm using a twist tie to hold the board down, so I can start the commotion once the solar charger arrives without having to deal with a big gooey mess of sticky.
I have achieved a great victory over the obnoxious HDTV advertising on 20 screens in Meijer this afternoon. Unfortunately it turns out GFX televisions don't respond, probably because they're crappy knockoffs and Meijer has no shame. My sister's $30 teeny weeny $Deity Knows What Brand TV is similarly immune.
I should mount one in an Easy button after I get done with the solar charger, because then I could array wide-angle LEDs around the base. I could then slam it with my fist while laughing evilly and nuke TVs all around me. (note: don't expect me to actually do this, it's idle speculation.) However, I'd need a Tower of Doom or something from which to use the button, since an evil plan just isn't the same without a tower.
Now if only we could pulse the Sun's IR output... One could take out every sunlit television on the planet. I leave this task to climatologists, astronomers, and BANNED.
This one, I call Death of a Signal:
And the piece de resistance, here is Fire at Will!
Oh, and you can thank the 1970s for my computer desk in the background, which spent too much time as an ugly-ass table.
I'm using a twist tie to hold the board down, so I can start the commotion once the solar charger arrives without having to deal with a big gooey mess of sticky.
I have achieved a great victory over the obnoxious HDTV advertising on 20 screens in Meijer this afternoon. Unfortunately it turns out GFX televisions don't respond, probably because they're crappy knockoffs and Meijer has no shame. My sister's $30 teeny weeny $Deity Knows What Brand TV is similarly immune.
I should mount one in an Easy button after I get done with the solar charger, because then I could array wide-angle LEDs around the base. I could then slam it with my fist while laughing evilly and nuke TVs all around me. (note: don't expect me to actually do this, it's idle speculation.) However, I'd need a Tower of Doom or something from which to use the button, since an evil plan just isn't the same without a tower.
Now if only we could pulse the Sun's IR output... One could take out every sunlit television on the planet. I leave this task to climatologists, astronomers, and BANNED.
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- Posts: 5
- Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:15 pm
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.