TV-B-Gone complete - findings...

[bobfixesstuff]

Just completed. Total build time from components to complete was one hour including testing. My skill level is about medium. I can solder but not quickly.

Used a high power Antex gas soldering iron. Bit clumsy with temperature (and imprecise tips) but goes to show that all components have a some heat tolerance. Looking to acquire a precise electric soldering iron asap.

Tested the kit at close range, works great! Switches off televisions after on average one second post activation.

Will test at range on a greater variety of televisions and edit this post with findings.

Followed the walkthrough, all components on the side of the board with component markings, soldering on the unmarked side of the board. Completed the European version of the kit, (one extra resistor added to the circuit). The kit comes with this resistor, but for use in America the builder simply leaves this resistor out of the circuit. So wherever you intend to use the TV-B-Gone, the kit comes complete for deployment.

Recommend hot melt glue to set components in place, or, rather, to prevent wiggling of components which can cause solder joints on the board to snap. The transistors in the kit stand the tallest off the board, and the ones on the edges of the board are vulnerable to being pressed inwards (towards the centre of the PCB, bending their legs). Hot glue I expect will hold them solid, upright, in position.

Best way to strengthen the TV-B-Gone for a life of use is to encase it in a box of some kind. Check this forum for case-mods for the TV-B-Gone. Disguising the device inside a hollowed out old cell phone for example. Crafty!

Panasonic Viera (huge widescreen, serial number not available as on reverse; too large to shift the damn thing to check lol), switches off within a second or so.

Panasonic Viera TX-L19X10BW (19 inch widescreen) switches off within a second or so.

Sony Bravia KDL-20S30xx (20 inch widescreen) switches off within a second so, and if the TV-B-Gone is restarted after switching the Sony off, the TV-B-Gone will turn the TV back ON! Sony off code perhaps the same as the on code. Or perhaps the Sony responds to any Sony code as a signal to awaken from standby. Most televisions indeed respond to channel selection button codes in order to awake from standby.

Both Panasonics respond (flicker red LED) while in standby, when TV-B-Gone is activated. However, they do not switch ON in response to the TV-B-Gone.

I think this is because both Panasonics require substantial stimulation before arousing from standby. Simply pressing one button on either of their remote controls will not wake them up, not even the power button. A button has to be pressed repeatedly, or pressed and held for a few seconds. I think this is a feature to avoid activation if someone sits on a remote control.

Either way the TV-B-Gone switches them both off within a second or so.

Awesome results so far, total success! Dadday is proud!

Gonna pwn some sports bars and football pubs. Golf is the worst though. Supposed to be hiking for people without dogs! But what's this?! We have big tournaments now?!, broadcast to no less than FIVE different televisions in my local pub?! ZAP and the brainsuckers are off. Golf courses make me want artillery.

Thankyou LadyAda!

Now design a ray-gun plz; someone has to bring order to the road network of this town! ZAP.

[Agent24]

Nice work!

[bobfixesstuff]

Thanks Agent24!

Tested the kit today down the local on one of the LG plasmas. Six second exposure at 10 feet, unfortunately no success.

Rumour has it these television units might (emphasis on the might) be fed by a central receiver.... perhaps control is centralised too.

Could have SWORN I've seen them operated independantly with IR remote but in a business environment it's not unusual to have setups configured to be "vandalism proof", whether we're talking about door locks, seating or electronics.

Could well be that they are slave monitors or have some bloody shielding.... I feel embarassed that being my local I haven't noticed by now if something is more advanced than the usual home setup. Noted HDMI cables but that's nothing new. Noted abscence of antenna cables but again nothing new. High up wall mountings goddamn telescreens even the mains cables are out of sight. Everything appears antiquated on the outside but inside, the walls, the ceilings, a whole mess of cable you bet, in merry ol Blighty you see lighting has to be circuited separate to appliances. Then people buy standing lamps with appliance socket plugs and wire ceiling fans into lighting circuits and everything goes grey area. Two way switching, uninsulated brass dimmers; damn posh halogens in parallel dangling on steel cable, not even earthed, just begging for someone to Gene Kelly a brolly and all the 80 proof whiskey right underneath. Fire inspector? Never seen one.

See ya on the greens?

At least the US Open is over.

I expect it's a case of battery power or line of sight, or, (most likely); that twenty seconds feels a lot longer than it really is when one is trying to avoid detection! Two minutes roughly for the TV-B-Gone to cycle through all off codes? I think I got cheerful when I saw two Panasonics and a Sony collapse in around 1.5. Maybe LG codes are further down the list?

Check out my MintyBoost success story btw:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=21804&start=0

but don't lose focus! Ray Guns are the essential target of this enterprise and when we have them the monstrous combine will finally be vanquished.

Will persue and report!

"If it bleeds; we can kill it." - Dutch

[Agent24]

Tested the kit today down the local on one of the LG plasmas. Six second exposure at 10 feet, unfortunately no success.

I think I got cheerful when I saw two Panasonics and a Sony collapse in around 1.5. Maybe LG codes are further down the list?

Someone else reported they couldn't get it to shut off their LG either: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=21760

Maybe the code is just not there...


By the way, would be nice to see the solder side of the board, I've never used a gas iron before, would be interesting to see how it came out.

[bobfixesstuff]

Damn freaking LGs.

Will do further testing, but damn if LG have gone and written new codes for their products.

I find it hard to believe that LG televisions and their remotes are "paired". It would be the logical conclusion of having IR signals of higher complexity than usual IR signals, and indeed it would be useful for enabling a user to select one television out of five in the same room to control.

I remember how the old television remote controls used to work by bouncing off the walls. You could aim a remote in the opposite direction to the tv and it would still respond.

Perhaps these days LG are relying on some sort of pairing to allow selective control and avoid interference.

I could ask the landlord but

a) he won't know
b) he is the landlord
c) he likes golf

As for gas irons, this is mine:

http://www.antex.co.uk/product.asp?strP ... 2&P_ID=845

Gas burns to heat the metal tips. In this way there are like electric irons but cordless.

Their energy management is more "clumsy" though. They heat up faster than electric, they reach higher temperatures than comparable electrics. Quantity of gas inside the reservoir affects gas pressure post regulator, and this is the sole means to calibrate temperature so it's grossly imprecise by default. The regulator is adjustable but again, even under ideal conditions, the slightest change in gas flow can provide for drastic changes in optimum temperature. Absurdly impossibly inaccurate. Holding the iron at different angles yields different behaviour too.

Incredibly useful tool for things other than electronics though! Nibs for blowtorch, or searing hot wave of air... so it is very versatile.

But one can guage with the eye, the colour of the tip. With the ear the hiss of the steam from the sponge. One can guess. And yeah I've never burned a component with it. So it gets the job done. And it has done many good jobs for me. I still do want a really precise electric iron though. The gas iron just seems so clumsy. Urgh and it's another reason to get a fume hood.

The solder work of the gas iron looks visibly identical to solder work done with an electric. At least, my gas iron work looks identical to my electric iron work! Unsure if that's good or bad LOL but either way, visibly there is no difference. If anything I'd say the gas iron work is a little tidier because on average it gets the job done faster. Straight in straight out, all flux is vapour, PCB hardly has time to get warm. The components survive... but not without worry.

Ever seen a hack come up with a fume hood fabricated of say... stockings and 120mm computer fans? Or a snorkel with a length of pipe insulation? I solder with windows open but rumour is we're supposed to actively try to extract solder fumes :s

[Agent24]

I remember how the old television remote controls used to work by bouncing off the walls. You could aim a remote in the opposite direction to the tv and it would still respond.

Yep, in fact mine is old enough that that works. It even works through thin blankets, so you can keep your hands warm

The regulator is adjustable but again, even under ideal conditions, the slightest change in gas flow can provide for drastic changes in optimum temperature.

Sounds like my shower tap

I guess it would be useful though when you need to do some work and there's no electricity. I don't think I'll be getting one though. It sounds a bit of a pain to use, and I'm already having to sort out a more powerful iron for motherboards anyway.

Ever seen a hack come up with a fume hood fabricated of say... stockings and 120mm computer fans? Or a snorkel with a length of pipe insulation? I solder with windows open but rumour is we're supposed to actively try to extract solder fumes :s

Actually, I was recently looking at this: http://hackaday.com/2008/08/05/how-to-t ... g-station/

Might give you some ideas...

[Archer12x]

Tested the kit today down the local on one of the LG plasmas. Six second exposure at 10 feet, unfortunately no success.

I think I got cheerful when I saw two Panasonics and a Sony collapse in around 1.5. Maybe LG codes are further down the list?

Someone else reported they couldn't get it to shut off their LG either: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=21760

Maybe the code is just not there...


By the way, would be nice to see the solder side of the board, I've never used a gas iron before, would be interesting to see how it came out.

I'm an ubernoob when it comes to this kind of coding but figured I could learn by hacking. Anyhow, I haven't been able to get Best Buy's private label "insignia" to respond to my device either. I have read that they use the same codes as LG, so that might be the problem.

If anyone has the LG codes and how to add them, I would be eternally grateful.

On a side note, I was going to try to split the codes into two banks and simultaneously send out codes from both banks. I thought that it would split the time in half. After removing have the banned codes (I live in America), the time it takes to cycle hasn't changed. Perhaps I should start a separate thread for this...... sorry.......

[bobfixesstuff]

That fume hood looks nice... fan with a charcoal filter lol... personally I'd rather have the fume extraction drawn right out of the room.

Hence my thinking of building ductwork with a few 120mm fans staggered throughout. On the work end, perhaps a snake like bendy tube of diameter to accomodate a 120mm fan. Like the foil tubing that is often used in ventillation systems. Stuff that can cascade, open up or cascade down on a wire skeleton. So that it can be dragged into position right next to where the soldering is taking place.

I think it could be done. Just as soon as I quit smoking and it seems worth the effort lol!


As for the LG codes. I'm wondering if the codes are available, but that the television sets are in some way like the Panasonics that I've tested: demanding of greater stimulation. Perhaps LG remote controls are designed to send codes twice or something, and the televisions designed to await repeated transmissions of codes before responding. As a way of preventing accidental activation / deactivation.

The TV-B-Gone of course, sends each code once. Perhaps this could be the answer? To get the TV-B-Gone to repeat LG codes a few times for each code?

[Agent24]

The TV-B-Gone of course, sends each code once. Perhaps this could be the answer? To get the TV-B-Gone to repeat LG codes a few times for each code?

No idea, I guess you'd just have to find someone with an LG and capture their IR code and take a look.

Perhaps I should start a separate thread for this...... sorry.......

Well you are a lot more likely to get help that way, if your question isn't buried several posts down in someone else's thread...

[bobfixesstuff]

Okay so i went down the local for some folow up tessting. I drank suffulk cyder; how manjy I kinda l;ost track. Did the telegraph cryptic with dave as per usual not to remain incopnspicious.

turns out the oub has FOUR LGs and one samsung. murray was on the box at wimbledon and losing bisgurprise and i was all set to put him out of his misery when suddenly.......

SOMEone;l not naming names ;0 put THIS on the jhukebox:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgx6GprfrYw

and well it kinda turned itno a dance in from there.

Even old fred at 78 was stryuggin badboyliekcallhim mr vain yagetme bangin an d then well all the gol f wags started dancing and grinding it was livid/ toally sectioned.

i dont even know who won the bleeding tennis. frankly im lickly i found my own house. i love all yu guy s

[bobfixesstuff]

Okay so went down pub again for more follow up testing.

Boxing. Thugs slugging each other. Broken glass, applause, hysterics in general. Oh and yes, live boxing match on the tvs. Aparently it was some big fight or something.

Now, granted I was drunk, and the place was in chaos. But all staff rushed off their feet, way beyond turning televisions on or off.

I stoood there, clicked and waited. Ten seconds, twenty seconds? Thirty seconds? The LG went dead.

So hard to tell whether it was the TV-B-Gone or not because i did it sly, so when the box goes off no one reacts. They just shuffle and look about a bit, oh well time to go in i suppose. Hard to guage cause and effect in all the din, but I can report this much; that the damn thing switched off. That the damn thing was an LG. That it took about twenty seconds.

Rumour has it the landlord was present among the crowd, and the fight over; it was time for him to turn the box off himself. Whether he did or not, unknown. Whether he was actually there or not, unknown.

I am suspecting a success here, albeit unconfirmed. Too many people. Too much activity. No control.

Wouldn't surprise me though to discover that the TV-B-Gone is in fact entirely LG equipped and merely required a little patience. Also this test was done at about twenty feet. My expectation is that this distance was an irrelevancy to the tested unit, but added to the list of reasons why I might not believe my eyes.

Further testing will follow.

Oh, and as for IR bouncing off the walls. I find it hard to believe that IR for whatever reason no longer bounces off walls. More likely if at all that the receivers are just more directional. Won't be the case for all sets even if this is the case for some.

The TV-B-Gone is already known to be effective under certain conditions at distances exceeding a hundred feet. To bridge twenty therefore should be cakewalk. To bounce of walls therefore should be as easy as ever. Perhaps a store specialising in television sets should be the next test site.

[bobfixesstuff]

Third test on an LG confirmed SUCCESS!

This time however, the test was a little different!

Aimed it at an LG switched OFF.

Distance approx 12 feet.

About 40 seconds, the LG was switched ON!

Nice. Landlord was present. Looked confused. But then, tv does what tv does; landlord got sucked in to some program lol.

100% positive that this was a successful activation.

One interesting point is that IR indeed used to bounce of walls, or at least as a kid I remember that it would.

In this test, there were other television sets, wall mounted, in the pub. One behind me on the wall opposing the LG subject to test (another LG), approx 30 feet away. And another set behind me, 90 degrees to my right, on the adjacent wall (a Samsung). Neither were switched on during this test.

The TV-B-Gone therefore seems to be ideal for selecting a single television within a room with more than one television.

In store windows, all televisions face the same way, and are close together. But in public usage, there is rarely reason to have more than one television mounted on one wall. So I think the risk of say "turning one tv off, and turning another tv in the same room on" is low.

I think the receivers in television sets are more recessed than they used to be, so as to prevent accidental activation. Users can therefore point a remote control directly at a television to control it, but if say, a user leans on a remote control that isn't facing the television within a reasonably narrow angle, the signal will not be received.

I've noticed these days that people generally point and press remote controls with greater precision, arms outstretched etc. I think that's intentional in the design of televisions these days.

Anyway, success with LGs it seems! Just need to wait about 40 seconds or so

Next: range testing.

[Chuckz]

Someone else reported they couldn't get it to shut off their LG either: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=21760

Maybe the code is just not there...

I posted that link. Here is the deal. There are about 150 codes and LG is near the end of the list. You have to be still and wait. If you move around, the TV might not read the TV B Gone. It does work.

[Archer12x]

Someone else reported they couldn't get it to shut off their LG either: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=21760

Maybe the code is just not there...

I posted that link. Here is the deal. There are about 150 codes and LG is near the end of the list. You have to be still and wait. If you move around, the TV might not read the TV B Gone. It does work.

Are either of you using the pre-programmed chips? I have been trying to use Winavr to program a chip using the firmware from ladyada.net (not the existing .hex files but building a .hex file with winavr) and LGs don't seem to respond - even with lotsa patience when activating the device. If I use the existing .hex code from Caitsith's mod, the LGs respond but building a .hex doesn't.

Is there some difference in the worldcodes.c files or something or am I just completely daft?? I'm going nuts and the wife is sick of me messing with it. However, it is a puzzle and I can't leave it unsolved.

BTW - I think i mentioned before that I am quite a noob when it comes to this and if I'm violating some ettiquite on these forums, please advise - I don't what to be "that guy". Thanks!!!

[bobfixesstuff]

Archer12x, sounds like you know more than me!

But my findings with the TV-B-Gone (latest kit available as of June 2011), is that it does indeed turn off (and on!) all thus far tested brands, including Sony, Samsung and LG. The LG televisions require patience though, as I understand the LG codes are near the bottom of the list.

I understand that it is possible to edit the code inside the chip. Seems logical to assume that codes could be re-ordered to suit the users desire.

It also follows that one could simply count the approximate number of seconds, (after activation say inside a pocket) before exposing the device at the last second. This way the device would not need to be on show for very long before it gets to work its magic

Will get back with results of range testing asap.