TV B Gone

[cyberneodude]

Does anyone know if the voltage of the mAh affects the range of the tv b gone?

[Dudezilla]

"I want more range! How can I make the kit more powerful?

Make sure you have fresh Alkaline batteries. They work better than rechargables

You can swap out the 2 AA battery holder for a 3 AA battery holder. This will give even better performance! Using C or D cell batteries will give longer run time but won't increase the power.

Do not use 9V batteries or more than 3 1.5V alkaline batteries, you can permanently damage the kit!"

source: http://www.ladyada.net/make/tvbgone/faq.html

[andreiu21]

Normally affects...
You need to know how many mAh consume the ir leds and how many leds you use...
You need to asigure the necesary curent...

[phil.drummond]

I'm going to assume you are considering using rechargeable batteries with your TV-B-Gone.
"AA" cell batteries voltage depends on type of chemistry (NmHi, NiCD, alkaline, etc.) and state of charge.
The "mAh" rating of a battery is only a measure of it's capacity. You always what the largest mAh rating you can get/afford, with considerations to size. For "AA" batteries, this limits you to somewhere around 2700-3000 mAh.
When a battery discharges, it's Voltage will begin to drop as the cell's chemistry and internal resistance start to become a larger part of the equation.
Alkaline cells hold their voltage better while discharging, with rechargeable batteries tending to "curve-off" or drop their voltage as they discharge.

How this relates to the TV-B-Gone is this;
The "power" or range of the TV-B-Gone will be a function of the power available from your batteries. Higher voltage with full-available current is more power. Alkaline batteries will do this for you over a more useful time than rechargeable batteries will. The down-side to using alkalines is they are not rechargeable.
Rechargeable batteries will allow you to "re-load" the "gun" (TV-B-Gone) again but the amount of "power" will not be as great.
I intend to use two Duracell alkaline batteries in my TV-B-Gone. It's not likely I will need to be able to recharge these batteries as there are not enough TV sets needing to be turned-off... the alkaline cells will provide a longer useful life in a TV-B-Gone than the rechargeable ones will.

Sorry if this is more info than you wanted, but I feel better now :)

Phil