IR LED's Not Working Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

[TJMarsh]

Hello,

I am new to working with circuits... so please excuse me, if this appears to be a silly mistake on my part :)

This device was purchased last week from Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1).

I have followed the instruction for the TV B Gone kit and completed the initial test with the Green LED and this passed as expected, but when i have completed the build, the main 4 LED lights are not working. I am able to turn off and on my TV at home, but i was wondering if with the LEDs not working, if this will limit the range of the device? Any help is much appreciated.

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My reason for buying this device, is that my next door neighbour likes to have their TV on extremely loud, late at night. And i was hoping that this would allow me to turn off the tv and sleep.

Thanks for any help in advance!
Anthony

[adafruit_support_carter]

IR LEDs are not visible to the human eye. The fact that it was able to turn off/on your TV seems to indicate that it is working.

[TJMarsh]

Ah perfect - thank you for the reply. It threw me with the video where the LED's lit up and pulsed when the button was pressed.

Do you know if there is anyway to boost this device to turn off the TV next door? This would require it to go through a wall and i know that the IR wave normally doesn't go through...

Thanks,

[adafruit_support_carter]

Quite often the CCD sensors in cameras are sensitive to the IR wavelengths used by TV remotes. Try looking at the TV-B-Gone with your phone or other camera in live view mode. You may be able to see the IR LEDs work that way.

IR does not go through walls. Also, depending on the transmittance properties of your windows, it may not go through them either. In general, you need an unobstructed line of sight to make this work. There's no real practical way to overcome this by simply 'boosting' the device.

[TJMarsh]

I will give that a go!

I did think that would be the case, but thought i would ask anyway.

Do you know of any device that would allow for turning the TV off next door? I know i may be asking for something that doesn't exist... my lack of knowledge in this area is at a high!

Thanks,

[adafruit_support_carter]

Do you know of any device that would allow for turning the TV off next door?

Nothing simple or obvious. The offending TV just needs to see the IR light from the TV-B-Gone.

[petermancini]

Are we talking about a solid wall between you and the offending TV? Is there a window you can see through to the room? Sometimes IR light is visible to the TV as it reflects off of walls. Try your own remotes and point them away from your TV so see this effect. Sometimes they work because of reflection.

You could try, I don't know, asking your neighbor to chill out with the TV. Or speak to your apartment manager about the noise.

If you really want a technical means to do it through walls, if they have a TV with wireless, you might be able to use an app to control it, or wireshark... but that's starting to get into black hat territory. :-)

You could retaliate by getting a SICK subwoofer and some wall destroying speakers and blast some shitty Advant-Garde freestyle jazz when they blast their tv. When they get PO'd at you, make a compromise. If they don't want to listen to your music, you don't want to listen to their TV. Then spit on your palm and and reach out to them saying "Deal?!?" Make crazy eyes. I'm sure they will put up their hands and back out and never bother you again.

Again, just try asking them first though. Get over that social anxiety!