High powered TV-B Gone sniping hack

You know, we can't really imagine what kind of social setting you'd be in that would require the use of a TV-B-Gone and still be socially acceptable to carry binoculars, but if you're especially annoyed with your neighbor (whose TV happens to be relatively near and have line of sight), check out this simple TV-B Gone sniper hack. One TV-B-Gone plus one pair binoculars (monocular might also well work) equals some serious range -- about 40 feet according to the hack's creator. Anyone want to try this thing with a high powered home telescope? Forget WiFi-ing to other States, this week we're all about turning off TVs in the next time zone.

[Via Make Blog]

[Yardsale @ Apr 29th 2006 11:26PM]

Hilarity ensues. lol hail xenu!

[K MAN @ Apr 29th 2006 11:48PM]

This reminds me of the wonderful days of WinNuke. Due to a flaw in Windows 95, A simple program called WinNuke, when used with an IP of a target computer in your network would Shut Down that computer, or bring the Blue Screen of Death on that screen remotely. As long as you were on the same subnet.

Now this post reminds me of that because Back in those days(then weren't the WiFi days my friends) the only Wireless Ethernet you had were the expensive Infrared network that's custom built. And in Denver, many hotels had these networks.

At the same time, the "Universal Infrared Remote Controls" were getting popular. So at our university's EE lab, we programmed Winnuke on to these remotes, and went to a hotel lobby near by. We would wait until, a VIP would sit on the computer and aim the remote to the Infrared receiver next to the comptuer. Then ZAP!!! blank goes his screen.

I still have the remote, but WinNuke flaw has long been patched. just a little trip down memory lane.

Man... the things we geeks do for fun.

John D, Leigh S, ironmonk3y, you know what I'm talking about.

[Donald @ Apr 30th 2006 12:23AM]

Hi! Glad you liked my project enough to post it on your site!

Just a note that I successfully used it from about 40 feet with no fiddling and no careful focusing - I just looked, pointed, and it worked. I'm sure it can go even farther. Of course your mileage may vary, but my results were very encouraging.

[jnasato @ Apr 30th 2006 12:25AM]

AHAHAHA! Great.

[Kris Aubuchon @ Apr 30th 2006 12:54AM]

Hmm.. I don't think that's a tv-b-gone, it seems to be one of those cooler japanese ones!! You can grab it for 5 bucks on ebay.

[Kris Aubuchon @ Apr 30th 2006 12:58AM]

Ah yes, I just verified it. I noticed the blog directs you to buying a tv ninja at nearly 15 bucks a pop! I'd reccommend searching "tv wizard" on ebay, it's the same thing - and way cheaper!!

[Uno @ Apr 30th 2006 2:37AM]

I like this.. and a cell phone zapper.. I hate people on cell phones.

[Eli @ Apr 30th 2006 4:30AM]

Yes, pointing an infrared device through some binoculars is totally a hack.

Aren't we starting to pay a little fast and loose with that term?

[warrenpeace @ Apr 30th 2006 9:26AM]

I could have used this on my old neighbors. They watched tv as loud as my Grandfather did when he was losing his hearing.

[Ryan Block @ Apr 30th 2006 10:26AM]

Fast and loose with hack? The definition of hack is creatively repurposing something to do something else it was never intended to do. Unless you're one of those people who thinks "hacking" is all about breaking into The Plauge's Gibson.

Best, Ryan

[strider_mt2k @ Apr 30th 2006 11:45AM]

Spare us the hack snobbery please.

This is just plain cool!
I am not schooled in light, so please excuse a couple of noob suppositions...

Why not use an IR laser instead of an LED?

I mean with some careful optics tweaking, one could get some _really_ extreme range, and any spread on the beam might actually work to your advantage since aiming would have to be very precise otherwise.

Just sayin'

[TxdoHawk @ Apr 30th 2006 12:10PM]

This is kinda cool I guess, but I'm just not the kind of person these devices are targeted for. I read all these stories about people trying to get others to stop mindlessly staring at the TV in restaraunts or something, but really. The last time I stared at a TV in a restaraunt was in high school, when I played 5th wheel on a double-date.

I don't know why, but apparently the fact that I prefer good conversation with friends over watching a TV puts me on some higher plane. Don't get me wrong, my friends and I will sit around and watch the boob tube once in awhile, but no harm in that, and it's not like we're not talking throughout the whole episode.

[eskimo @ Apr 30th 2006 12:45PM]

You know, perhaps fitting on a convex lens would widen the scope of
the beam... I mean, if you got lucky (and smart) you could shut down the whole block if you wanted to.

[Rivet @ Apr 30th 2006 2:10PM]

Uh... yeah cause as we all know, IR goes right through walls and who needs line of sight anyway?

[Donald @ Apr 30th 2006 2:28PM]

Hello again:

#6 - Thanks for the heads up on the Ninja Remote being a TV Wizard and available much cheaper on Ebay. I have updated the project.

#11 - If you look at the bottom of the page you'll see a circuit in which I did in face use an IR Laser in one version. But it just wasn't as easy to use as binoculars. If you are interested in trying it, the schematic is there.

For the record, I have never turned off a TV that I didn't own. I just think it's a neat gadget and I enjoyed tampering with it. But I don't like the idea of using it to mess with other people's activities or property on the basis that it's-for-their-own-good-you-know.

Doing it on the basis of "they are jerks and they deserve whatever is coming to them" is a different ball game (not that I've done that either, though.)

[Kris Aubuchon @ Apr 30th 2006 3:15PM]

I would like to see an omnidirectional IR "bomb" or something. This would be possible by daisy-chaining a ton of IR leds, no?

[Maxime Rousseau @ Apr 30th 2006 7:04PM]

Muahahahaha! I am going to control my hood with this. The guy with the 56 inch flatscreen will regret putting it near a window.

[HigherBeing @ Apr 30th 2006 8:59PM]

haha, I need one with a range of a minimum of a half a mile! I live on the 18th floor of a apartment building, and i got other high rises around me, it would be fun turning off a couple hundred TVs with one hit of a button lmfao...

[EJ @ May 1st 2006 12:57AM]

Okay, I just don't get turning things off. i'm more of a turner-on(er). Imagine turning on the neighbors set at three in the morning, raising the volume and changing the channel to some adult moaning and groaning. Hea hea.

[shrug @ May 1st 2006 4:08AM]

You should be able to get much better range if you compensate for the diffence in the refractive index of your optics at IR wavelengths compared to optical.

[hawk @ May 1st 2006 9:09AM]

why wouldn't you use an IR laser?

because you have to aim a laser. Pick up a laser pointer and uh, point it at something. Notice how it makes a dot? You would have to aim that dot at the IR receiver on the offending device. If you broadened the beam significantly, then you lose the point of using a L A S E R with its collimated light. If you keep the severe accuracy, you would literally need to make a rifle scope for it and 'snipe' the offending device using your ereet CS skills.

[Dr Evil @ May 1st 2006 11:42AM]

You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads!

[Jonathan @ May 4th 2006 3:21AM]

The kid in Home Alone 3 already did this a few years ago.

[jaxun @ May 5th 2006 3:31AM]

Why has nobody come up with one that would silence stereos? Specifically, car stereos. I would buy one for each of my cars, so that when the inconsiderate lout who insists on "sharing" his music with everyone within a city block pulls up in my vicinity at a stoplight, I could restore the peace anonymously.

THAT would be cool!

[Andy B @ Dec 28th 2008 8:30PM]

I know this thread is a hundred years old, but OK listen up...

Some know, some don't. A laser diode is a little less easy to modulate than an IR LED. Easy enough, but not a drop-in replacement.

Important to know. ALL laser beams spread. Some more than others. There is a ton of information on this, but a few general rules, most importantly, THE LARGER THE BEAM DIAMETER, THE LESS IT SPREADS. After a few thousand feet, it's not uncommon for a beam to be FEET in diameter. Still a bitch to aim.

Laser diodes have this awful problem too... the beam spreads out at an outrageous angle of around 45 degrees. Yeah. THATS why they have collimator lenses attached, and even on a crappy laser pointer, these are adjustable. Any IR laser that you'd get is obviously going to have an adjustable focus. Easy enough! defocus the unit! Now here's the thing. If you've got a 500mW, or more powerful IR laser, first of all, you've got a serious eye hazard and a fire hazard on your hands. Even a 50mW IR laser is dangerous to the eyes. All the more reason you'll want to defocus it slightly. It would be really mean for you to turn a guys TV off AND blind him permanently.

Either way, I've had this idea for some time now, and as soon as I can justify wasting a day making this rig (I've got the telescope) the entire east side of Manhattan facing Brooklyn will have trouble watching their crappy TVs.