We promised ourselves the
TV-B-Gone hat was going to be the last
TV-B-Gone hack we
presented our dear audience, but when the Ultra TV-B-Gone power blaster found its way in our tip jar, we knew something had to be done. No longer confined to a mere singular IR blaster, Instructables has the skinny on making the Ultra, a super cheap mod which utilizing a matrix of 20 LEDs (though a larger matrix and use of high-powered LEDs is also possible) to achieve a whopping 90-foot line of sight TV outage effect. But basically what sold us on this whole thing -- the B-Gone having failed us in the past in its sole purpose -- was the following quote: "Using this in a regular sized room you are pretty much guaranteed to kill the TV no matter where you point it." You just can't argue with that.
posted Jun 30th 2006 12:17AM
Love it. Glad you lifted the ban for this one; it's going on my to-do list.
It litteraly destroys the TV? Or just turns it off?
I wonder if you could adapt this mod to work with other regular remotes?
I have remote you can point in any direction and it will work, another one on my coffee table requires a very careful line of sight, regardless of battery condition.
does it also kill anything with an IR receiver?
Ah... you just have to love crazy-wacky technology whose sole purpose is to be anti-technology. Lovely!
i know this is off topic, but what happened to the engadger podcast? i used to listen to it every week, but you guys haven't done one in over a month! Does anyone know what happened to it?
"It litteraly destroys the TV? Or just turns it off?"
It will make the TV explode, kill its father, and rape its mother.
Don't you think that's taking things a little too far? You can always unplug the sucker...
If you've gotten to the point you need some "Gizmo" to turn off the TV and the Washer/Dryer & Mower and all that stuff like the *MickyWave*... I bet you need someone to *Wipe You* when you done Pooping...
Maybe you just need to go outside once in a while and actually mow the lawn yourself or maybe trim the bushes and God forbid you actually say hi and talk to your neighbor, walk the dog and maybe return that tool you borrowed a year ago...
Hey!!!!... Ever thought of having a Cookout with the locals in your immediate area???...
What a novel Idea huh???... Human to Human...
hehehehe...
I don't think anyone understands the purpose of the TV-B-Gone. Read their website and stop sprouting uneducated rubbish!
It's designed to shake up your average American who is a TV zombie. Though I get the impression most of you would keep watching hoping it would come back on!
I have like 3 of them.So when I go to Walmart or best buy i reek havoc! and i strated selling them at school and They had to unplug all the tv's in the High and Middle school! MMMWWWAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
This mod just made TV-B-Gone into the best prank idea ever.
Yes, I know it was designed that way in the first place, but the direct line of sight requirement hampered the possibilities. Now you could just stick your hand into your pocket to shut off any TV within 90 feet.
Oh, the unlimited possibilities!
I thought the point of the TV B Gone was to turn off televisions in public places, not to .... whatever Mr. Dick said.
I've got something better. It turns off all electrics, literally destroys 'em if they're close, disconnects the phone and makes a high pitch whine on the other end of the connection, and emits a blinding flash of light.
I call it a "Tactical Nuclear Device".
There's actually a better device for this than the TB-B-Gone: it's smaller and flatter, so it's much easier to carry, and it not only turns off TV's, it can change channels and volume, too. You can find it on Ebay by searchging for 'mini universal tv remote'. And it has two led's, though I don't know if that's for the extra functions, or greater range. Changing the battery is easier, too.
It's molded plastic, though, so it might be harder to mod.
Interesting invention....now can someone please invent the stereo-b-gone? I really need one because this time...this time its personal....
NB: the other, smaller universal remote is also about 5 bucks, compared to the Tv-B-Gone's 25.
NB: the other, smaller universal remote is also about 5 bucks, compared to the Tv-B-Gone's 25.
Would this work for remote controled car stereos? I live on a corner where people love to entertain the world with their house shacking stereo volume, I'm sure most of those $5k car audio setups have a remote, I'd love to just have this thing turn it off for them.
Now with ten times the power to be a pretentious ass!
ESPN Zone Here I come!!!!!
I don't think it would work in your pocket, what they meant was you could aim it anywhere in the room and it was strong enough to bounce off walls, etc. basically lighting up the whole room in IR. Unless you had pants made of a thin material or something, I guess.
I need one of these! Finally I'll be the biggest d**khead in the sports bar!!
TV-B-Gone doesn't litterally "kill" TVs, it only turns them off (or on) -- even with this cool ultra-mod.
TV-B-Gone has a way huge database of POWER codes that makes it possible to turn off (or on) just about any TV you come across. The el-cheapo keychain universal remote controls have a pretty small database, many of which are only for Chinese model TVs.
Also, you need to program the el-cheapo keychain remote controls by holding the mute button until the TV in front of you mutes. So, you can't use these to turn on TVs that are off (which could be fun sometimes -- as long as you turn them off again).
The el-cheapo keychains also have about half of the range of the unmodified TV-B-Gone.
Be sure to give this a try next year at CES.
Just sayin'.