IR Jammer: TV-B-Gone-B-Gone
Posted in: diy, Hacks, Mods and DIY, Today's Chili
TV-B-Gone-B-Gone. Thwart pranksters and vandals alike with the IR Jammer
The most famous TV-B-Gone prank must surely be the one executed by Gizmodo at 2008’s CES. When MAKE magazine gave a bunch of gadget bloggers a widget that would cycle through IR codes and quickly shut off any TV in the vicinity, it must have known what would happen. The result: much bluster and moral outrage from people with no sense of humor, and the banning of Gizmodo writer Richard Blakeley from subsequent CES shows.
If only these humorless TV manufacturers had had the IR Jammer Kit, which also comes from the Maker Shed. This is a little like selling guns and bulletproof vests, or supplying an insecure desktop OS as well as anti-virus software.
The jammer interferes with IR signals by spraying out IR noise at six popular frequencies. The jammer comes as a kit, with everything you need to get going except a case (an Altoids tin would be traditional). You can adjust the balance between range and power consumption (it uses a 9v battery) by adjusting some resistors.
Why bother, unless you are exhibiting TVs at one of the few events Gizmodo hasn’t been banned from? To guard against football haters, of course. I have been watching my local team, FC Barcelona, in local bars and a few times the TV has flipped channels or switched off. As a cynical nerd, I immediately expected foul play. As a lazy, beer sipping spectator. I didn’t do anything about it. In the future, a quickly deployed jammer might do the trick. $19.
IR Jammer Kit aka TV-B-Gone-B-Gone [Maker Shed via BoingBoing]
See Also:
- Why Gizmodo is Cool: Giz Pranksters Turn Off TVs at CES
- Our Remote Controls Are Amazing, Yet Nobody's Happy
- TV-B-Gone Creator Going Strong With Open-Source Hardware …
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