Auto Spy Remote

Sure the original Thinkgeek Micro Spy Remote was fun for a while but there was a major drawback. In order to wreak havoc on someone else's TV, you had to be within visual range. After a while your prey would realize you had something to do with it. Why not eliminate yourself from the equation entirely? With this hack to the Micro Spy Remote, you can cause chaos even when your not around. Now when the person your pranking asks to see your hands or what's in your pocket you can simply smile, knowing your secret is safe and the chaos will continue.

With this hack you will be able leave the remote in a room and it will turn the TV on or off/change the channel every couple of minutes automatically.

Please note that this was produced n a college dormroom and was done with the few supplies I had. I am sure that there is a way to make this more compact but I did what I could.

Required Materials:
Thinkgeek Micro Spy Remote
Thinkgeek conductive glue
Superglue
Various resistors
Capacitor
555 timer chip
9-volt battery
9-volt battery connector
Relay
1N4001 diode
1N4148 diode
High Gauge wire
Solder
Aluminium can (optional)
Cardboard
Circuit board
Tape (electrical tape works well)

Tools:
Soldering iron
screwdriver
needle nose pliers
wire cutters and strippers
possibly other common household tools.

Step 1: Deconstructing the remote

In this step you will take apart the remote in order to reach the all important circuit board. It is relatively easy to get to but you have to be careful.

Step One:
Use a knife to peel back the front covering of the remote. It is a flexible piece of plastic with an adhesive on the inside surface. There are also black dots of conductive material that makes a connection when the "buttons" are pushed.

Step 2:
Remove 6 Phillips head screws. Keep these in a safe location for later. Lift the circuit board out of the lower casing by carefully lifting the back side up first and then pulling out. The goal is to not damage the infared LEDs at the front of the circuit board.

Step 3:
Keep the sticking front plate from sticking to anything by keeping it in a safe place. Try to maintain the integrity of the adhesive to make it easy to reassemble later.

Comments

[matheuz]

I wouldn't have used a relay it consumes too much energy. why not a NPN transistor? I have more of those than relays in my room.

[gunner1089]

Actually, I initially used a transistor and it worked for about 15 minutes then stopped working. I am a mechanical engineering student so I consulted one of my EE friends about the problem. He suggested trying a relay and it worked. I was low on time so I thought why fix what isn't broken. I still don't know what the problem with the transistor was. Maybe defective, but I don't know. Considering that I am a ME, I don't have many electrical components anyways so I went with what I had.

[EngineeringShock]

Doesn't the click of the relay give away the location?

[gunner1089]

The relay I had did not make a loud click. You would need to have your ear near the relay to hear it.

[countable]

You might want to try a FET transistor: they use a relatively small gate current so they won't use much current. The only problem is that FETs have a tendency to heat up when they change from off to on...

[KnexFreek]

 HAHA this is AWESOME!!!!!!!!

[sjoobbani]

 I'm confused, I'm sorry, I've been up for just over 20 hours, and I don't see the point of this, please explain, it seems like an idea I would do.

[gunner1089]

 It was just a joke item. The only reason I built was to enter into the Thinkgeek competition last year.  Other than messing around with someone, it has no practical application.

[EnigmaMax]

spy's sappin' ma television!

[dylan0345]

thinkgeek is the best

[Zem]

Hi, I have a spy remote like yours, but so far all of the TVs I've tried it on, it won't work with. Any ideas?

[raykholo]

ladyada has made a kit similar to the spy remote used here, in a little more basic way though. Perhaps you could modify this instuctable, although it is very good already, so that the entire thing can be made at home, and the thinkgeek remote will not need to be used. just a thought.

[elamre]

where to buy everything?

[gunner1089]

You can buy the remote at Thinkgeek.com or you could find it at another website . All of the electronic parts can be purchased at a radioshack.

[captain Jack]

sneaky!

[fib3roptix]

In a dorm By god you are the masta!

[FeedTheGrid]

Well done!

[gunner1089]

thanks

[CrazyMachinist94]

I enjoyed this instructables. One time me and my friends brought one of these into science class when he was showing a movie and started to play with it and when he found out he took it. If only you made this about a year earlier that would've helped us out. This will come in handy for the future though so thanks

[crazycommanche=US=]

well it cant get much more compact its a 9v battery and could u wire this to cellphone and when its called it changes chanel as well that would be a cool new addition and some phoines can have multiple numbers so that could do the diff functions maybe/

[Audey]

That's pretty cool. do you think there is any way to make it do a random function? prehaps how the thinkgeek annoyotron generates a random tone...

PS: I think that this is the same but a lot cheaper and slightly lower quality than thinkgeeks micro spy remote: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2724r.13389120 and http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2663r.13389120

[gunner1089]

I am sure that there is a way to make it do a random action. I think you would have to attach wires to all of the buttons though. It would require a more elaborate circuit and I just didn't have the parts. Interestingly enough, I did look into connecting the Annoy-a-tron to the remote but decided it would be easier to make my own timer.

[Audey]

huh, my links dont work.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2663
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2724
and If you are going to buy anything there pretty please can you click this link just once:
http://www.dealextreme.com/default.dx/r.13389120
sorry about that.

[gunner1089]

Actually those look almost identical to ones from Thinkgeek. I didn't mind paying for mine because I used a number of coupons when I made my order with Thinkgeek. I even got a free annoy-a-tron with it so I can't complain.

[Audey]

I haven't recieved a think geek one, but I think the dealextreme ones are pretty much the same, the problem is that they aren't quality checked so about 1 in 7 (i did a bulk order to onsell, so thats how I know) are DOA(DX will replace them free of charge, but it is a hassle). also the shipping takes up to a month sometimes.

[gunner1089]

Thanks for the info.

[idiotjohn]

I bought one from DealExtreme, and it came in packaging which said ThinkGeek on it. I would agree that they are probably not tested like how ThinkGeek would test them...