How to make your TV-B-Gone become invisible...

Hello, thank you for your interest.

First of all, I apologise for any language mistake I could do in this tutorial,
I'm french (nobody's perfect ;p)

Fell free to tell me if there's some corrections to do, thx ;)

Now, the essential:

After using my TV-B-Gone in some stores and feeling watched after dozen of TV turned off around me, I ask myself how it can be unoticeable to turn on the TVBG and aim an area full of beautiful and shining new screens. And of course looking in the straight opposite direction to be free of any suspicion...

The TVBG-hat by m_jake is a very good idea, because it place the IR emitters at eye's height. But I don't wear hats...

However I'm more familiar with... headphone!!!
Uh uh uh...

Step 1 1.The concept

I first would like to thank mitch for its tutorial on How to double the range of the TVBG, on witch I based my model. I recommend to see his work before mine, which is an adaptation.

But don't forget to go back here --> X

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-Ok, you're back?... Good. So let's go!

The concept is quite simple:
Giving the TVBG the shape of a cell phone headphone, with a cord going from the ear, passing through a "mike box" with a button (to answer calls and speaking into) and finishing into your pocket.

- The TVBG will be in your pocket.
- The "mike box" will include a secondary button, that will command the TVBG.
(of course there will not be any mike in it!)
- The headphone will contain the IR emitters on its external side.
(putting it on the internal sideand send your eardrum IR signal would be useless... ;p )

So you'll be able to command the TVBG either from your pocket,
or from the "answering-mike-box", hung on the cord.
And you'll also be able to aim a plenty-of-screens area by turning your head by 90degrees,
and so looking like looking in an other direction...
and so looking perfectly innocent, talking to someone calling you on your cell phone.
Uh uh uh...

Comments

[jack002]

If I were to point this beam in to my head would it turn off the TVs in there? :)

[eddiea6987]

you know what i just thought of, because i just made a tv-b-gone with an arduino , how about making one with an Arduino lillyPad and sew the IR led to a shirt like some sort of design and then just little button somewhere and POW!!!!! tv beeee goneee

[memyselfand1]

Nice! So, how to make a TV-B-Gone-B-Gone?

[zombiefire]

fell you should right feel to corect it ok ; )

[the_burrito_master]

that is so evil! XD so cool I thought there were certain frequencies the light needed to flash in to shut of a tv. so cool. I should do this and make my dad think the new tv we bought is broken. XD but only broken when he puts foot ball on. (I hate foot ball.)

[dude300]

sorry if i read your comment wrong, but there is a certain (frequency) pattern that the led flashes to turn off a tv, the tv-b-gone has these patterns programmed into a chip, all this instructable is doing is extending the wires from where they are meant to be

[the_burrito_master]

Yeah I get it all now but at the time i didn't :P just shows how much you learn over the years.

[Sparkplug]

Don't be a hater!

[the_burrito_master]

hating is fun >:) < that's my fave smiley.

[duesentrieb]

As already noted, CCD cameras can "see" the IR light of the LEDs used. So you'd better look twice for security cameras before performing a prank and switch off all TVs in a store. You will be glowing like a christmas tree on the surveillance video, so stay covert.

[cgosh]

I love it !! Well documented, good idea, original. Well done. And your English is better than that of a lot of people who were born here . . . Just keep doing what you're doing.

[berky93]

nice idea! but I usually have my real headphones in... but you did give me an idea - I am ALWAYS using my ipod, no one would suspect me playing with it an a public setting. its an ipod touch, so its really thin but the same length/width as the iphone. so I could get an iphone case and squeeze the tv-b-gone into the area between the case and the back of my ipod, with a switch on the bottom or side or something. Must_get_tvbgone

[Moshmosh]

Good idea! Post your work if you do an " I-tv-b-gone "

[berky93]

will do! although recently I found an old ninja remote in the depths of my room, its really thin so I think I'll try it with that before I get a tv-b-gone. (A ninja remote is a small universal tv remote, sorta like a more advanced tv-b-gone. check it out on thinkgeek.com, I know they sell them there)

[Parakeet Crazzzy]

XD

[flio191]

haha, too bad i have long hair. maybe i could wear something like this a as a brochette.

[Moshmosh]

Thanks for your comments. And I will correct my "sold" into "solder", sorry... ;)

[mitch]

Note: although our human eyes can not see IR light, digital cameras can! So, to test the emitters you can use any digital camera to see if the IR emitters blink when you press the button (as in the photos here).

[mitch]

Sweet! :) Two notes: - the short lead of almost (but not all) LEDs is the negative lead, and the longer lead is the positive. - The most powerful IR emitters I've been able to find are the ones I've used in the commercial TV-B-Gone and TV-B-Gone kit: IR333-A (+/- 20 degree emission angle), IR333C/H0/L10 (+/- 40 degree emission angle). Both are available at mouser.com for really cheap.

[mitch]

It's probably obvious to everyone, but when the instructions say "sold", it really means "solder".

[Uru Wolf]

What about TVBG-throwies? Just stick them somewhere semi-hidden and watch the fun unfold.

[Notbob]

Interesting idea, to bad I don't have a TV-B-Gone.

[hammerhead]

Heh, this is ingenious! Very sly. Need to get me one of these things.

[joejoerowley]

Nice! Well Done!

[Weissensteinburg]

Awesome idea! TV-B-Gone should sell a similar model!

[TheWelfareWarrior]

Interesting idea, very spy like. And you didn't do too bad on the English...

[jeff-o]

Brilliant! You could do this with any set of headphones, too.