Ultra TV-B-Gone

Step 2 Modify the TV-B-Gone

Take apart the TV-B-Gone and examine the board, you will notice it uses two sets of batteries. The two 3V batteries on top drive the LED's and the bottom 3V battery powers everything else. To save a little space we moved the 3V battery to the top holder and connected the stuff that was connected to the 6V supply to the 9V battery.

To get rid of the lower battery holder you have to use a sharp cutting tool to break the connection on the right side of the top battery holder. Then on the left side solder a wire from the big pad through the hole that is right next to it. Now you can remove the lower battery holder and move the bigger 3v battery to the top holder.

Comments

[mitch]

R2, R7 and R8 are pull-up resistors that are used for some versions of TV-B-Gone, but not others. Most versions of TV-B-Gone use microcontrollers that have its firmware (i.e., its controlling software) manufactured into the chip (these are called Masked-ROM chips) -- these also have built-in pull-up resistors in the chip. Some versions of TV-B-Gone use a One-Time-Programmable (OTP) microcontroller (the firmware is programmed into the chip after the chip is manufactured), and since these OTP chips do not have built-in pull-up resistors, they need to be added externally. One pull-up (R2) is for the switch. One pull-up (R7) is for jumper R5, and the other (R8) is for jumper R6. The R6 jumper isn't used for anything, but the R5 jumper tells the TV-B-Gone whether to use its North American or European database. If R5 is 15Kohm or less, the TV-B-Gone uses its European database, otherwise it uses its North American database. The first versions of TV-B-Gone did not have a visible indicator light. As Jake said, the TV-B-Gone works fine without it. If you have one of these old TV-B-Gone remotes and would like a visible indicator, then you can add Q2 (2N3904), R3 (1K), R4 (any value from 270 through 1k), and D2 (any visible LED).

[i_r_engineer]

i have a question. i noticed that on your tv-bgone there is a transistor soldered to Q2 and resistors on R3 and R4, as well as an smt led. my tv-bgone lacked all of these when i opened it. i was wondering if you added them on yourself/and the purpose if you did? also, i have resistors attached to R2, R8, and R7 and i see you do not? just wondering if different versions were made? thanks

[m_jake]

Q2, R3, R4 and D2 make up an indicator circuit (flashes the led so you can see when its transmitting, i think there were different versions made so yours might be a slightly earlier version. Im not sure what the resistors on R2 R7 and R8 would be for since i dont know exactly what is on the microcontroller. The instructions here should still work if those are the only differences. goodluck.