TV-B-Gone Jammer


Overview

This is a simple electronics project which can be used to disable the use of any TV-B-Gone-type devices - or any infrared (IR) TV remote control, for that matter.

The whiny, rich, fascist, $2600 reading nutcases have found a new toy.  This toy is called the "TV-B-Gone", and it's essentially just a universal TV remote control which is used to turn televisions off.  Of course, all the whiny rich kids are going around turning off other people's televisons - a direct violation of personal privacy.  Hey!  Wait a minute...  Don't $2600 readers complaing about their personal privacy all the time?  Shouldn't people be allowed to watch TV as they wish?

Well, this little hack consists of several fairly intense pulsed infrared LEDs which can be used to "confuse" (i.e. jam) the infrared receiver on most TV, VCR, stereos, cable boxes, etc.


The 1933 version of the TV-B-Gone.

Construction

This construction is very simple.  Most of the parts are available at Radio Shack.  It just consists of a 555-timer IC configured to output a series of pulses at around 38 kHz.  These pulses then trigger four infrared LEDs, which radiate their energy and jam any IR remote receivers in the vicinity.  The 38 kHz signal is actually quite critical, as that is the carrier frequency (or something close to it) which is used by normal IR remote controls.  By encoding the remote's control data stream onto a high-frequency carrier like this, any interference (especially sunlight - which is DC) is ignored.

When constructed and powered, place the jammer in the field-of-view of the TV you wish to protect.  This should prevent the TV from receiving any external IR remote signals.  When you need access to the remote, just remove the battery from the jammer.  This could be very useful for protecting a large store display of TVs, or any TVs in a bar or restaurant setting.

Schematic












Pictures

Closeup picture of the IR jammer.  Pin 1 of the 555-timer is marked with the little blue dot.  The circuit is powered directly from a 9 Volt battery.  You can salvage IR LEDs from old remote controls.  Using the resistor/capacitor values in the schemtic will get you very close to the required 38 kHz oscillator frequency.  Fine tune the 1.2 kohm resistor if the circuit does not oscillate correctly.

Alternate view.  Leave a little bit of lead length on the IR LEDs to allow you to "tweak" the direction of jamming.