Open Source: Not Just for Software - November 29th, 2009

Meet my new TV-B-Gone; cute, isn’t it? It’s also loads of fun, and so geeky it would hurt if it weren’t equally awesome.

The little guy was a pretty easy build, all things considered, and the kit ran me less than $20. With single-button efficiency, it can kill a whole wall of TV’s by cycling off 115 power-down codes in rapid succession. Instructions for the kit are available from the mothership, Ladyada.net, and the kits themselves are available through its storefront, Adafruit Industries.

I haven’t soldered anything in over a decade, but it only took about 3 joints to get the hang of it again, and I had more fun geeking out to this than I’ve had in any project for a long time. I don’t have a TV, I just watch everything online… And I have to say, while building it was fun, testing it on my apartment building’s office wall-screen was even better.

TV-B-Gone Kit: v1.2 at Adafruit.com

Happy hunting :)

Yes, that’s a repurposed Magic Mouse retail casing, the unit isn’t delicate but it’s nice to have such a perfectly suitable housing available for it while it’s home with me.