How To Use The IR-ritator

The IR-ritator is a device for playing a practical joke on anybody who uses an infrared remote to control electrical equipment such as a television. It has two basic functions. It can jam a remote control and make it seem unreliable (as if its battery is failing), and it can record and mimic a remote control and disrupt the operation of a piece of equipment.

For example in mimic mode, you could record the mute button on a TV remote control. Then, when your victim is trying to watch television, they will find that the sound disappears every few minutes. Needless to say this will be extremely annoying to them. Or, more irritating still, their TV might change channels by itself, or even turn completely off.

The IR-ritator has six modes of operation, three jamming modes and three mimic modes. The pushbutton increments the mode which is indicated by 1 to 6 flashes of the light. The mode is saved when the battery is removed, and initially mode 1 is active.

Modes 1 to 3 are the jamming modes. Bursts (5 seconds) of infrared are transmitted with gaps of 10, 5 or 0 seconds respectively between the bursts. Mode 1 should make a remote unreliable, and mode 3 should stop it from working almost entirely.

Modes 4 to 6 are the mimic modes. A recorded code is transmitted every 10, 5 or 2 minutes respectively.

When using The IR-ritator hide it out of sight in a room with the transmitters (TX1 and TX2) pointing towards the equipment to be jammed or disrupted. Cover the red light if it might be noticed (but don't block TX1 or TX2).

Press and hold down the pushbutton (S1) for 2 seconds until the light flashes twice indicating The IR-ritator is ready to record. Then point your remote control towards the receiver module (RX) and press the button on the remote you wish to record. The light will come on as the code is recorded.

The recorded code will then be transmitted repeatedly every couple of seconds so you can test that it is working properly. Press the pushbutton when you've confirmed it has been recorded successfully, then select the mode you want to use. Note that with some remotes only the first time it is transmitted will have an effect. The recorded code is saved when the battery is removed.

The IR-ritator will work with most remote controls but it can not be guaranteed to work with all. Some remote controls use unusual carrier frequencies which are not detected by the receiver module. Consequently modes 4 to 6 might not work with a particular remote. The jamming modes 1 to 3 however sweep the carrier frequency over the range 1 to 60 kHz which covers nearly all remotes in use.