# Circuit Playground Express TV Zapper ## Overview ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/052/134/medium800/adafruit_gemma_pytv.png?1521401319) Pew Pew! Televisions are _toast_ when you build this project, a universal TV zapper made with just your Circuit Playground Express. This guide will not only show you how to make a DIY universal remote, we'll also show how to grab data using a logic analyzer, parse it with Jupyter notebooks, compress it to fit into our little CircuitPython boards, and take advantage of the Python `eval` function to dynamically load data into memory. ### BUT FIRST...a story... When I first made the Circuit Playground (a.k.a the 'Classic' AVR based one) I showed it off to my inspirational friend Mitch Altman. Mitch is a wonderful maker who travels to events and maker spaces to teach people soldering and electronics. We met over a decade ago when our mutual friend pt suggested we work together on the TV-B-Gone kit. See, [Mitch had been making and selling the TV-B-Gone](https://www.tvbgone.com/), which looked like this: ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/051/753/medium800/adafruit_gemma_tvbg_model_BLK-1.gif?1520616586) And that one LED could reach pretty darn far, maybe 50 feet. But we wanted to see if we could design one that would go 300 feet! So we worked on a kit version and made this: ### TV-B-Gone Kit [TV-B-Gone Kit](https://www.adafruit.com/product/73) When we were putting together the TV-B-Gone kit, we started imagining a dystopian future, filled with televisions, where this kit would be super useful and we'd be a hero for having one.  And while maybe that's dramatic, the TV-B-Gone is perfect for playing pranks... Out of Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/73) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/73/guides) ![Angled assembled TV-B-Gone kit in dramatic lighting.](https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/640x480/73-07.jpg) With a total of _four_ high powered LED blasters. It worked great, and Mitch, as we said, goes to events and does workshops, so this was a popular workshop kit. But back to the tale at hand, I showed him the Circuit Playground and he said that it was really neat but if it had an IR LED it could act like a TV-B-Gone! And, frankly, I agreed. I couldn't fit an IR LED onto the original, but when I designed the _Express_ version, I made some space for an IR LED and receiver. So, here we are! In this guide, we'll build a TV zapper using just your Circuit Playground Express, a battery pack, and CircuitPython. We also have a bonus page for making a miniature zapper using a Gemma M0 Info: - [Next Page](https://learn.adafruit.com/circuitpython-tv-zapper-with-circuit-playground-express/grabbing-data.md) ## Featured Products ### Circuit Playground Express [Circuit Playground Express](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3333) **Circuit Playground Express** is the next step towards a perfect introduction to electronics and programming. We've taken the original Circuit Playground Classic and made it even better! Not only did we pack even more sensors in, we also made it even easier to... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3333) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/3333/guides) ### Circuit Playground Express - Base Kit [Circuit Playground Express - Base Kit](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3517) It's the **Circuit Playground Express Base Kit!**  It provides the few things you'll need to get started with the new [Circuit Playground Express](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3333). This version of Circuit Playground is super powered, and will... Out of Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3517) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/3517/guides) ### Super-bright 5mm IR LED (25 pack) [Super-bright 5mm IR LED (25 pack)](https://www.adafruit.com/product/388) Infrared LEDs are used for remote controls (they're the little LED in the part you point at your TV) and 'night-vision' cameras, and these little blue guys are high powered ones! They are 940nm wavelength, which is what nearly all devices listen to. They're 20 degree beamwidth,... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/388) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/388/guides) ### Super-bright 5mm IR LED [Super-bright 5mm IR LED](https://www.adafruit.com/product/387) Infrared LEDs are used for remote controls (they're the little LED in the part you point at your TV) and 'night-vision' cameras, and these little blue guys are high powered ones! They are 940nm wavelength, which is what nearly all devices listen to. They're 20 degree beamwidth,... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/387) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/387/guides) ### TV-B-Gone, Skill badge, iron-on patch [TV-B-Gone, Skill badge, iron-on patch](https://www.adafruit.com/product/470) You turned off a TV with a kit you made! Adafruit offers a fun and exciting "badges" of achievement for electronics, science and engineering. We believe everyone should be able to be rewarded for learning a useful skill, a badge is just one of the many ways to show and share. No Longer Stocked [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/470) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/470/guides) ### TV-B-Gone - Sticker! [TV-B-Gone - Sticker!](https://www.adafruit.com/product/647) Celebrate turning off TVs or making a [TV-B-Gone](http://www.adafruit.com/category/20)! Adafruit offers a fun and exciting stickers to show your interest and achievements for electronics, science and engineering. We believe everyone should be able to be rewarded for learning a... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/647) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/647/guides) ## Related Guides - [Adafruit Circuit Playground Express](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-circuit-playground-express.md) - [Crickit Controlled Animatronic Eyeball](https://learn.adafruit.com/crickit-controlled-animatronic-eyeball.md) - [Circuit Playground Express Perk-up Ears](https://learn.adafruit.com/perk-up-ears.md) - [Anatomical 3D Printed Beating Heart with MakeCode](https://learn.adafruit.com/anatomical-3d-printed-beating-heart-with-makecode.md) - [LED Breath Stats Mask](https://learn.adafruit.com/led-breath-stats-mask.md) - [Circuit Playground Hot Potato](https://learn.adafruit.com/circuit-playground-hot-potato.md) - [Makecode para la Circuit Playground Express](https://learn.adafruit.com/makecode-es.md) - [CPX Glowing Disembodied Hand](https://learn.adafruit.com/cpx-glowing-disembodied-hand.md) - [Lucky Cat with Circuit Playground Express](https://learn.adafruit.com/lucky-cat-with-circuit-playground-express.md) - [Make a Snow Globe with Circuit Playground Express & MakeCode](https://learn.adafruit.com/make-a-snowglobe-with-circuit-playground-makecode.md) - [Circuit Playground Minecraft Gesture Controller](https://learn.adafruit.com/circuitplayground-minecraft-gesture-controller.md) - [Personal UV HotSpot Parasol](https://learn.adafruit.com/personal-blacklight-uv-parasol.md) - [Labo RC Car Action Lights](https://learn.adafruit.com/labo-rc-car-underglow.md) - [Circuit Playground Express Sugar Glider](https://learn.adafruit.com/cpx-sugar-glider.md) - [Circuit Playground Slouch Detector](https://learn.adafruit.com/circuit-playground-slouch-detector.md) - [CircuitPython Hardware: ILI9341 TFT & FeatherWing](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-hardware-ili9341-tft-and-featherwing.md)