Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


jbard

1377 posts

Uber Geek


#82104 21-Apr-2011 22:30
Send private message

So i have a friend whos openign an internet cafe, and he wants to add in a couple of tv's with a xbox and ps3.

He wants to charge $5 for 30mins playing but he needs someway to control the amount of time they can play for.

Ideally it would be great if someone could pay at the counter and he could either enable the TV for 30mins or give them a code which enables the TV for 30mins.

I have done some googleing but can't find much. I guess either a TV that can run custom software or maybe even a really lite linux distro?

Basically any automated way to switch the tv on/off or control what was displayed on the tv?

Anyone got some ideas?

Cheers

Create new topic
richms
28172 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #461479 21-Apr-2011 22:54
Send private message

Go to adafruit.com and look at the tutorial for IR commands from an arduino. You should be able to time it to send a IR command to power off after 30 mins or whatever, or attach a coinslot to it to add time etc..




Richard rich.ms



jbard

1377 posts

Uber Geek


  #461491 21-Apr-2011 23:57
Send private message

Ok awesome, never heard of arduino before but it looks really cool, can't wait to get my hands on one now.

Where would you reccommend i buy one from, i'm in Dunedin so is their a retailer i can purchase one from or should i get it all online?

Cheers

richms
28172 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #461493 22-Apr-2011 00:17
Send private message

mindkits.co.nz and nicegear.co.nz sell them, both ship out fast, if you talk to @mindkits or @nicegear on twitter and tell them what you want they are both very helpful.

Nice gear is in timaru so perhaps a better option for you for being, whereas mindkits have a much greater selection.




Richard rich.ms



dylz
17 posts

Geek


  #461515 22-Apr-2011 08:11
Send private message

Some TVs have an RS-232 could you use this?

mattRSK
822 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

  #461517 22-Apr-2011 08:53
Send private message

jbard: Ok awesome, never heard of arduino before but it looks really cool, can't wait to get my hands on one now.

Where would you reccommend i buy one from, i'm in Dunedin so is their a retailer i can purchase one from or should i get it all online?

Cheers


I got a replica one of trade me. 

jbard

1377 posts

Uber Geek


  #461611 22-Apr-2011 15:45
Send private message

Ok so one thing that came to mind, if their are 2-3 TVs of the same make/model when i send the command to switch off one they will all switch off?


Gadgetcity
26 posts

Geek


  #461612 22-Apr-2011 15:46

A coin slot to power the TV is the simplest solution (probably not that cheap though)
http://www.gislonline.com/CoinBoxes.html

 
 
 

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).
richms
28172 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #461674 22-Apr-2011 20:39
Send private message

jbard: Ok so one thing that came to mind, if their are 2-3 TVs of the same make/model when i send the command to switch off one they will all switch off?



If the IR LED sending can hit them all, then yes, so multiple LEDs would be what you want to do. There are ones to stick on the front of things, but last time I needed to remote control a TV I just poked one on the end of some cat-5 into a vent on the back and it still managed to hit the sensor in it somewhere.




Richard rich.ms

Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.