vts said:Anyone know what chip is being used in this? For 1 cent, it would'nt be bad ravaging one of this for study. This can be handy gadgets around the house, if we can hack/reprogram the uprocessor.

Regards
-v

Yeah, maybe I'll hack one to include an alarm and a motion sensor and put it on my change cup at work. Anyone sticking their hand in will get a buzzer and a "You're Busted, THIEF!" message.

This is the coolest thing.

In for five today at 0.05 each at my Best Buy. The sales clerk was really cool about it. Told him I just wanted the cards and that my kid would find it cool.

I was able to fully program the thing without reading the instructions, it is really easy to use. The letters take on a "bold" effect when the speed is set at 9, which is what I recommend.

The case is cheap, and without opening it up, it seems that the PCB inside takes up 2/3rd of the case.

Programmed one to say "TRICK OR TREAT!!!" and stuck it onto my kid using super-duty all-weather outdoor-rated 3M double-sided-tape.

Thanks for a great deal!

Edit:

Opened one up and here's what I found:

It's a 2-chip solution containing a 7x21 LED controller and an EEPROM, probably for storing messages. The EEPROM is an 8-pin surface mount package while the controller is encased in an epoxy drop on the board. Even though the controller is encased, it sits inside a pad layout for a normal surface mount chip, and the traces runs through the unused pads. So it would be possible to tap into those pads if needed. A very basic hacking scenario would be if you soldered over the 28 necessary control wires and have two displays showing the exact same thing. The LEDs are red by themselves, so the red lense only goes to making the green PCB less visible. It's a thin 2-layer board. The rows are driven through 7 transistors, and the columns are driven directly by the LED controller. In addition to the battery connector, there appears to be a pad designed for an external power connector. Certainly it would be easy to solder on your own external source.

If you do a search for "7x21 LED Controller 6 messages 9 speeds" on google, you'll get a ton of hits, including variants of this exact same device with identical 3-button layout and battery location.

When I bought my 22 cards with $.01 each I just said that I would decide later how much to put on the cards - when I knew who I was going to give them to. She was totally O.K. with that - even though there was a line building up behind me at the customer service counter (due to my getting a PM to Costco). By the way - I have been traveling a lot lately and most of the BBs I have been to have been very nice to me!

Went to NYC 23rd Street Best Buy location.

Did not see any of them there.

Will check other NYC locations.

BTW there is a Giftcard Center there... which is a small "booth" with all the variations
of gift cards available.. happy birthday, wedding, etc.... in big letters on the top it
said minimum giftcard amount is $5.00.

!!! cheap mod for LED message belt buckle.

Where are you guys getting these gift cards from? I tried 2 stores (Westminster and Costa Mesa, CA) and they both don't have any.

The Mr Clean Magic Eraser works quite easily... it cleaned off the entire lower portion of the front with little effort and the back "erased" even easier. I still want to get mine spay painted FLAT BLACK.

Regarding the Harbor Freight Motion Detector Hack... I didn't see any instructions for doing a hack, just a post about the fact HF was selling a motion detector... is there an acutal place that has specific instructions for hooking up a motion sensor to this led display panel?

Billygoats said:Apparently no FW members want any of these in my area since my local BB had tons of them. I took the liberty of relieving about 2 dozen of them off their inventory @ a penny each. Thanks OP! When I have time, I may try to glue aluminum foil on the surface instead of sanding like some of you were doing. Contact kitchen shelve/drawer paper might also work if I can find a nice color at the right price. I would love try doing the Harbor Freight Motion Detector hack. It would make a great home security accessory.

passivex said:Where are you guys getting these gift cards from? I tried 2 stores (Westminster and Costa Mesa, CA) and they both don't have any.

I bought original 22 at Summerlin, NV (near Las Vegas) last weekend when I was there. I just bought another 10 in the Bay Area, CA (Pleasant Hill store) each with .01 on them. They had them at customer service - behind the counter - where you can't grab them yourself. The CSR thought that she couldn't sell them until after Thanksgiving - but then I mentioned I'd already bought some and she checked with a supervisor who OKed it. The CSR was curious that I only wanted to give people .01 and I just told him that I would decide later on how much I wanted to give to my friends.

Funny - one card wouldn't scan and they tossed it into the trash and then pulled it out and started playing with it. It was like they weren't aware they had these.

By the way - it looked like they had a lot - maybe 100 of them.

I bought a bunch of them at a penny each and gave it out for halloween. You should of seen them kids eyes lighted up with delight when I said I would trade a gift certificate to bestbuy in exchange for one their biggest candy in their bag.

Trick or treat? yep, it's a trick and I'm expecting someone to egg my door soon.

What I found trying to remove the screen printing from the case...

I tried acetone. The printing came off. It also dissolved the case, leaving a gummy, sticky mess, and frosted the display window.

Toluene (lacquer thinner) cleaned the printing off. A ghost image of the printing was left where solvents in the screen ink ate into the case. This would be acceptable if the case were spray painted. I would disassemble the case first and remove the display window, as it became grubby around the edges with screen ink pushed around while wiping the case. Be aware that toluene is carcinogenic as well as flammable; do the cleaning outdoors.

MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) took the printing off, then softened the plastic and ate a hole through the case. Strong stuff.

Alcohol and lamp oil (Goo Gone, kerosene) had no effect.