March 1, 2008

8 DIY TV Projects For Tim Taylor Wannabe's

Saturday's a great day to tinker around with some TV-related projects. Anything you don't get done today, you can finish tomorrow and any damage you do today, you can fix tomorrow too. Here's some ideas for you:

Remember the day of TV sign-offs where the day's programming culminated in vertical color bars and an annoying high-pitched hum. Spent some time checking out different TV sign-offs from years back. We don't recommend this one unless you're really bored.

Interested in learning how to build your own television receiver? We should warn you, these how-to's come from 70-80 years ago so don't expect them to work after next year's digital TV transition.

Learn how to integrate surround-sound into your DVD's.

For those of you who favor new media over old, learn how to videoblog.

Build a TV remote decoder.

Build a TV lift cabinet using an old dresser.

Ever dreamed of taking your home theater outside in the summer, allowing you to enjoy the best of home theater and hot sun simultaneously. You can.

Happen to have an old Atari 2600 joystick stuck in a crawlspace somewhere? Why don't you mod it into a retro-looking TV remote?

Build a media center PC out of a retro-looking stereo.

Have fun, but don't do too much damage.