The original Annoy-a-tron from Think Geek was one of the most clever, fiendish and frustrating prank devices you could ever legally unleash on your fellow co-workers. This evil little gizmo was designed to be hidden somewhere where it could never be found and emit random annoying beeps in 2-8 minute intervals. Not only would it drive people absolutely crazy trying to find the source of the beeping, it probably caused many to simply give up and quit their jobs.
annoy a tron original
Good News, Think Geek has just released the Annoy-a-tron 2.0! This new version looks like the original, but now features 6 all new sound choices, along with a volume control knob. Simply select one of the new annoying sounds which include a beep, a 12 kHz electronic noise sound, 15 kHz mosquito tone, a cricket, a doorbell or set it to alternate between all the sounds. Now hide this little non-descript electronic device somewhere where it will never be found and hopefully annoy the most people. Then, quietly laugh to yourself as people frantically search their office trying to discover where the sound is coming from. The Mosquito Tone could be the most fun sound of all if you want to drive teens and younger people nuts. It's not audible to most adults! Can you hear it?
If you watched the video above, you have a pretty good idea of what the Annoy-A-Tron Prankster Set is but I will explain it a little more. This ThinkGeek creation and exclusive includes 3 very small pranking devices that can be placed just about anywhere. All you need is the perfect hidden location to place the device. You can put it on a shelf, in a drawer, even in an empty cup if you really want to be creative. In my prank video, I held onto the device and pressed the button to prank my grandmother with various sounds from the basic Annoy-a-tron. However, the devices are setup to allow you to push the button once and leave it in a secret place. The annoying sounds will play at a random time. Trust me, before i figured out how to turn the things off, I was very annoyed with the random doorbell sound, haha.
Thinkgeek.com sells a thing called an annoy-a-tron. Its basically a device that, when activated, beeps at a varied interval. While this instructable does not create an exact replica of think geek's annoy-a-tron, if you've got the materials and the know-how, you can make quite a few and deploy an entire fleet of them! :D(please note that this is not an instructable on soldering or electronic components. prior knowledge is assumed)
YOU WILL NEED:PARTS:- 20k ohm resistor (red, black, orage)- 10M ohm resistor (brown, black, blue)- 10 uF capacitor- perforated circuit board- CMOS 555 timer (MUST be cmos / low power consumption to run on a 3v battery!)- diode- 3v battery (2032) & battery holder- asst. lengths of wire- mosfet (i use a VN10KM, others may work)- piezo buzzer (apply current and get a beep, just the piezo element itself will not work for this)- solder- switchTOOLS:- soldering iron- wire cutters- box cutter or exacto- knowledge of soldering and electronics :D
the circuit diagram is shown below. hopefully it is readable.if you've got a breadboard, lay one out first and make sure it all works!AGH sorry! Revised schematic 4/4/09(thanks dad)
after you get all of your components onto your board, the bottom work begins. i try and lay the circuit out so many of the connections can be made by jumping between two adjacent holes with solder. i find the most difficult set to be the underneath work, as it requires steady hands and more thought.hopefully all has gone well and your annoy-a-thing works! this set up i've just layed out should last about a month.as with all little projects like this, a magnet can be added to the bottom. this will, however, add thickness, so i prefer using double sided sticky tape.one of the things think-geek's annoy-a-tron has that this one lacks is a different length of time between beeps. this particular "annoy-a-thing" will beep about once a minute (+/- a few seconds depending on battery life).ALSO: note that you can change the time between beeps by changing the value of the 10M ohm resistor. if i'm not mistaken, i believe a value of 20M ohm will make it 2 minutes, 30M ohm is 3, so on. (you wouldn't want to go too crazy and make it 10 minutes or something, i don't think that would work. but hey, nothing stopping you from trying!)your comments are appreciated!
Hi, question here from an electronically challenged guy - on the original Annoy-a-tron, what is the adjustable pot for? I've messed around with it over the years but haven't noticed it doing anything.
The idea is to hide this where it would be difficult to find. As a result, each Annoy-a-tron comes with a rare-earth magnet that is attached inside so that you can easily stick it in difficult-to-find places.
Pick the Annoy-a-tron of your choice and turn it on. Cycle through the sounds with the button and pick the one you like. Then leave them where they will never be found ever again! If you do this right, the result would be an annoying, consistent sound whose origin or source is unknown and undiscoverable. Nobody, except you, of course, would know what is going on. If you pick the Eviltron and its eerie sound effects, you would drive your colleagues at work absolutely crazy and some may even quit their job! Others may invite an exorcist to come rid the office of demons! The Annoy-a-tron Prankster Pack is not only great for office pranks. Place it in stores, classrooms, cars or even at home and drive people completely insane!
Now that they've mostly recovered from the twisted mind maze that was the original Annoy-a-tron, send them on a new journey of "self discovery" with the latest version featuring 6 sound choices, it's at least twice as fun (and annoying) as the original. For effective deployment, we humbly suggest the following sounds and locations, but you can conduct your own field research for more insight.
The cricket chirping sound is interesting because someone will instinctively look near the ground when trying to locate a cricket. So, placing the Annoy-a-tron several feet or more above the ground will help to obscure its location. The 15kHz sound is also interesting because this frequency range of sound cannot be heard by everyone. In older adults or those with deteriorated hearing (a condition known as presbycusis) this high frequency sound will not be audible, while others will clearly hear the sound and find it quite annoying. They also might think they are going crazy because people nearby will report that they don't hear anything.
Assuming you have done your part in selecting a suitable hiding location for the Annoy-a-tron, it will do its part to drive your co-workers slowly mad with its short and seemingly random beeps. And when someone does locate the Annoy-a-tron, they're not going to know what it is - which is almost as much fun as watching them search for it. Muahaha...
** - The 15kHz 'Teen Buzz Tone' is a frequency that young people can hear but older folks cannot. Sometimes younger folks cannot hear it and sometimes older folks can hear it, but, in general, it's called the 'Teen Buzz' tone. When you can hear it, trust us, it's annoying. Dogs agree.
So the fun begins...Glenn Somodi got an amazing little device, the Annoy-a-tron (available on Thinkgeek.com), for Christmas. It does its part to drive co-workers slowly mad with its short and seemingly random beeps. Glenn placed the device under a metal filing shelf on Scott McCarty's desk, and let everyone (except Scott) know what to expect.
Naturally, you can imagine my shock and surprise when I laid eyes on the Annoy-A-Tron. The latest version of this device designed to drive people crazy is half the size of the original and runs off a single CR2032 battery for six months. 2ff7e9595c