Hacking BetaBrite LED Signs

I am sure you have seen them, they are everywhere. They are in our Schools, Bars, Workplaces, shops, well pretty much everywhere you look. I am talking about LED signs. In this article we will discuss how using some very basic tools take over these signs and use them to display what we want them to say. In PART1 We will discuss how we can be able to take over a lot of them "remotely", and then in PART2  we will discuss how we can build a special cable that will allow us to interface them with our computers to do some cool stuff.

The type of LED signs we will be discussing in this article is the BetaBrite 1036 series. These displays are insanely popular because they support 8 colors, animations (cherrybomb being the coolest of course), dot-matrix pictures, and font choices for a very reasonable price. Once you start looking for them, you will be surprised how many places have them.. They are EVERYWHERE. Problem is they always have a boring message on them, advertising Specials, News, etc..  I would seriously prefer they say "I-Hacked.com" =)

I think you will be surprised how the messages are programmed into these units. They can be programmed by 2 different ways.

• Using a proprietary cable and software (both of which you have to buy from the company but we will discuss that later)

or

• Using a Special Remote Control which you get when you purchase the unit.

For the first part of this article we are going to focus on the remote control. You will notice that most models of BetaBrite LED signs have a IR port that enables us to program the sign with the remote that came with it. Funny thing is,  the remote controls are universal between all the different BetaBrite models. That means if we have a BetaBrite remote control, We can program a large percentage of the LED signs we see with the text that we would like to see. So where can you get those remotes?  I had found a small supply of 20 remotes, but they are now sold out.  Your best bet is to look on google or froogle for BetaBrite Remotes or something.  They shouldnt be that hard to find.

To Program a sign with your new remote use the following steps:

• Press PROGRAM to put the sign into one of the following modes (Use Back to move modes and ADV to select mode)
  -PROG TEXT 'A' for entering text messages.
  -PROG DOTS 'A' for creating dot-matrix style graphics
  -SET TIME changes the sign's date
  -SET PASSWORD used to prevent someone from changing your messages. =)
  -CLEAR MEMORY deletes all text and graphic files
  ('A' is a file name, from A to Z)
  
  Since we want to put OUR message in there, select PROG TEXT A and press ADV.
• Using the keypad, type out your message. If you need to insert characters (like the '-' in i-hacked.com) Press the SYMBOL or !. Then press select to choose the special character or graphic. Yeah this sucks, but it keeps the remote smaller.
• Once you are done with your message, hit the RUN button twice. You should now see your message!

If you decide that you dont like the sign, and instead of seeing your message up there you would rather it just be turned off... Press and hold the FCN button and the press PROGRAM (The same sequence is used to turn the sign back on).  Turning the sign off and back on can also lead to some interesting information.

*Interesting Note: Messages that you have programmed into the sign will not be lost when you turn a sign off. Messages will be retained for up to 30 DAYS if the sign is not powered.

Now wait a minute.. Earlier you read that there was a "Set Password" option. I have found that all of the places I have tested did not have the password enabled. It kind of goes along with wireless networks.. They just plug it in and it works.. People seem to forget about security when they are excited to program their message into their new toy. But if you do come across a sign with a password you can bet that it is something simple & 6 characters long. (see hacker tips)

Hacker Tips:

• Want to program your sign but forgot the password? You can easily change the password with this backdoor (but dont tell anyone) Press the "L" key 6 times, then you can put in your own new password. If you want to totally clear the password prompt, you will need to clear the memory.
• Don't like the beeping every time you press a button? If you want to turn the beeping off, hold down FCN and then press FONT. (To turn the beeping on again, repeat this.)

For more advanced messages & programming information you should check out the Programming Manual.

 In Part 2 of this article we will discuss creating our own cable from scratch and interfacing it to our computer using our OWN software.  We will be able to display computer stats, temperature info, etc with all homegrown software.