Wave Bubble: the portable, undercover RF jammer

There's no better way to celebrate the one hundredth birthday of broadcast radio -- or to completely enrage your sibling by rendering that brand new cellphone useless -- than to craft your very own RF jammer. Branching out from the many other jammers we've already seen, the Wave Bubble touts itself as being a "self-tuning, wide-bandwidth" rig that doesn't require a spectrum analyzer, and can "jam many different frequency bands" all in a pocket-friendly enclosure. Powered by an internal Li-ion cell, this bad boy provides self-tuning via "dual PLL," and you can manually enter new frequencies to vex by simply plugging it into your PC's USB port and inputting the data when prompted. It can purportedly provide up to two hours of jamming on dual bands (such as "cellphones") or four hours on single bands such as "cordless phones, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc." Additionally, the output power ranges from 0.1-watts (high bands) to 0.3-watts (low bands), and the handy device sports an approximate range of about 20 feet with "well-tuned antennas." Of course, you aren't apt to find this for sale anywhere considering the fit the FCC would undoubtedly throw, but if you consider yourself a master of the DIY craft, be sure to tag the read link for some in-depth pedagogy.

[Via HackADay]

[Alberto B @ Sep 19th 2008 4:33PM]

Puedes encontrar todo lo necesario siguiendo el enlace "leer" del artículo.

Un saludo.

[matt @ Dec 26th 2006 9:26AM]

I can't wait for the first lawsuit to arise from using this device. let's say someone leaves this on in a movie theater and someone else has a heart attack. no one can dial 911 because of RF jamming. the guy who has the jammer is too busy enjoying his movie to notice and the guy having the heart attack dies.

but hey, at least he got to enjoy his movie.

[Rivet @ Dec 26th 2006 7:12PM]

Amazingly enough, people survived for hundreds of thousands of years without cellphones. I think going a whole 2 hours without blackberry/cellphone/pager/nextel walkie-talkie might not end the world.

[Chris @ Dec 26th 2006 9:57PM]

That is just stupid. No person in the crowd will go to the lobby and dial 911? Everybody will just stand there? What did we do before we had cell phones? Who would they sue? If the jammer is in my pocket, how would anyone know?

Get a Job!

[John Doe @ Dec 26th 2006 6:00PM]

Yah because there are absolutely no land lines in a theater. And if you knew anything about heart attacks an extra 30 seconds ain't going to matter a whole hell of a lot either. Matt you are an idiot.

[Mark @ Dec 26th 2006 1:10PM]

i remember the days before cell phones, ambulances just sat there waiting for someone to run through the door to tell them about an emergency, and many many people died needlessly, no, wait, that was just your own private world, the rest of us have landlines

[Cade @ Dec 27th 2006 9:12AM]

I think I'll wait for the emp gun so I can destroy radios at redlights when my automotive neighbor thinks I should have to listen to his radio

[strider_mt2k @ Dec 26th 2006 10:40AM]

matt, your oversimplification is laughable.

[PEZ @ Dec 26th 2006 1:02PM]

Your undersimplification is DEAD On. Get it? Dead?

Oh, god, I kill me. GET IT? KILL ME? OK. Bybye.

Note: Run out into the lobby if you have/see someone having a heart attack in a movie theater... or, dont eat choloestoral ladden popcorn.

[Heishiro @ Dec 26th 2006 11:05AM]

If we lived in a perfect world people would be considerate of each other and TURN OFF their cell phones when calls would interrupt peoples enjoyment of movies, concerts, plays etc..
that people PAID to see devices like this wouldn't be thought of. Unfortunately since most people
are generally asshats who dont know the definition of consideration a market for these devices has sprung up. Personally I wouldnt buy or use one of these devices for the sheer reason as I wouldnt want someones death on my conscience because of its use. But seriously if people were more considerate with their cellphone usage, these devices wouldnt even exist.

[John Doe @ Dec 27th 2006 2:59PM]

But but but my child might die when I'm out at the movies or I'm so fracking important I need to stay in contact 24/7 because I'm a neurosurgeon and need to be oncall 24/7. [Insert additional winy dumbass excuse here.]

Seriously I wonder if this issue is as big of a problem in Europe. Because my money is on Americans with their big ass SUV's [a.k.a prosthetic penis] needing to feel all important by needing their cell on them 24/7. No doubt this occures in other countries as well because a human is a human is a human....still I wonder if it gets to the same level of stupidity.

[Kynetx @ Dec 26th 2006 9:13PM]

Ah, yet another technological solution to a social problem.

Don't get caught using this thing, radio jamming is a federal crime.

[boynamedsue @ Dec 26th 2006 1:20PM]

Over 10,000 americans died this year in theaters... in the imaginations of nerds arguing about cellphone jammers on internet forums.

[Zuke @ Dec 27th 2006 2:29AM]

This kicks major ass! I want one!

Was in the theater last week watching Casino Royale. Before the movie started, they have that big commercial about "Please turn off your cell phone. Please no feet on the seatbacks. Please no talking..." etc. etc. Sure enough, probably 30 mins into the movie, some asshat's phone rings during a quiet (dialogue) part of the movie. People need their asses kicked! These jammers would rule!

[Adrian Williams @ Dec 26th 2006 1:54PM]

@matt
Right what if someone is trying to reach you to tell you that a family memeber died, in jail, or stuck in a ditch but you're at the movies with someone jamming your phone

[Gil @ Dec 26th 2006 3:11PM]

What if a meteor kills you... while in a theather... while your cellphone is being jammed.

Obviously this device will be responsible for the fall of humanity in the same way it was responsible for the fall of the Roman empire and the dark ages.

[adml_shake @ Dec 26th 2006 4:24PM]

Your right! You'd better rush over to that family member before they revive! Or perhaps your scared of them becoming a zombie? And that person in jail should use the time to reflect on what they did to get them in such a jam. If some one needs out of a ditch and has a cellphone call a tow truck. No matter what YOU think the world doesn't stop because your cut off from your damn cell phone for a few hours.

[strider_mt2k @ Dec 26th 2006 2:06PM]

Won't somebody think of the CHILDREN????

[gezepi @ Dec 26th 2006 11:59PM]

Even if it was in a theater, it has a range of 20ft with well tuned antennas. Which means you could sit in the middle row and the people towards the front and back would still be able to call.
What if someone was calling you to tell you of a death? Well your phone should be off anyways so this wouldn't change it.

[craig @ Dec 27th 2006 11:26AM]

"Unfortunately since most people are generally asshats who dont know the definition of consideration a market for these devices has sprung up."

The only "asshats" are the ones creating a market for these devices. There's a reason such devices are illegal and it's to prevent devices that interfere with the proper use of spectrum, that is to outlaw these kinds of devices specifically.

The difference between the guy that uses a cellphone in a movie theater and the guy who uses a jammer is the cellphone user MAY be inconsiderate, though we don't know the specifics, while the jammer user is undoubtably a selfish prick who feels entitled to do anything that suits his interests.

[sean @ Dec 26th 2006 5:53PM]

matt, what if the jammer gets jammed up you butt with your pager on vibrate and you cant get special "love buzzes" from your pre-op boyfriend?

wont someone please think of the children

[Boynamedsue @ Dec 26th 2006 6:10PM]

sean, i submit that you are stupid.

[W @ Dec 26th 2006 7:27PM]

A device like this is every tourist's wet dream. Folks, you gotta remember, tourists hate freedom so you're either with us or you're with the tourists!

[PreGHz @ Dec 27th 2006 12:22AM]

You know, this thing can defeat EAS systems in stores. Build one, jam the right frequency, and you'll get all the stuff you can conceal. Plenty of stores rely on the EAS system.

I'm not advocating or condoning such actions (as it makes it more expensive for me, as a consumer), but knowledge is power.

Taken from a Wikipedia page:

"Like most systems that rely on transmission of electromagnetic signals through a hostile medium, EAS sensors can be rendered inoperative by jamming. As the signals from tags are very low-power (their cross-section is small, and the exits are wide), jamming requires little power. Evidently, shoplifters will not feel the need to follow radio transmission regulations, hence crude, easy-to-build transmitters will be adequate for them. An amateur can therefore design and build a jammer for magnetic, magneto-acoustic or radio-frequency systems without special equipment. For instance, a square wave near 58 kHz driving a coil with less than a watt of power will jam magneto-acoustic systems. As for 8.2 MHz radio-frequency systems, since they are sweeping their frequency, building a jammer for them does not require a precise transmission frequency and therefore neither does it require expensive frequency counting equipment, However, due to their high frequency of operation, building a jammer can be difficult for microwave circuits; these systems are therefore less likely to be jammed. Although jamming is easy to perform, it is also easy to detect. A simple firmware upgrade should be adequate for modern DSP-based EAS systems to detect jamming. However, these systems can usually be circumvented by simpler means (shielding, detaching or deactivation). Hence, the incentive for building jammers is low. It is not publicly known whether any jamming counter-measures have been implemented."

But hey, don't shoplift. Theft is one of the main reasons corporations are moving towards RFID tags. RFID inventory tracking is bad for all of us. Don't help it expand.