Wave Bubble Portable RF Jammer


Hack-A-Day friend [Limor] AKA [ladyada] has been promising a portable RF jammer for a while. guess what she sent me for Christmas? The Wave-bubble is a self tuning RF jammer – good for around 20 feet of RF enforced peace. (It outputs .1-.3 watts) With a pair of less efficient antennas, it even fits inside a pack of cigarettes. She’ll never sell these because the FCC would come-a-knockin, but if you’ve got some major skills, you might be able to build one. (I’m going to believe her take on this, I’ve seen her work in person and it’s some damn fine stuff)

Merry Christmas! Get your Design Challenge entries in today!

58 thoughts on “Wave Bubble Portable RF Jammer

  1. Yep..looks good. Of course it should from someone who graduated with a masters from M.I.T.

    I’ve got a friend at Wake Forest who hand solders Nvidia GO chip prototyping boards that work on NTSC, and 120×120 TFT modules. WFU is considered crapola in the scholar world despite there history in the mathematics/cryptography department.

    You have to wonder why people don’t make computer BUS designs anymore. It’s actually just as simple, if not simpler than this. I suck at digital BUS design, and I can make a sinclair type computer with NTSC in a day.

    Also if you don’t want to build that you can just use a spark coil, and a 9v battery. It’s actually more effective with the intended application.

  2. Well, just like Will mentioned, this would be great for stopping ieds to protect soldiers. It’s also a way for criminals to kill cops. Cops near by? Turn on the scrambler with better antennas and remmoded for better range and instant-screw-a-cop-out-of-backup. Or imagine this as the next rich-kids toy, next to the radar detector and police scanner. Speeding down the highway at 150 mph and want to avoid too many cops on your trail? Stop all pursit vehicals within a 100/200 foot range from calling backup so you can easilly escape.

    1. A 100 to 200 foot range wouldn’t stop a patrol car from calling for back up as often the pursuing car would often be farther away.
      Besides a mobile radio in a police vehicle can put out 25 to 100 watts vs 300 milliwatts it’s going to a lot more difficult than jamming a cell phone.

  3. Great idea and design, and excellent write up as usual.

    For the PCBs there is a large number of vias, did this increase the cost by much?

    And is the design of the via itself necessary to act as an antenna (the fact that there is an open hole through the board)? Or is it simply the electrical connection to the other side of the board (hand made vias :/).

    thanks

  4. I know I’m a noob which is why I’m surprised I seem to be the only commenter so far that is aware of the fact the US has employed signal jamming devices in the field since WW2(read the crypto book in the enigma cypher chapter.)

    Also If you look at the specs on even the dozens of publicized signal jamming weapons used by the US military you’ll see they are extremely flexible compared to this. They have amazing resonating capabilitys.

    My personal favorite in the US military is the full spectrum analyzers with window mount bi-directional arials. They can basiclly do anything from do long range analog monitoring to protocol fingerprinting on UHF. To square wave, and static modulation jamming.

    If you’ve ever seen IED video’s where there is a wired plate on a window connected to what looks like a floor mounted VAX 4000-700 in a Hummer it was most likely this unit. There isn’t any public info on it.

  5. If you read through the FAQ ladyada put up, she specifically responds to the question of its use as an IED disabler: she points out that IEDS set to trigger when signal loss (such as from jamming) occurs are showing up.

    She also suggests that if you are in / involved with the military that you probably should be talking to THEM for info / tools regarding IED threats in the first place.

  6. japroach –

    At these frequencies, the via doesn’t act as an antenna– just a way to get the signal to the other side of the board. Generally, radiators are on the order of 1/4 the wavelength. In the case of cell phones, compare the via to the pull-out antennas — since they’re smaller, vias aren’t used to radiate. They can still affect the design, but not as much as bigger features.

  7. ladada’s work has only gotten more impressive in the year or so I have been checking her site.
    In response to several comments: First: This is a programmable dual channel jammer. So, its not ‘over-designed.’ Yes a spark coil will jam a small range of frequencies effectively and simply, but it is not as easilly tuneable. Second: It is important to remember that this jams two relatively small portions of spectrum at a time. So, it will effectively jam most civilian spectrum. The latest technology cell phones and ALL military/governmental(police) frequencies would be un-affected. Perhaps a bit of static on an otherwise clear channel. Frequency/code hopping communications wont be effectively jammed this way.

  8. Frequency hopping/spread spectrum devices are just trunking VCoder trancievers. These include newer cordless house phones, and a lot of other stuff.

    Also 9/10 of the police communications here in NC are relayed over the same network as GSM, and commercial GPRS, or celluler towers. There are still some county’s that use the old trunking government band. Ask anyone who use to listen in via radio scanner. This mostly applies to car to base station communications. This is why you can’t get any action on the channels anymore.

    I agree that this is brilliant work for a person with a soldering gun, but it’s worth mentioning that the US Government has tools years ahead of this stuff. I only say this to inform the people comparing this to what is in use by the Military, and other government agency’s; not to demean this creation.

    I’ll once again refer to the long range of shore jamming system that was used in Germany in WW2 for those who are suggesting the government is using such simple technology.

  9. This project, while impressive is lacking. She appearently has crippled the designs that are publically available so if you simply follow the instructions on her site it will fail (and possibly destroy parts). This is a good thing to read:

    “Note that there are 3 minor errors in RC1: RX/TX swapped, missing 0.1uF capacitors for PLL output and the DC jack tip and ring-switch is swapped.”

  10. @shadowmite
    you posted to the forum and couldnt wait more than a few hours for a response?

    the project is a release candidate, there are 3 small mistakes. the corrections are minor (anyone who could build this would be able to easily make said fixes) and that notice is -right underneath- the link to download. how could that possibly be malicious (‘crippled’)?

    1. I am having trouble finding some of the component values on the ladyada website. I have trouble finding many of the capacitors values, etc. Do you have a complete list of the parts and values. example capacitor 30 is on the board but the value is not listed. Any help would be appreciated. thank you

  11. With respect to the hacktivist essence, in the work behind the WAVEBUBBLE, the technology, interpretation of the concept and its analysis of military applications is a bunch of aimless yap. Limor’s thesis is downloadable and offers insight into the process and creation of the design whose intention is quite different than its ongoing ratings. Limor has defended herself from the psychotic frenzy of socially-apathetic technologies telefiring the naturally occuring electroclimate into a wasteland. If one can’t tell that this work is nothing but a very necessary ripple in an ocean of oceans towards the aim of doing-not what human-centeredness has done on the planet then one is most likely already poisoned for death with the virus of believing to know better.

  12. Please whoever built this RF jammer…..could u please e-mail the design paper on this device to my e-mail address please……..am doing a project on this RF jammer and i need content for my paper………please help me…….am an African…..hope to hear from you real soon……thank you…my e-mail addy is jidekid@yahoo.com……

  13. luks cute… i tried a GSM jammer.. the circuit blew up wen i powered it with a 9volt… got the circuit aftr i googled around a bit…id like to get my hands on this cute lil jame box!

  14. Does anyone know how to block the governments mind reading devices. I believe they stumbled upon the ability with the invention of the cell phone maybe even the cb but I’m no genius so I realy don’t know how they do it I just know!

  15. for the guy asking how to block so called “government mind reading” tech, there is no such thing….there is technology, simple tech, low frequency sound waves, what is termed “ELF”, that cause people to “hear voices” being sent via extremely low frequency, similar to a dog hearing things humans cannot…as for esp telepathy, I believe esp exists, but that’s not related to actual technology at all. The Freemasons are the culprit in illegal human experimentation in this country, by the way..doctors in that cult…or what they call “society”. Rf implants are simple to jam. RF implant output signals are between 60 kilahertz and 3 megahertz..jam that spectrum. Cell phone jammers are effective at shielding sujects of RF implants from outside UHF signals.

    1. I hate to tell you this, but you are dead wrong. There is a technology coined “techlepathy” or “psychotronics” that uses extremely low frequency waves to extract information from people’s minds. The government has been doing this for approximately 15 years, first enabled by the National Security Administration. There is even an organization called S.M.A.R.T.that can use techlepathy to uncover obstructed memories from the brains of individuals.

  16. This would not jam the signal going to an IED. It would end up setting the IED off. The trick is to boost the power so the IED goes off before you get to it. The government started putting wideband transmitters atop our embassies in critical regions after the embassy bombings of 1998.

    A jammer jams by transmitting a stronger signal than the transmitters around it. .1 to .3 watts would only be effective against cell phones and other LOW POWER transmitters. An FRS radio at .5 watts would defeat this little gem.

  17. i am a victim of v2k and i would really apreciate any imformation on finding complete instructions to build this device or anywhere i can buy one. id be more than happy to pay for real help. “voice to skull victim”

    1. I am also a TI, who would like to block ELF waves to avoid hearing V2K messages. Did you ever get any kind of response on directions on how to build or acquire the Wave Bubble? I don’t see how this would prevent law enforcement from communicating with others since it only covers 20 feet area, but it would be a problem if I needed assistance and had the device powered on nearby. In my past experiences as a TI, it is useless to use the services of local police because the gang stalkers operate above the law.

      1. I am also a TI, and need help blocking ELF Waves and broadcast “evoked Potentials”. Does anyone know of a device that can block or alter ELF waves in the 1-20 hz range?
        Incidentally, the mind reading technology that the poster referring to above is a version of the NSA technology called TEMPEST and it is being used on me daily as well as V2K electronic stalking.

        1. Seriously, you might find some antipsychotic medication does a much better job. Paranoid schizophrenia is worst, I think, when it happens to clever, educated, people. Because it means their stories are more plausible and harder to disprove on their own terms.

          Obviously there’s the “you’re mentally ill” option. But if someone actually knows how radio works, the fantasy transmitters pointed at their brains are going to work along more plausible principles. They can’t be disproved with a high-school physics book.

          I’ve had a little experience looking after, and talking down a friend who went mad for a few weeks, and I’ve known a few people with various mental illnesses, including hallucinations. And the advice I was given included rationally arguing the impossibility or unlikelihood of the voices being real. Trust of course helps a lot too.

          But to address the posters personally, which is more likely? That you’re suffering the symptoms of a well-diagnosed and common (if sadly not completely curable) mental illness, or that a vast conspiracy to taunt people who, usually, don’t do any important work in the government and aren’t spies or anything like that, exists and is fucking with you for no good reason you can think of?

          My neighbour can’t sleep at night for hearing her husband shouting at her. From inside the urn she keeps his ashes in. People hallucinate, it happens a lot. I know to the hallucinator, they’re utterly real. But the fact is, brains are complex things and sometimes “go wrong” in very unpleasant and wierd ways. And stuff like this happens. There’s been mental illness since the beginning of recorded history. Is it likely that a real conspiracy exists, that happens to exactly mirror the effects of schizophrenia or psychosis? At great expense and inconvenience, for no conceivable gain?

          Anyway. I’ve seen medication work very well on a dear friend. I’ve also seen illicit drugs make him much worse! And I feel for you, my friend was terrified during his episode, and there was only so much I could reassure him that it wasn’t all real. There can’t be many worse things to happen in life to somebody. I hope you all get as well as you can.

          1. Quite a quick response…Guess what…I work in the mental health industry..V2K tech is well documented as well as Tempest…which can read the variations in electro-magnetic fields produced by computer monitors through walls from 1 kilometer away. It has been modified to read the electromagnetic emanations from the brain

            Schizophrenics hear auditory voices..outside their skulls…V2K works within the resonant cavity inside the skull. The fact that you posted so quickly and with the pat answers of someone who has been coached is quite a tell. Thanks for your illuminating response.

            By the way here are some fun facts about schizophrenia:

            • Delusions: False beliefs in the face of incontrovertible evidence to the contrary (thought broadcasting, thought insertion, persecution) I fully concede the point that what I am asserting fits these criteria. But considering “Voice-of-God” technology and the other data I have sent you, including the growing number of people coming forth as evidenced in Jesse Ventura’s program I would say that the evidence is not incontrovertible.
            • Hallucinations: Internal stimuli perceived to be external and real(auditory, visual, tactile & olfactory.) I do not “hear voices” outside my head, I am being harassed by broadcast internal dialogue that uses the resonant cavity in my head and sinus cavities as per Voice of God technology. This fact that it is internal and not experienced as auditory voices excludes schizophrenia by itself. But read on..
            • Disorganized thoughts: incoherent, out of sequence, loose association, blocking. This document alone shows you the organization of my thoughts
            • Speech: incoherent, incomprehensible, fragmented, overly concrete or loosely associated. None of these symptoms
            • Psychomotor Activity: Uncommon postures or mannerisms, agitation, restlessness, catatonia. Occasionally I fidget because of my back.
            • Affect/emotional expression: Blunted, agitated, fearful, flat, diminished, inconsistent within context.
            • Poor interpersonal skills/lack of friendships:
            • Avolition (lack of initiative)

            Who do you really work for?

          2. well said bro, I am with you on it. probably a schill or just a moron who wants to sell some more meds.
            I tend to look at the experiences we had and see something else. While there is real mental illness it looks like the industry of psychology and psychiatry has been completely instrumentalised to serve power (this is the nazi and later soviet legacy). Late examples in the DSM of new entries are people who care too much about their health and don’t want to buy monsanto products, and people wo out of fear of privacy do not use facebook. WTF is wrong with the world?! As for this thing.. PLL is a good idea he gave me but honestly i am not sure it will work and i am computing student not EEE and i would mess up the soldering.. so i will try to bait a solution here, someone highlighting the 20khz to 30 mhz range .. that’s a useful clue, cuz i was contemplating big microwave jammers that are very costly (because i get a wierd blank sound and i have some ultrasonic heterodying + i believe microwaves) I know about spread spectrum and that kind of like bluetooth frequency hopping method .. it’s all not completely straight in my head right now because i am massively beamed when i research this stuff. stuff like fourier that i know the whole proof of and everything every once in a while i get whiped and i feel like don’t remember any signal processing even though i worked hard to get a good level at it since i know it will help me some point :( . May god help us all!

          3. V2K is just conspiracy BS but LRADs or directional loud speaker are very real but they work on a completely different principal and a wave bubble wouldn’t help stop one unless it’s using a blue tooth connection or something.
            I doubt someone would be using an LRAD just to mess with someone as it’s a rather conspicuous piece of hardware the size of a large pedestal fan and not something someone can sneak around with easily.

          1. Hi Slyvester Biffdrop,

            Are you sure the above mention product can block the mind control cause by microwave, it must including blocking to voice to skull, eye stalking, electronic harassment. it so, I would like to place a order with you.

            have a nice day!

            Monita

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