Author Archives: the machinegeek

Decoding FLEX pagers using RTL-SDR and Linux

Superkuh2 demonstrates how to decode FLEX pager radio traffic. He uses gr-pager and zarya’s implementation of it on the Linux platform with the RTL-SDR dongle. This script runs at a 250 KS/s sample rate and decodes one 12.5 KHz channel only. Internally it uses gnuradio’s optfir to generate low pass taps stopping at 12.5 KHz […]

FreeMat: another MATLAB replacement

MATLAB is software tool providing a high-level language and interactive environment for numerical computation, visualization, and programming. It is not open source and has a costly licensing structure making it impractical for the casual experimenter. There are free open source alternatives, one of which is FreeMat. “FreeMat is an interpreted matrix-oriented development environment for engineering […]

Secure Drop open source project

“SecureDrop is an open-source whistleblower submission system managed by Freedom of the Press Foundation that media organizations use to securely accept documents from anonymous sources. It was originally coded by the late Aaron Swartz.” SecureDrop is dependent on the Tor project, meaning sources who submit documents and journalists who download these documents must connect to […]

Reflow toaster oven using an Arduino

Ray Wang writes, “Hi, I recently built a reflow toaster oven using an Arduino. I know it’s pretty standard stuff, but my version has an automatic oven door opener (using a servo) and circulation fan to speed up the cooling time, and remote notification using an RF transmitter.” You can find the project details on […]

R-Pi and RTL-SDR = AFSK transmission between two Linux boxes

This video depicts the successful transmission of AFSK data via a radio link between two Linux machines using a R-Pi and an RTL-SDR dongle. The crew at Kprod posted this cool RTL-SDR project on their blog. They use minimodem to do the encoding in a FLAC or in a WAV format, then use the R-Pi […]

Realtime color tracking with Arduino and OpenMV

In a previous post we featured OpenMV, an inexpensive open-source tiny machine vision module based on an STM32F4 ARM Cortex-M4 micro and OV9650 sensor. Ibrahim has posted an update on this project, including links to the schematic and source code. The above video shows the module tracking a ball with an Arduino. Via the contact […]

EFERGY E2 Classic FSK decoding using RTL-SDR and R-Pi

Nathaniel Elijah has posted the a complete working prototype of an EFERGY E2 CLASSIC Transmission decoder using a Raspberry Pi and RTL-SDR USB Dongle. The EFERGY E2 Classic is an electrical usage monitor which displays information received from associated wireless energy sensors. Nathaniel writes, “It is now possible to capture those 10s to 20s power […]

The street lights really ARE tracking you

Reuters has reported that overhead street lights are being retrofitted with multi-sensor capabilities. One such platform being used is known as Netsense by Sensity. The Sensity site describes the platform thusly: NetSense integrates LED lighting, sensors, high-speed networking, cloud computing, and big data analytics into a single, MultiService Platform (MSP). With NetSense you get distributed […]

Video: Multiplexed Wired Attack Surfaces

In this presentation from the recent Toorcon 15 in San Diego, CA, Michael Ossmann and Kyle Osborn detail their efforts in hacking cellphones via multiplexed USB signals. Manufacturers of mobile devices often multiplex several wired interfaces onto a single connector. Some of these interfaces, probably intended for test and development, are still enabled when the […]

HOPE-X half price tickets Tuesday

Our friends over at 2600 are offering a discount on tickets to their 2014 conference: Greetings, We wanted to make sure you were aware of the next conference in the Hackers On Planet Earth series. It’s our tenth conference and we’re calling it HOPE-X. And we have a very special promotion taking place **this Tuesday** […]

Arduino Neurosky brain wave (EEG) library

Users of the Neurosky EEG brainwave sensor devices will be glad to learn that there’s an Arduino library for reading data. “Brain is an Arduino Library for parsing data from Neurosky-based EEG headsets. Tested units include the Star Wars Force Trainer and Mattel MindFlex. It’s designed to make it simple to send out an ASCII […]

Update: HackRF based SmartNet radio monitor

We previously posted about the GNURadio based scanner for SmartNet II digital radio systems. Now Luke Berndt has updated his project info and has posted samples of the decoded system audio online. It has taken a lot of futzing, but I have my HackRF recording the Washington DC’s Fire Dept radio system and making it […]

Aaron Swartz memorial hackathons this weekend

This weekend, people in at least 16 cities around the world will take part in hackathons in memory of Aaron Swartz, the free software developer, writer, and activist. Aaron took his own life earlier this year after nearly two years of unjust prosecution under the United States’ Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). People taking […]

KEOLABS – STMicroelectronics design contest

KEOLABS has announced the STM32 Chrom-ART Application Design Contest. KEOLABS (supplier of Raisonance brand development tools) launched an application design contest in collaboration with STMicroelectronics. Contest promotes the new STM32F429 with Chrom-ART graphics accelerator. Contest is open to participants worldwide and prizes include $10 000 USD in cash awards. Applications must be submitted between 30 […]

Video: Reversing Tire Pressure Monitors with SDR

In this presentation from the recent Toorcon 15 in San Diego, CA, Jared Boone, co-developer of the HackRF SDR detailed his efforts in reversing tire pressure monitors found on most vehicles. Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) are present on all US automobiles sold as of 2008. This talk, given at ToorCon 15 in San Diego, […]

Share and visualize KiCad components with KiCadCloud

Alan C. Assis writes with a new way to share and visualize KiCad components. It is not easy to find KiCad components. Normally people search at www.kicadlib.org or just “Google” for the component part-number + KiCad, but neither approach normally will return good results. At end of day he/she decides to “home-brew” their components. But […]