Category Archives: wireless

TI offering FRAM Experimenter’s Board + SimpleLink CC3000 WiFi module for $57

TI is offering the FRAM Experimenter’s Board + SimpleLink CC3000 WiFi Evaluation Module as a bundle for a limited time for $57. The FRAM Experimenter’s Board is The MSP-EXP430FR5739 Experimenter Board is a development platform for the MSP430FR57xx devices. It supports this new generation of MSP430 microcontroller devices with integrated Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (FRAM). […]

Using TI Chronos .NET dll with C#

The TI EZ430 Chronos watch allows for wireless transmission of button push and accelerometer events to a PC. This SourceForge project by elmariano provides a helpful example for developers of how to use the EZ430 Chronos .Net dll in conjunction with C#. It was created in Visual Studio 2010 Express, tested under 32 bit WinXP […]

Wireless power and charging test and some reverse engineering

Dimitar Kolev writes: I test both, just with one LED for now (like 15mA) – they was working quite OK for distances up to 1-2cm, just some paper and thin air between TX and RX coils. With appropriate ferite it seems distance and coupling can be even better. Just to fire further my interest, chip […]

TL-WR702N as Arduino shield

Dirk has written an article detailing how to make a simple Arduino wireless shield using  the TL-WR702N wifi router: There’s always the need for cheaper Arduino equipment and there’s always the need for wireless activities in your project. But an Arduino wireless shield costs much. Everyone of us has got an ethernet shield. They are […]

TI wireless connectivity guide

With TI wireless devices being encountered from time to time in your hardware hacking it’s important to be able to recognize the types of chips and their associated capabilities. TI has a free Wireless Connectivity Guide available covering their offerings for various wireless technologies including mesh and IP networks, personal area networks, locationing, RF sub-1 […]

Hacking wireless radiator valves with GNU Radio

In an effort to better proportion the heating system in his house, Mike Stirling decided to use Conrad FHT8V wireless thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) to control heat distribution in zones. He decided to analyze the valve’s 868 MHz control signals using his RTL-SDR dongle and GNU Radio. After discovering that the protocol uses simple on-off […]

Reverse engineering a wireless burglar alarm

Cybergibbon has been working on reversing the digital protocol used by a wireless alarm system he recently acquired. He began by observing the alarm sensor’s signal using first an RF Explorer, then using RTL-SDR and SDR# to record the signal, which he analyzed with Audacity. Next, he cracked open the sensor itself to investigate the […]

BSidesRI video: modding the TP-Link WR703N router

At the recent BSidesRI conference in Rhode Island, USA, James Edge presented an overview of the TP-Link WR703N wireless router, and how it is modifiable akin to the WRT54G. (The manufacturer’s website does not contain documentation for the 703N. The linked doc is for the 702N, which has many of the same features and functions […]

What is tomographic motion detection?

Recognizing the shortcomings of traditional PIR and ultrasonic sensors used in alarm systems, security researcher Connected Ape decided to explore other options. He discovered this patent for a mesh system of RF nodes, designed to detect the presence of humans based on changes in the baseline signal strength between nodes. While such commercial systems are […]

TI CC3000 WiFi shield for MSP430

TI announces the CC3000 SimpleLink Wi-Fi Module boosterpack for Tiva C Series and MSP430 MCU LaunchPads. The TI CC3000 module is a self-contained Wi-Fi solution that enables internet connectivity for a wide variety of embedded applications. According to the datasheet, the module includes a 802.11b/g integrated radio, modem, and MAC supporting WLAN communication as a […]

Open Zigbee sniffer

Lubomir Mraz and his fellow Wislab crew members have released the documentation on their open multi-platform, multi-band wireless sensor network analyzer. Known as the Open Zigbee Sniffer, the RF device interfaces with your PC via the Ethernet interface. It includes protocol dissectors for IEEE 802.15.4, Zigbee, 6LoWPAN and Atmel LightWeight Mesh, covering the 2.4GHz and […]

Alert Tube – Monitor anything on the Net

This Alert Tube by Michael Watson monitors the net for events that you choose and alerts you by light patterns, text to speech or sounds: The Alert Tube is an open source information appliance that connects wirelessly to the Internet of Things in the cloud. The user interface is dead simple, it communicates data via customized […]

HackManhattan’s Nordic nRF51822 breakout board

Guan Yang of HackManhattan informs us of his efforts in working with a Bluetooth low energy component: This amazing component is the Nordic nRF51822 that was released last year and is now available for order from Mouser. It’s a Bluetooth Low Energy system-on-chip that includes a transceiver and a Cortex-M0 microcontroller. Here’s a breakout board […]

Spark Core: Wi-Fi for everything (Arduino compatible)

Spark Core: Wi-Fi for Everything (Arduino Compatible) The Spark Core is an Arduino-compatible, Wi-Fi enabled, cloud-powered development platform that makes creating internet-connected hardware a breeze. This little board packs a punch: with a 72 MHz ARM Cortex M3, the best Wi-Fi module on the market, wireless programming, and lots of pin outs and peripherals, there’s […]

TL-WR703N, TL-WR720N & TL-MR3020 images + secret sauce

Madox uploaded several firmware images for the TL-WR703N, TL-WR720N & TL-MR3020, get them from the Madox Google Code page: Based on OpenWRT r36503, it has the new 3.8.10 kernel as well as the new LuCi theme.  Due to the slowly expanding size of the kernel and the packages, I had to drop 3G out from […]