------FREQUING------ ******************** * THE BASIS BEHIND * * RADIO HACKING * ******************** PART II This article deals with Satellite hacking, CB info, and car phone systems. Satellite Control ----------------- Companies try to build satellites to last for as long a time as possible. Unfortunately, for the companies, things in space can happen unexpectantly and suddently. Take that satellite released by the space shuttle. It's orbit carried it way off t he correct altitude. The company's only hope was to fire a rocket on it in order to bring it to the correct place. Now think...how does one on the ground fire a rocket in space? Radio! Gee, if the company could change the orbit, maybe we can too. Sound interesting? Of course we were not the first to think of this. The satellite companies have worried about this for a long time. There are stories about top secret codes, frequencies, and protocols required to 'nudge' one of those babies. The only problem is that-there is little information about this out there. If you have any info, make a text file, and let others know of your knowledge. But let me tell you all I know about a simple satellite whose telemetry is known well. OSCAR 6 was a satellite sent up in order to take in amateur signals between 145.9 and 146.0 MHz, and re-transmit them between 29.45 and 29.55 MHz using a transponder. Early in 1976, OSCAR 6 began to have battery problems. The telemetry allowed the ground command stations to shut the satellite off at regular intervals to prolong the useful life of the satellite. Now we know the satellite sent out telemetry reports at a certain frequency (OSCAR 7 was 29.502 and 145.972 MHz). And it sent them out in the form of Morse code at about 20 wpm. Information rate of spin, power use, and temperature were sent out at 20 wpm. This seems to suggest that the control might have also used morse code. Strangely enough, there was never any information in the American Radio Relay League magazine about just how they control the OSCAR satellites. (Hams know what's safe and what's crazy also) Suggestions: Don't overlook RTTY when trying to Satelhack (Satellite hacking). Also, chances are the owners will figure out what you did, so 'downing', the ultimate for a satelhack, is pretty difficult. Citizen's Band -------------- CB is a very popular communications method. Again, you need a license from the FCC to operate legally. But it's so hard to track down a CB signal unless you have a massive amplifier or talk for hours straight, there is little use in getting one. Here is a list of channel frequencies: Channel Frequency (MHz) 1 26.965 2 26.975 3 26.985 4 27.005 5 27.015 6 27.025 7 27.035 8 27.055 9-emergency 27.065 10 27.075 11-contact channel 27.085 12 27.105 13 27.115 14 27.125 15 27.135 16 27.155 17 27.165 18 27.175 19-trucker's channel 27.185 20 27.205 21 27.215 22 27.225 22A (optional) 27.235 22B (optional) 27.245 23 27.255 A Cheap Ghost-Interferance -------------------------- How can you start a real cheap ghost or interferance station? Well, the Radio Shack wireless FM microphone (the clip on one) is pretty good for $19.95 (price may change). It's range is said to be 100 yards, but actual tests show its range is about 100 ft. outside, 40 ft. inside. However, in the instructions it says that increasing the battery power will make it stronger, but this would not be in compliance with the FCC (oh darn!). One problem with this is that with a stronger battery comes the risk of frying something inside. Instead of trying to upgrade the silly thing, just make a new one. Open it up and take a look at how it is made. Now, get a cheap microphone then feed it into an amplifier like that on your stereo. Then take the outputs of the amplifier and feed it into the same kind of circuit as the wireless microphone contains (use heavy-duty parts so they won't fry. The only parts are a varactor diode and three silicon transistors). You new transmitter can now block out stations in a relatively sized neighborhood (great in cities). Mobile Phones ------------- Radio phones have been around for a while. The first mobile telephone call was made September 11, 1946 between a Houston Post and a St. Louis Globe reporter. An old mobile phone service in New York city had 700 subscribers, but could only handle 12 conversations at a time (because it had 12 channels). There are some 160,000 mobile telephones nationwide. The old service was doomed to fail. Each major city had one or two powerful transmitters to communicate with all car phones in a 30- to 50-mile radius. To make a call from a car, you must find a vacant channel, then call the operator and supply the number you want to call. The operator dials the number and connects you when the party answers. Only a few companies have dial-it-yourself service. If someone wants to call you, they must first find the mobile phone operator in your area. The operator finds a vacant channel and transmits a series of tones that correspond to your phone and make it ring-sort of as if it were a pager. Once you answer, the operator connects you and the caller. Clearly, the system was slow. Worse, it could only serve a few users at a time. During rush hour, there was little hope of making a call. Few channels could be added because of the dearth of frequencies for that kind of operation. So now you can't get a mobile phone of this type unless someone else gives one up. Enter the cellular mobile radio. Instead of only 1 or 2 transmitters, an area is divided up into many small sections, called 'cells'. Each has it's own low-powered transmitter just strong enough to serve it's cell. An average cell covers from one to eight square miles and varies in shape from a circle to a squashed football. Each cell touches another, some overlap slightly. Adjacent cells use different channels-there are more than 600 in each city to choose from-and a channel may be re-used several times in the city if the cells are located far enough apart. All of the cell's transmitters hook into one network switching office, much like a central office handles calls form land-based telephones. Each transmitter constantly sends out a special signal, and as you drive from cell to cell, your telephone automaticly tunes in the strongest cell. When a call comes in for you, the network switching office uses the channel to send a digital pulse signal that corresponds to your ten-digit phone number (NPA+7 digits). When the phone hears it's number, it in effect says 'Here I am, in this certain cell'. That information is sent back to the network switching office, which scans vacant frequencies, and relays the information to your cell. Finally, your unit tunes to that voice channel, and the cell site rings you, and you talk. It sounds complicated-and it is. But it works in seconds. And it can be expanded. As more and more phones are added, cells can be split into smaller cells with less power. Cellular radio already exists in Japan, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. In Denmark, service began in 1981 and grew to 100,000 customers almost overnight. Within a few years all of Scandinavia will have compatable cellular systems. Australia, Canada, and Mexico also plan systems. Why has the U.S. lagged behind? Yep, it's our old freinds, the FCC. They studied the system for 12 years before okaying the service in 1982. The U.S. may be full celled by 1988. Now is the time to rent your backyard as a cellular station! The Bell companies will operate cellular service as the Cellular Service Company. Others such as GTE and MCI plan similar service. Even the Washington Post is trying to get into it. There are already two systems, one in Washington/Baltimore, and one in Chicago. Chicago users pay about $50 rent and $25 monthly use fee for 120 minutes, and 25 cents/minute hereafter. Average bills are $150/month. The main unit mounts in the trunk, and just the handset sits up front. The antennas are very small-about nine inches-and are hidden inside the car. Now freaking old car phone systems shoudln't be that hard if you really try. The following are the freq's to remember: 158.07-158.49 MHz (mobile) 152.81-153.03 MHz (base stations) You CAN listen in on these freq's. What I'm not sure about is whether you can place a call-I would think so. So Freq out! COMMING SOON: Repair trucks, installers, and linesmen, Marine Radio, and Airplane phones -the unknown freq (Formatted by: NEAT DUDE)