GBPPR Video Camera Sync Detector

Introduction

It's starting already.

Apparently, $2600 Magazine's Horny Old Pedophiles Everywhere (HOPE) conference might not take place in 2008 due to the possibility of Hotel Pennsylvania being demolished.  Now, for those who don't know, New York City is very small and only has one hotel.  Instead of holding it at another possible location, which might effect Manny Golddigger's huge annual income, they are trying to whip up one of those "end-of-the-world" frenzies so their little sheep following will send them even more money.

This got me thinking.  Why does Manny Golddigger want to keep those HOPE conferences at Hotel Pennsylvania so badly?

Then it hit me.

I should have known!  How could I be so stupid?

It's because those sickos at $2600 Magazine have hidden video cameras planted in the hotel rooms!

Everyone knows (and I do mean everyone) that $2600 Magazine is run by a bunch of fruit loops.  No matter how hard they try to hide it, or how much they edit their letters section (heh!), the "truth is out there."  It wouldn't be such a problem (except for that whole "child rape" thing), but when $2600 Magazine tries to come off as the "hacker" community's leader, it's just a little bit hypocritical.  Of course, so is selling other people's old BBS files and stealing a dead baby's personal identification, but they don't seem to mind that either.

It's amusing when $2600 Magazine tries to go after others for mistakes they've made in the past, while they gloss over the massive amount of factual and technical errors in their own little magazine.  Here is a good example from the most recent issue:

"The effects are said to feel like being dipped in molten lava.  This is incredibly scary stuff."

--- Excerpt from $2600 Magazine Volume 23, Number 4 discussing the U.S. military's Active Denial System (ADS).

Oh great!  Molten lava?  Just how stupid are you people?  Too busy counting the money you made by stealing... err... "publishing" other people's work?  Hint:  At 95 GHz the wavelength is only 3 mm and the penetration depth is only about 1/10 of that due to dielectric absorption by the skin.  Also, when it hits your eyes, it causes you to blink, and the "pain ray" is absorbed by your eyelids.  A consumer microwave oven that doesn't shut off when the door is opened is actually more dangerous, as they operate with a high duty cycle at 2.45 GHz.  This frequency has a longer wavelength, which results in much deeper penetration.  Ever wonder why you can't microwave a whole turkey?  Ever notice the cooking depth is a function of the 2.45 GHz wavelength?  Do you think the hippies will ban microwave ovens now?  Are there any real hackers left?

Of course, a two-second Yahoo search would have confirmed all that, along with finding this nice website on the dielectric properties of body tissues: http://niremf.ifac.cnr.it/tissprop/htmlclie/htmlclie.htm.

But now, for the next 50 years, we'll have to listen to every two-bit leftist thug rant about the evil "molten lava" weapon just so these jerks could sell a few issues of their little pseudo-hacker magazine.

And that's just one example, from one article, in one issue of $2600 Magazine (don't even get me started about Digg).  Where are the protests?  The outrage?  Bumper stickers?  T-shirts?  Defaced websites?  Only silence and manufactured fear to scare teenaged boys into sending them money.  Trust me, there's alot worse stuff, but this article isn't about technically clueless pedophiles.  It's about preventing them from spying on you.

Project Overview

This project consists of a tuned ferrite rod antenna system coupled to a high-gain, low-noise NE5532 dual op-amp, which feeds a LM567 tone decoder and piezo buzzer.  The ferrite rod antenna is tuned to resonant at around 15.75 kHz, which is the horizontal synchronization frequency for a standard NTSC video signal.  The idea is to simply receive, amplify, and recognize this specific synchronization frequency.  Any device which is generating or carrying a video signal should be detectable, depending on the amount of shielding and local RF interference.  Being able to detect any video device is both good and bad.  It's good, in that every television set generates a nice, strong 15.75 kHz signal for testing.  It's bad, in that every television set in the immediate area will give you a false "hidden camera" reading.  You'll need to take this into account when you are performing your video countermeasures sweep.  Physically unplug any TV you find from the AC outlet, as they are never really "turned off."  You may have to flip a few circuit breakers to do this properly.  You'll also want to pick up a TV-B-Gone or two.  Heh...

The heart of this project is the ferrite rod antenna.  Thankfully, these are now easy to find due to the abundance of "self-setting" clocks.  These clocks have an internal radio receiver which is tuned to the WWVB atomic clock broadcast at 60 kHz.  You can salvage a useable ferrite rod antenna from an old clock.  You can also order a C-MAX CMA-60-100 ferrite rod antenna from Digi-Key, part number 561-1001-ND for only $1.53.  The C-MAX ferrite antenna from Digi-Key will be used for this particular project.  This ferrite antenna will need to be slightly modified to receive the 15.75 kHz signal.  The stock antenna comes with a 4,700 pF capacitor in parallel with the antenna's main winding, which equal approximately 1.5 mH.  This results in a tank circuit which resonates at around 60 kHz.  You'll have to replace the 4,700 pF capacitor with a 0.068 µF capacitor instead.  A high-quality, 5% tolerance polystyrene capacitor is recommended.  One little quirk, though.  The winding on my C-MAX ferrite antenna measured around 1.74 mH.  This required a 0.056 µF capacitor to lower the resonant frequency to 15.75 kHz.  You may wish to double check the value of the ferrite antenna's winding before you begin this project, especially if you are using a salvaged ferrite rod antenna.

A option to this design will be a buffered output of the op-amp's output signal.  This could be useful for adding a small audio amplifier to drive a pair a headphones so you can listen to the received signal.  An even better idea would be connecting it to a computer soundcard for further, and much more powerful, signal processing, filtering, decoding, etc.





Another possible use for this device is to locate the video cameras which are often used terrorists to record their attacks for later broadcast.  It's no secret the war profiteers in the liberal media need to extend wartime efforts in a desperate move to gain more advertising dollars.  Networks like Al-Jazeera and CNN are a perfect example of this.  CNN is an "international" news network which, of course, is liberal-speak for "our shareholders are from shady Arab countries."  An example of this:

"Given the current rise in enemy sniper ops, especially since CNN aired the footage of Jaysh al Islami (Islamic Army) killing American soldiers in Baghdad, proper employment is paramount."

--- Excerpt from Soldier of Fortune, February 2007 discussing sniper operational deployments.

If you detect a strong video synchronization signal coming from a group of ragheads, shoot the fuckers.

Block Diagram














Construction Notes & Pictures

Parts overview.  The ferrite rod antenna will be mounted inside a five inch piece of 1/2" diameter PVC pipe.  The detector PC board will be mounted inside a five inch piece of 1.5" diameter metal pipe.  The PVC and metal pipe sections are connected together via a threaded reducing coupler.  A metal pipe end cap will be used to mount the gain control potentiometer / power switch.

The ferrite rod antenna will be supported inside the PVC pipe with a series of O-rings and plumbing washers.  Get an assortment pack of plumber's washers at the hardware store and dig through it to find the best ones.

Close up picture of the stock C-MAX CMA-60-100 ferrite rod antenna.  This is Digi-Key part number 561-1001-ND.  The antenna's winding is in parallel with a 4,700 pF capacitor.

Replace the 4,700 pF capacitor with a 0.068 µF or 0.056 µF capacitor.  This lowers the ferrite rod's resonant frequency to around 16 kHz.  Note the O-ring to secure the fine wires.

Place the ferrite rod antenna inside the piece of 1/2" diameter PVC pipe and secure the open end using rope caulk.  Be sure the brittle ferrite antenna is set on a "cushion" of rubber washers or O-rings.

Connect the PVC pieces together like so.  Note the small hole in the reducing coupler.  This will be for an electrostatic shield around the ferrite antenna.

Make the circuit up like so.  A circular PC board layout was used so it can easily mount inside the metal pipe.  The schematic and the components shown in the photo differ due to experimentation.  Use the components as shown in the schematic.

Mount the circuit board on a little L-bracket using some epoxy putty.  You may also attach the piezo buzzer to the back of the circuit at this time.  Be sure you use a real piezo buzzer and not a speaker.  A piezo buzzer contains all the necessary tone-driver hardware.  In addition to the piezo buzzer, a LED or small vibrating motor could also be added.

The metal end cap will be used to hold the gain control potentiometer / power switch.  It will also hold a 3/32" jack for the buffered output signal.  Since the end cap has a slight curve to it, it will look kind of funny when drilled.  Use a large-diameter drill bit to countersink the holes so you can access the mounting hardware.

Mount the detector circuit board inside the metal pipe by using epoxy putty pressed over the L-bracket.

Next, is the electrostatic shield.  This will consist of a piece of copper foil which will partially surround the ferrite rod antenna.  This shield is to prevent the antenna from becoming unbalanced by forcing the capacitance along the length of the ferrite rod to be at an equal "ground" potential.

It's made from a 3.5" by 2.5" piece of #44 gauge copper foil glued around the ferrite antenna PVC pipe section.  Ideally, the shield should extend over the length of the ferrite rod by an inch or so.  You may wish to experiment with this setup.

The foil is attached and a ground wire is soldered to it.  A few zip-ties help to secure the copper foil in place.

Finished overview.  Fill the metal pipe with pieces from a cut up sponge and squeeze the 9 volt battery in.  Apply a good coat of camel-humper beige spray paint and some art foam around the handle to make it look all pretty.

How does it work?  It does detect cameras and TVs quite well, but the range isn't too great, well under a foot.  Possible improvements include adding much more gain in the op-amp section and switching to an op-amp with good ultrasonic capabilities.  A Maxim MAX437 would be a good choice for this application.









































Schematic