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Hot-Rodding A Bluetooth Adapter

Posted by timothy on from the don't-blame-us-we'll-blame-you dept.

carbolic writes "Remember the Bluetooth records where we 'modded an adapter' and connected to a cell phone first from 1 kilometer, then from 1 mile away? Popular Science has the hack in the November issue (or online now) with instructions. Additional step-by-step is laid out here for USB, and and here for PCMCIA. Soldering is required, but come on - you can't be a true geek without learning to solder."

7 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. Microwave radiation? by pen · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So, what are microwave radiation levels being emitted from a setup like this?

  2. Re:Geeks do not solder by pete-classic · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You seem to have confused nerds with geeks. That's okay. Common mistake.

    -Peter

    PS: You're right about Radio Shack, though. They're too focused on cell phones and cheap RC cars these days. It's Fistell's for Denver geeks.

    -Peter

  3. Re:Geeks do not solder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Bullshit.
    Nerds don't know how to solder, as they never like to deal with physical reality.
    However, being a geek is a hands on job, not distancing yourself from technology. What could be more geeky than building your own computer?

    Also, you can have carpentry geeks, hi-fi geeks who build their own equipment from tubes and transformers.....
    Geeks are good at what they do, and like to take things apart. Nerds watch from the sidelines and read about it on /.

  4. Cantenna by Stonent1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Bluetooth uses the ISM band just like 802.11B/G so a Cantenna would work. (Haven't read the article yet)

  5. They don't work by John+Miles · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They are essentially worthless (at $20, I couldn't resist the chance to
    try one). They are unable to put enough current through an object to
    heat it to solder-melting temperature, unless the object is very small
    and delicate (read: a solid-state component that would be easy to damage
    by using a soldering iron that deliberately passes current through the
    connection being made). It is tough to solder anything larger than or
    equal to the size of a 1/8-watt resistor lead with this iron, and you
    can forget doing antenna work or anything else that requires serious
    heat delivery.

    It might have worked a bit better if they had dropped their series R and
    required lithium AA cells. As things stand, the miniature butane iron
    sold by Radio Shack at about the same price is a much better deal.

    --
    Dahlmann tightly grips the knife, which he may have no idea how to use, and steps out into the plain.
  6. Re:WLAN jammer by Eric+Giguere · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Indeed. Try even putting a regular Bluetooth adapter next to your Wi-Fi router and see what happens. I wrote about this before http://www.mobilizedsoftware.com/showArticle.jhtml ?articleId=17501803. That's the price you pay for the convenience of unlicensed spectrum. It's made me hold off from getting a 2.4GHz cordless phone to replace the crappy 900MHz phone I already have -- just one more thing to interfere with the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks. (The microwave, at least, doesn't run that often...)

    Eric

  7. Re:Burrrrr! by carbolic · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Actually, it's an off-the-shelf Radio Shack $10 soldering iron. The point was to use easy-to-find gear to make the hack work. I used the same iron in these projects.

    As for your other points: Step 7 == Tin The Shield, LMR-100 is the most common pigtail for "low-loss" at 2.4GHz, FCC regs tend to encourage experimentation (debateable), and the frikken thing worked over 1 Mile - depsite the under-engineered design flaws.