Hot-Rodding A Bluetooth Adapter

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."

Comments

Re:We need useful hacks

[The Swedish Guy]

You mean like this hack?

Programmers with soldering irons

[wiredog]

*Shudder*

Even more frightening than programmers with screwdrivers.

Solder globbing

[nolife]

you can't be a true geek without learning to solder.

The bigger the glob, the better the job!

Basic soldering tips.

Re:Solder globbing

[Indy Media Watch]

The bigger the glob, the better the job!

I'm sorry, were you talking about soldering or masturbating?

I'm a nerd! Not a sprinter!

[G-Licious!]

So now we have to walk a full mile to knock that Bluetooth spammer out?

Great hack..

Re:I'm a nerd! Not a sprinter!

[theparanoidcynic]

Don't think of it as a problem, think of it as an alternative to going to the gym. The spammer makes you jog a mile, but unlike the health club you get to tazer a man when you're done.

Soldering

[MrDoh!]

Thing about soldering, I just KNOW that the joint is bad if I've not scarred myself. At some point during the process, I have to touch skin to hot bit to make my pain sacrifice to the gods of solder. Once this suffering is endured, I know that it'll work. If no pain, no joint, and I'll have to redo it until I'm scarred from the experience.

Burrrrr!

[wowbagger]

OK, I don't know what scares me more:

The fact that these guys are using what looks like their kid brother's woodburning kit as a soldering iron (just look at the size of this thing compared to the size of the pad they are working on), the fact that they didn't prepare the coax (tin the leads) BEFORE they put it into place, or the fact that they are blithly ignoring the part 15 regs which DO NOT ALLOW an external antenna to be installed on a device like this.

Oh, let us not forget that the cable they are using is not rated for the Bluetooth frequency range, and will have a pretty significant attenuation at those frequencies, that the connectors they are using will not have a good impedance match at Bluetooth frequencies...

That's nice, but

[Minwee]

Where does the "Type R" sticker go? What part of the Bluetooth adapter gets the "VTEK" logo? Does it use a giant aluminum wing to get extra range?

Who cares about soldering? These are the details that we need to know.

Did anybody read this as

[Anonymous Coward]

but come on - you can't be a true geek without learning to soldier

I thought WTF happened to the once calm, collected, slashdot geeks, ones who only goe to war if it is a Flame War.

Maybe, Bill has pissed them off one too many times. Now that the assualt weapons ban has lapsed - THEY ARE TAKING UP ARMS NOW.

WLAN jammer

[Blittzed]

Fantastic. You've just invented a brilliant 802.11b and g jamming device. This thing should prevent the use of WLANs within a fairly significant radius. Although it uses FHSS, it will appear as all band noise to a DSSS system like the 802.11 2.4GHz devices. Why do you think there are already workplaces with "No Bluetooth Allowed"? And thats just for the short range bluetooth devices. Boosting the power on one of those things just aint clever.

-1, Parent poster is a shithead

[Gordonjcp]

LMR-100 *is* microwave cable, and N connectors are suitable for microwave.