WiGLE.net

Now I run Netstumbler and have my USB tv tuner running
so I can find X-10 video signals too. Double your pleasure,
double your fun. So far the results are very interesting, and I
haven't even put a respectable antenna on it yet. Found someone
rebroadcasting CNN once, as well as the usuall security cameras.
Anyone else tried this yet?

bob

What USB tuner covers the X-10 freqs? I'm interested!

No, I use the USB TV tuner to hook up my X-10 reciever. The tuner only gets standard channels, it gets channel 3/4 from the X-10 reciever which is pulling in the frequencies.
Plus you can record video, so it's nicer than having an actual tv with you. Sorry for the confusion.

How popular is the x10 around your area? Are you finding many of them?

So far we have only found 3 cameras in my town. I am the only person I
know 'first person' that actually has the cameras. I do know a couple
other folks that use the other X-10 house power control hardware though.
On a recent trip I drove about 220 miles north and found 4-5 cameras
accessable from the highway. This is in rather rural Indiana though, so
I think that is a pretty good number. I still have to put an antenna on
my receiver too, so that may increase my odds of finding them. Since it's
the 2.4GHz spectrum, one of the Pringles can antennas should work well. I
just finished one for my wireless card, so I just need to mod the receiver
for connection to it.

Shouldn't this work with any 2.4 cams that use the channels that the receiver can switch thru? And do you do this, switch the channel switch back and forth while scanning? I have a set of those audio and video transmitter/receivers, and I was hoping to try what u did, using the receiver, but it has a switch to select a,b,c,d channels. What freqs those correspond to I have no idea. Or am I wrong and only x10 cams can be picked up for some reason. I assume it uses fm over wireless.

Yes I do check all 4 channels, however, not all the time. I have found that the
majority of the time channel A is used. I have not even found anything on the
other 3 channels yet. Generally, if I'm on the road I will try a different channel on
each pass of the highway (Channel A going away, B coming home, ect.). In a
high activity area (Multiple cams found in close proximity) I will go ahead and
flip around and see, but like I said, it's done no good as of yet. Also, you just
about have to have a second person in the car to flip through the channels unless
you are stopped at a light or parking lot. That's been my experience anyway. It's
hard enough to keep the car on the road while looking at Netstumbler, Delorme
Street Atlas, AND WinTV at the same time. (I use a USB TV tuner to connect my
X-10 receiver to the laptop.)

I have done some research and it appears that X-10's 4 channels are the most
common, but not the only ones available. Professional equipment has many other
standard channels along with a standard "encryption" option, which is easily defeatable if
you have the standard unencryption unit (Haven't messed with this yet). The professional
hardware also gets you more transmit power (Usually a license is required for it though).
This is good for us, it means clearer pictures. However the distance increases which can
make it harder to track down, but still fun. And lastly, Icom makes an awesome unit
called the IC-R3 for video scanning from 495MHz to 2.45GHz. I've read some incredible
stories about these things. If only santa had a bigger budget...

Here are the standard X-10 freq's along with the 802.11b freq's for comparison:

X-10 channels from 2.411 to 2.473 GHz
channel A = 2.411 GHz
channel B = 2.434 GHz
channel C = 2.453 GHz
channel D = 2.473 GHz


802.11B channels in the 2.4GHz spectrum
13 US Channels from 2.412 to 2.462 GHz.
channel 1 = 2.412 GHz
channel 2 = 2.417 GHz
channel 3 = 2.422 GHz
channel 4 = 2.427 GHz
channel 5 = 2.432 GHz
channel 6 = 2.437 GHz
channel 7 = 2.442 GHz
channel 8 = 2.447 GHz
channel 9 = 2.452 GHz
channel 10 = 2.457 GHz
channel 11 = 2.462 GHz
channel 12 = 2.467 GHz
channel 13 = 2.472 GHz

Microwave oven: 2.450GHz

Here's a link to my X-10 projects page: http://ibmgeek.nailed.org/projects/x-10/index.html

cyberbob

Hey Bob where in Indiana are you at. I am located in NE Indiana and I am just getting into this stumbling. I am a computer tech for a large company which means I travel the good old state of Indiana and Ohio almost every day. I have a Dell Axim with a true mobile wireless card which I can hit hot spots every where I go. I just ordered a Dell laptop that I am going to start using but I will be needing some help getting an antenna setup.... Drop me a line maybe we can chat a little .

E-mail joebrown@insightbb.com
Yahoo = joeb47394

I recently spotted a wireless A/V transmitter at Radio Shlock that caught my attention. It appears to be an X-10 transmitter with stereo sound. The video quality seems to be better than regular X-10 (Even if you replace the crappy X-10 camera with a quality video feed to the transmitter). It uses the same 4 channels as X-10 as near as I could tell and cost about $100 at the time I saw it. This would explain the CNN feed I mentioned earlier in this thread.

Someone mischeivious could rig up their own video feed to overpower an in-store display using this. My local R$ is using one for their store display, I've been tempted to blast some rathergood.com over their way on a boring Friday evening. Err, did I say that?

cyberbob

Security Focus article: http://www.securityfocus.com/news/7931
Slashdot article (About the SF article): http://slashdot.org/articles/04/01/29/1 ... 172&tid=99

And my new URL since ODS became a pay service: http://ibmgeek.shacknet.nu/projects/x-10/index.html

cyberbob