[ Gadget Guide ]
Tracker
Trackers are able to pinpoint people’s locations with the aid of satellite navigation. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a group of 27 satellites encircling the earth. They were originally launched by the American military as a navigation system, but before long the system was opened up for everyone’s use. At any point on earth the receiver will always be able to communicate with at least four satellites. It needs these four satellites to help it judge its position. The receiver calculates the distance between it and each of the satellites, then it’s able to pinpoint a position where all those distances meet at one point. By a process of elimination, that must be the location of the receiver. In a standard GPS receiver that you might buy in a shop the location information would be displayed on the receiver. In a tracking device the receiver transmits the data to a third party computer which is where location can be pinpointed with the aid of maps. As well as being used to keep track of a spook, these devices can be fitted to vehicles or other goods, so that if they are stolen, they can be located quickly and easily.
Listening Devices
Intelligence agencies are constantly developing and refining devices to eavesdrop on the enemy. They can be tiny microphones which amplify, record, or transmit the signal, or they can be devices designed to intercept signals from telephones. There are advantages and disadvantages to each method. Adding recording facilities to the bug makes it larger and more bulky, but the transmissions can be easily detected. An amplifier system has much more limited uses because the agents have to be very close to the target. Devices used in during WWII might have been disguised as a pen or a book and carried or placed in a room by an agent, but with the advent of digital technology, modern equipment is far smaller and easy to conceal.
Nanotechnology
Most listening devices work by transmitting the sounds they pick up on radio waves. This would suggest that the transmissions could be picked up and recorded well away from the scene. This would indeed be possible if the signals were as strong as a normal radio transmission, but a bug sending out a signal as strong as this would be extremely easily detectable. To remain hidden the signal must be much weaker, so the listening post must be situated as close as possible to the transmitter. This is why vans are often used to park close to the bugs. These vans will often also be equipped with concealed cameras, so the spies inside can keep a really close eye on the whole area.
Lock-Pick
For every different type of lock in existence there has to be a specialised way of opening it. The most common type of lock is the pin tumbler. Inside one of these locks is a range of pins which must be pushed into the right position to be able to rotate and open the lock. When you look at a standard door key, you'll see that it has a range of notches along the edge. These correspond to how the pins should be positioned, any other key would position the pins wrongly, and fail to turn the lock. A lock-picker will use a pick tool to carefully nudge each pin, one by one, into the appropriate place. It sounds simple, and the theory is very simple. However, the practice is a highly skilled technique. It takes a lot of experience and knowledge to recognise the sounds and sensations that mean the pins are gradually nudging into the right place.
Mini Digital Camera
A tiny camera hidden in a matchbox might sound like something only possible in this age of digital photography, but spies have been using tiny concealed cameras almost since photography was invented. A ‘Subminiature camera’ is a type of camera using a smaller film size. In order to keep them small and easily concealed within deceptive outer casings, they are often lacking viewfinders. This can make them especially difficult to use effectively and discreetly. The Americans were using a camera disguised as a matchbox during WWII. By the 1950s the Japanese had developed a camera hidden in a working cigarette lighter. It took pictures while lighting cigarettes! The KGB even managed to fit cameras into working lipsticks and glue sticks!
Thermal Imaging Camera
Whereas a normal camera records the patterns of light and creates an image, a thermal imaging camera records the patterns of heat and creates an image. When the atoms in an object give off heat they emit infra-red light. Anything that is alive will give off heat to some degree at all times. As the temperature varies so do the amounts of light emitted. Mostly this light is invisible to the human eye, but an electronic device can pick up these infra-red rays and translate them into images. This form of imaging often forms the basis of night vision devices
UV Light
UV light is often used in forensic investigations because of its flexibility and the fact that it can be up to 100 times more sensitive than other techniques. It can help with detecting and collecting a huge range of evidence including body fluids, hair and fibres, gun shot residues, drug traces, and of course fingerprints. This method of detection works because we are surrounded by phosphors. When a phosphor is exposed to light, it gives off light. This is known as fluorescence. UV lights expose this by only emitting light waves that are invisible to the human eye. We don’t see the light, but the phosphors react to them, and we see the light they give off. Natural phosphors can be found all over the place
Morse Code
In 1825 the electromagnet was invented. By 1930 it had been proved that a current could be sent down a mile of wire, where it would activate an electromagnet and strike a bell. This was the beginning of the electric telegraph. Samuel Morse was the first man to develop this idea further. He proved that he could use the magnet to move a marker, and produce written codes that became known as Morse code. The telegraph system sent the information as a series of electronic signals. These signals could be either short (dots) or long (dashes). Each letter of the alphabet is represented by a combination of these signals, and the gaps between letters and words are represented by pauses of set lengths. The most well-known piece of Morse code is the signal for SOS. S is represented by three short signals, O by three long, and another three short signals for the final S.
Motion Sensors
There are an enormous variety of ways of creating a motion sensor. They will generally work on one of two principles. An active sensor will send a signal of some kind out into the environment and wait for the signal to be disturbed. Sensors like this will often send a beam of light out and can detect if the beam is broken. They may also work using radio or sound waves, which will be reflected back if there is an intruder. Most security systems use passive sensors. These don’t send signals out, but wait to receive a signal in. The most commonly used passive sensor is an infra-red sensor. Since all human beings emit infrared energy, as soon as a person walks within reach of an infra-red sensor they will be detected.
Bug Sweeping
Most bugs transmit the sounds they hear to a transmitter in the same way that radio stations transmit their programmes. In its most basic form all you need to detect these transmission is a radio receiver. When a transmission has been detected, antenna can be used to pinpoint the precise location of the bugs. However not all bugs transmit all the time, and any good bug-sweeping team will also search the area closely with hand and trained eyes to try and spot the slightest hint that there may be concealed devices.
Surveillance Vans
Most listening devices work by transmitting the sounds they pick up on radio waves. This would suggest that the transmissions could be picked up and recorded well away from the scene. This would indeed be possible if the signals were as strong as a normal radio transmission, but a bug sending out a signal as strong as this would be extremely easily detectable. To remain hidden the signal must be much weaker, so the listening post must be situated as close as possible to the transmitter. This is why vans are often used to park close to the bugs. These vans will often also be equipped with concealed cameras, so the spies inside can keep a really close eye on the whole area.
Palm Tops
PDAs contain many of the same components of a larger computer and are designed as a complement to a desktop or laptop. They will have an LCD screen for display and this often doubles as a touch screen for input purposes. Originally developed as a digital calendar and address book, these devices are getting ever more sophisticated with a wider range of uses such as playing music and games and downloading information.
Copy Camera
A copy camera is a camera specifically designed to take photographs of documents. A regular camera can be used for this purpose but it is difficult to ensure that all the writing stays in focus and legible. While a photocopier does the job perfectly well in an office, a spy working undercover would need something considerably more portable and discreet. To copy text effectively all you need to do is ensure that the camera is correctly focussed on the document. This can be achieved by setting a fixed lens and focus in the camera. With no adjustable settings, if the camera is always held at a set distance from object results will always be consistent. To this end most copy cameras will include a device for ensuring it is positioned correctly.
Gas Masks
When a mask is used to protect against biological or chemical attacks it must be a full face mask. It is easy for bacteria to enter the body through the eyes so these must be covered as well as the nose and mouth. Most gas masks work by having a filter through which air must pass before it can be breathed in. In the simplest filters this can just work like a coffee filter, preventing larger particles in the air, passing through. However, this method doesn’t work against chemical threats. Since they tend to be carried in mists or vapours they would pass easily through a filter such as this. The answer is an activated charcoal filter. Activated charcoal has been treated with oxygen. This opens up millions of pores between the carbon atoms, giving the charcoal a surface area of 300-2,000m 2per gram. This enormously enlarged surface area is the key to how this process works. As the rogue chemicals pass through the carbon surface, they attach to it and get trapped. Obviously, the more surface there is the more places there are for the chemicals to get trapped. But as with any gas mask, the mask must be airtight to be sure no impurities can creep through.
Trackers are able to pinpoint people’s locations with the aid of satellite navigation. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a group of 27 satellites encircling the earth. They were originally launched by the American military as a navigation system, but before long the system was opened up for everyone’s use. At any point on earth the receiver will always be able to communicate with at least four satellites. It needs these four satellites to help it judge its position. The receiver calculates the distance between it and each of the satellites, then it’s able to pinpoint a position where all those distances meet at one point. By a process of elimination, that must be the location of the receiver. In a standard GPS receiver that you might buy in a shop the location information would be displayed on the receiver. In a tracking device the receiver transmits the data to a third party computer which is where location can be pinpointed with the aid of maps. As well as being used to keep track of a spook, these devices can be fitted to vehicles or other goods, so that if they are stolen, they can be located quickly and easily.
Listening Devices
Intelligence agencies are constantly developing and refining devices to eavesdrop on the enemy. They can be tiny microphones which amplify, record, or transmit the signal, or they can be devices designed to intercept signals from telephones. There are advantages and disadvantages to each method. Adding recording facilities to the bug makes it larger and more bulky, but the transmissions can be easily detected. An amplifier system has much more limited uses because the agents have to be very close to the target. Devices used in during WWII might have been disguised as a pen or a book and carried or placed in a room by an agent, but with the advent of digital technology, modern equipment is far smaller and easy to conceal.
Nanotechnology
Most listening devices work by transmitting the sounds they pick up on radio waves. This would suggest that the transmissions could be picked up and recorded well away from the scene. This would indeed be possible if the signals were as strong as a normal radio transmission, but a bug sending out a signal as strong as this would be extremely easily detectable. To remain hidden the signal must be much weaker, so the listening post must be situated as close as possible to the transmitter. This is why vans are often used to park close to the bugs. These vans will often also be equipped with concealed cameras, so the spies inside can keep a really close eye on the whole area.
Lock-Pick
For every different type of lock in existence there has to be a specialised way of opening it. The most common type of lock is the pin tumbler. Inside one of these locks is a range of pins which must be pushed into the right position to be able to rotate and open the lock. When you look at a standard door key, you'll see that it has a range of notches along the edge. These correspond to how the pins should be positioned, any other key would position the pins wrongly, and fail to turn the lock. A lock-picker will use a pick tool to carefully nudge each pin, one by one, into the appropriate place. It sounds simple, and the theory is very simple. However, the practice is a highly skilled technique. It takes a lot of experience and knowledge to recognise the sounds and sensations that mean the pins are gradually nudging into the right place.
Mini Digital Camera
A tiny camera hidden in a matchbox might sound like something only possible in this age of digital photography, but spies have been using tiny concealed cameras almost since photography was invented. A ‘Subminiature camera’ is a type of camera using a smaller film size. In order to keep them small and easily concealed within deceptive outer casings, they are often lacking viewfinders. This can make them especially difficult to use effectively and discreetly. The Americans were using a camera disguised as a matchbox during WWII. By the 1950s the Japanese had developed a camera hidden in a working cigarette lighter. It took pictures while lighting cigarettes! The KGB even managed to fit cameras into working lipsticks and glue sticks!
Thermal Imaging Camera
Whereas a normal camera records the patterns of light and creates an image, a thermal imaging camera records the patterns of heat and creates an image. When the atoms in an object give off heat they emit infra-red light. Anything that is alive will give off heat to some degree at all times. As the temperature varies so do the amounts of light emitted. Mostly this light is invisible to the human eye, but an electronic device can pick up these infra-red rays and translate them into images. This form of imaging often forms the basis of night vision devices
UV Light
UV light is often used in forensic investigations because of its flexibility and the fact that it can be up to 100 times more sensitive than other techniques. It can help with detecting and collecting a huge range of evidence including body fluids, hair and fibres, gun shot residues, drug traces, and of course fingerprints. This method of detection works because we are surrounded by phosphors. When a phosphor is exposed to light, it gives off light. This is known as fluorescence. UV lights expose this by only emitting light waves that are invisible to the human eye. We don’t see the light, but the phosphors react to them, and we see the light they give off. Natural phosphors can be found all over the place
Morse Code
In 1825 the electromagnet was invented. By 1930 it had been proved that a current could be sent down a mile of wire, where it would activate an electromagnet and strike a bell. This was the beginning of the electric telegraph. Samuel Morse was the first man to develop this idea further. He proved that he could use the magnet to move a marker, and produce written codes that became known as Morse code. The telegraph system sent the information as a series of electronic signals. These signals could be either short (dots) or long (dashes). Each letter of the alphabet is represented by a combination of these signals, and the gaps between letters and words are represented by pauses of set lengths. The most well-known piece of Morse code is the signal for SOS. S is represented by three short signals, O by three long, and another three short signals for the final S.
Motion Sensors
There are an enormous variety of ways of creating a motion sensor. They will generally work on one of two principles. An active sensor will send a signal of some kind out into the environment and wait for the signal to be disturbed. Sensors like this will often send a beam of light out and can detect if the beam is broken. They may also work using radio or sound waves, which will be reflected back if there is an intruder. Most security systems use passive sensors. These don’t send signals out, but wait to receive a signal in. The most commonly used passive sensor is an infra-red sensor. Since all human beings emit infrared energy, as soon as a person walks within reach of an infra-red sensor they will be detected.
Bug Sweeping
Most bugs transmit the sounds they hear to a transmitter in the same way that radio stations transmit their programmes. In its most basic form all you need to detect these transmission is a radio receiver. When a transmission has been detected, antenna can be used to pinpoint the precise location of the bugs. However not all bugs transmit all the time, and any good bug-sweeping team will also search the area closely with hand and trained eyes to try and spot the slightest hint that there may be concealed devices.
Surveillance Vans
Most listening devices work by transmitting the sounds they pick up on radio waves. This would suggest that the transmissions could be picked up and recorded well away from the scene. This would indeed be possible if the signals were as strong as a normal radio transmission, but a bug sending out a signal as strong as this would be extremely easily detectable. To remain hidden the signal must be much weaker, so the listening post must be situated as close as possible to the transmitter. This is why vans are often used to park close to the bugs. These vans will often also be equipped with concealed cameras, so the spies inside can keep a really close eye on the whole area.
Palm Tops
PDAs contain many of the same components of a larger computer and are designed as a complement to a desktop or laptop. They will have an LCD screen for display and this often doubles as a touch screen for input purposes. Originally developed as a digital calendar and address book, these devices are getting ever more sophisticated with a wider range of uses such as playing music and games and downloading information.
Copy Camera
A copy camera is a camera specifically designed to take photographs of documents. A regular camera can be used for this purpose but it is difficult to ensure that all the writing stays in focus and legible. While a photocopier does the job perfectly well in an office, a spy working undercover would need something considerably more portable and discreet. To copy text effectively all you need to do is ensure that the camera is correctly focussed on the document. This can be achieved by setting a fixed lens and focus in the camera. With no adjustable settings, if the camera is always held at a set distance from object results will always be consistent. To this end most copy cameras will include a device for ensuring it is positioned correctly.
Gas Masks
When a mask is used to protect against biological or chemical attacks it must be a full face mask. It is easy for bacteria to enter the body through the eyes so these must be covered as well as the nose and mouth. Most gas masks work by having a filter through which air must pass before it can be breathed in. In the simplest filters this can just work like a coffee filter, preventing larger particles in the air, passing through. However, this method doesn’t work against chemical threats. Since they tend to be carried in mists or vapours they would pass easily through a filter such as this. The answer is an activated charcoal filter. Activated charcoal has been treated with oxygen. This opens up millions of pores between the carbon atoms, giving the charcoal a surface area of 300-2,000m 2per gram. This enormously enlarged surface area is the key to how this process works. As the rogue chemicals pass through the carbon surface, they attach to it and get trapped. Obviously, the more surface there is the more places there are for the chemicals to get trapped. But as with any gas mask, the mask must be airtight to be sure no impurities can creep through.