Raspberry Pi Hacking Like Its 1995
Hackers, 1990s movie Since its release, it has achieved cult status and is loved by the hacker and maker communities. Admittedly, the depiction of hacking is a bit silly, but that adds to the charm (“rabbit,” “flu shot,” etc.).A famous hero team of hackers led by Jonny Lee Miller (Zero Cool) and Angelina Jolie (Acid Burn) communicated via pagers and modern hackers panic acid We’re reviving retro tech with the help of the Raspberry Pi 4.
yeah boy! The programming software worked, the Advisor flashed successfully, and HackRF sent a test page. This will be fun! Time to learn more about POCSAG. pic.twitter.com/7Ih5h1U0oBJanuary 20, 2023
Some of the best Raspberry Pi projects use retro technology, and PanicAcid’s project is based on what eBay calls the “Vintage Pager Motorola Advisor.” Panic acid first I used a CH340G USB to serial adapter in combination with DOSBox to run “vintage” software to flash the pager for use. After some more work, PanicAcid was able to submit a page using her HackRF device, but the fun didn’t end there.
Send a test page to Motorola Advisor using #RaspberryPi and rpitx to encode and send PCSAG using GPIO4 bitlines #hacktheplanet pic.twitter.com/yY56EsVTtQJanuary 22, 2023
Using a combination of software called Raspberry Pi 4, rpitx, and the Raspberry Pi’s GPIO (and, crucially, a happy dog), PanicAcid sent messages from the Raspberry Pi to the pager. The protocol for sending data to pagers is POCSAG (Post Office Code Standardization Advisory Group). After learning the unit’s frequency and “CAP code”, PanicAcid was all set to her Raspberry Pi portion of the hack.
The rpitx software is a generic radio frequency transmitter for Raspberry Pi that does not require any other hardware except for adding a bandpass filter to avoid frequencies outside the intended range. The software can handle frequencies from 5 KHz to 1500 MHz and can act as an antenna for transmission with just a wire connected to GPIO 4.
Broadcasting RF signals over GPIO is a trick that has been known for some time, and even the Raspberry Pi Pico can transmit over RF. What makes this project special is the protocol and receiving device. With the popularity of SMS, pagers are no longer an effective messaging system. That said, some positions (doctors, surgeons, system administrators) still use pagers because they are so reliable.
this Great project from PanicAcid It shows that the Raspberry Pi and its GPIOs are not just for robotics and blinking LEDs. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t remind you to comply with the radio transmission laws before attempting this project.