My friend just found a mini spy camera hooked to a 9v battery in their bathroom. How can I track the signal?
weaponx469 asked:
I guess it was very specifically placed. We have no idea by whom. But the battery is still very new and before we call the police, I want to try and track where the receiver is located. I know it cant be more than a few hundred feet. Every time I google I get ads to buy spy cameras. Can someone help?
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I guess it was very specifically placed. We have no idea by whom. But the battery is still very new and before we call the police, I want to try and track where the receiver is located. I know it cant be more than a few hundred feet. Every time I google I get ads to buy spy cameras. Can someone help?
January 2nd, 2009 at 1:57 am
Most States have criminal statutes that cover this behavior. Let the police handle it.
January 2nd, 2009 at 10:48 am
Call these guys now…
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GPS Tracking Systems
January 3rd, 2009 at 1:22 pm
You can’t. If it has a wireless transmitter, it transmits omnidirectionally. Anyone within transmitter range could receive it.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
yeah, just call he cops. who care where the signal originates. Placing a spy cam in someones bathroom is a HUGE invasion of privacy and the cops need to be involved.
January 7th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
You shouldn’t, the authorities should. Let them find your guy then at the court case, beat them up like any normal person would.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
OMG I would just FREAK!
Call the cops, and I hope they bust the creep!
Oops…what if its your brother or a real close friend?
January 10th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Ick. I’d call the police regardless if it’s not anyone who has access or lives in the house that put it there (and if it is, ew!) Try not to touch it if you haven’t already in case there’s fingerprints on it. Not sure if you can track the signal or not, but hopefully you can find out who the perv is that put it there! Good luck!
January 12th, 2009 at 7:29 am
Don’t bother to find it, just call the law.
January 15th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
To be honest, I would guess it’s somebody who lives in the house. Certainly the person has to have access to the place and who won’t create suspicion if seen there. A neighbor couldn’t just come in and ask to use the bathroom out of the blue. Maybe your friend lives in an apartment or other such place. If so, has the building repair person been around lately? They’d have to know the schedule of the people who live there to avoid them. Otherwise somebody should have asked questions as to why the person was there. Can anybody get into the place such as a landlord or super and who lives close by. As you point out, the range of one of these things is limited. Unfortunately, there’s no way to track a receiver. Call the police, but since you’ve handled the thing they won’t be able to get fingerprints. Pay attention to who has access to your friends place. Use some of the movie spy tricks. Put something that won’t be noticed where it will be moved if the door is open when nobody’s at home. If the little telltale shows somebody has been in the place check it out very carefully but don’t move or touch anything. Or just check things every time you come back. If you see something photograph it and call the police. Let them get it out and see if they can get any fingerprints. Actually, since you’ve found the one I would doubt that the person would try it again. It’s too risky. Still, they might not be the brightest bulb in the box. They did this in the first place.
January 17th, 2009 at 7:03 am
Probably the only way you can find it is to snoop for the local oscillator of the associated receiver. Try to figure out what frequency the spy camera is transmitting on. Use a spy receiver of your own to do it. I would guess it is something in the 2 to 5 GHz range. Possibly even higher. You can judge by the length of the transmit antenna of the mini spy camera. Knowing the transmit frequency of the spy camera you have to do some market research for the types of receivers or receive converters available in the market that cover this range and select the most likely ones. Find out from the tech data sheet what frequency the local oscillator of the spy receiver would be tuned to in order to receive the signal from the spy camera. Snoop in the area with a receiver and a high gain antenna for the local oscillator frequency emissions. Once you find the local oscillator you can watch that area for who is listening. This is not simple and probably requires a pro. But you asked how to do it and this is the “answers” forum.
You could also determine the transmit frequency of the spy camera and just jam that frequency with a low power device on the same frequency.
If you can determine if there is a mic on the spy camera you can put something near the spy camera that makes a distinctive noise then go search for that noise in the vicinity where a receiver could be located. Use a stethescope on walls and doors of likely locations. It is likely that the spy uses headphones, so I think this is low probability but worth a shot because it would be so easy to do – if the spy camera has a mic.
Good luck and 73 from the Fisherman
January 17th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
It is not possible to track where the receiver is. The radio signal from the camera travels all directions. Anyone with a receiver on the correct frequency could tune in to the show. Maybe your friend was the floor show for a neighborhood yard party.
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My guess is this was placed by a friend or family member who frequents the house often.
It is next to impossible to find the guilty person. They already know your friend found the camera, because the view changed, so they will hide the receiver.