Mobile Jammer
Product Description
A mobile phone jammer is an instrument used to prevent cellular phones from receiving signals from base stations. When used, the jammer effectively disables cellular phones. These devices can be used in practically any location, but are found primarily in places where a phone call would be particularly disruptive because silence is expected. The rapid proliferation of cell phones at the beginning of the 21st century to near ubiquitous status eventually raised problems, such as their potential use to invade privacy or contribute to academic cheating. In addition, public backlash was growing against the disruption cell phones introduced in daily life. While older analog cell phones often suffered from poor reception and could even be disconnected by simple interference such as high frequency noise, increasingly sophisticated digital phones have led to more elaborate counters. Cell phone jamming devices are an alternative to more expensive measures against cell phones, such as Faraday cages, which are mostly suitable as built in protection for structures. They were originally developed for law enforcement and the military to interrupt communications by criminals and terrorists. Some were also designed to foil the use of certain remotely detonated explosives. The civilian applications were apparent, so over time many companies originally contracted to design jammers for government use switched over to sell these devices to private entities. Since then, there has been a slow but steady increase in their purchase and use, especially in major metropolitan areas.
As with other radio jamming, cell phone jammers block cell phone use by sending out radio waves along the same frequencies that cellular phones use. This causes enough interference with the communication between cell phones and towers to render the phones unusable. On most retail phones, the network would simply appear out of range. Most cell phones use different bands to send and receive communications from towers (called frequency division duplexing, FDD). Jammers can work by either disrupting phone to tower frequencies or tower to phone frequencies. Smaller handheld models block all bands from 800 MHz to 1900 MHz within a 30-foot range (9 meters). Small devices tend to use the former method, while larger more expensive models may interfere directly with the tower. The radius of cell phone jammers can range from a dozen feet for pocket models to kilometers for more dedicated units
AntennaEvery jamming device has an antenna to send the signal. Some are contained within an electrical cabinet. On stronger devices, antennas are external to provide longer range and may be tuned for individual frequencies. Some devices can store the frequencies that they have jammed to prevent later tuning necessary in repeated use of that frequency.
CircuitryThe main electronic components of a jammer are:
Voltage-controlled oscillator — Generates the radio signal that will interfere with the cell phone signal Tuning circuit — Controls the frequency at which the jammer broadcasts its signal by sending a particular voltage to the oscillator Noise generator — Produces random electronic output in a specified frequency range to jam the cell-phone network signal (part of the tuning circuit) RF amplification (gain stage) — Boosts the power of the radio frequency output to high enough levels to jam a signal
Power supplySmaller jamming devices are battery operated. Some look like cellphones and use cellphone batteries. Stronger devices can be plugged into a standard outlet or wired into a vehicle's electrical system.
The jammer's effect can vary widely based on factors such as proximity to towers, indoor & outdoor settings, presence of buildings and landscape, even temperature and humidity play a role.
There are concerns that crudely designed jammers may disrupt the functioning of medical devices such as pacemakers.[citation needed]However, like cellphones, most of the devices in common use operate at low enough power output (1W) to avoid causing any problems.)
