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A microwave hacked to work with the doors open will disable most of the commercially available drones. 800W of transmission at 2.4 GHz is tough to speak through

A microwave hacked to work with the doors open will disable most of the commercially available drones. 800W of transmission at 2.4 GHz is tough to speak through. Of course, this way is quite dangerous, and violates radio frequency regulations, but if it's a war, who cares.

cm2187 4y ago
Can't you go around that if you have direct line of sight to the drone, with some laser or very targeted radio? Or perhaps a relay drone. Also I assume the drones will increasingly become autonomous.
- ignaloidas 4y ago
  Lazer? Sure, if you can aim it that well. Highly targeted radio? A bit doubtful, at least not without increased transmission power. For what it's worth, this attack can be sidestepped fairly easily just by not using open frequencies, to which microwave ovens are usually tuned(for regulatory reasons). This is only useful against drones that are available to buy for individuals, as they are forced to use the same open frequencies. Anything military grade is likely using other frequencies, and you can't use cheap microwave ovens to generate ridiculous amounts of them.
comboy 4y ago
I would assume that unless you are able to deliver enough power to damage the receiver (and remember it goes down fast, r^2, plus transmitter is on the side of the microwave, standing wave perpendicular to the door), it wouldn't really impact transmission. It's not AM radio and you are not even outputting noise with timing comparable to transmission, just adding constant (or maybe 50hz sine). Plus there are multiple channels at 2.4Ghz, and you are probably outputting a narrow single freq. But that's just me guessing, I'd love to know if it would actually work.
- ignaloidas 4y ago
  It slightly changes frequency randomly on every zero crossing of the input frequency, so 100Hz FSK modulation effectively. It is enough to slow down your bluetooth and wifi when the door is closed and the radiated power is fully legal (<0.1W IIRC), so the effect should be amplified a lot when the door is open. Long distance flight is already getting close to the limits of what signal integrity you can get, so even a few miliwatts at the drone might be enough to disable the communications with it. I too would really like to know, and try it too, but getting permission for 800W transmission would be a pain.
  - genewitch 4y ago
    In the us the regulations say "minimum power required" but no more than 1W eirp, which means the radio can be less than a watt with a directional antenna. Good 802.11 radios can do 1000mW. A microwave oven magnetron and a simple aluminum waveguide is many hundreds or thousands of times more effective radiated power.
83 4y ago
Most people serious about drones aren't using 2.4ghz. I mostly use 433mhz control freq and 1.2ghz video if I'm going more than a few miles out.

cm2187 4y ago

Can't you go around that if you have direct line of sight to the drone, with some laser or very targeted radio? Or perhaps a relay drone. Also I assume the drones will increasingly become autonomous.

ignaloidas 4y ago
Lazer? Sure, if you can aim it that well. Highly targeted radio? A bit doubtful, at least not without increased transmission power. For what it's worth, this attack can be sidestepped fairly easily just by not using open frequencies, to which microwave ovens are usually tuned(for regulatory reasons). This is only useful against drones that are available to buy for individuals, as they are forced to use the same open frequencies. Anything military grade is likely using other frequencies, and you can't use cheap microwave ovens to generate ridiculous amounts of them.

comboy 4y ago

I would assume that unless you are able to deliver enough power to damage the receiver (and remember it goes down fast, r^2, plus transmitter is on the side of the microwave, standing wave perpendicular to the door), it wouldn't really impact transmission. It's not AM radio and you are not even outputting noise with timing comparable to transmission, just adding constant (or maybe 50hz sine). Plus there are multiple channels at 2.4Ghz, and you are probably outputting a narrow single freq. But that's just me guessing, I'd love to know if it would actually work.

ignaloidas 4y ago
It slightly changes frequency randomly on every zero crossing of the input frequency, so 100Hz FSK modulation effectively. It is enough to slow down your bluetooth and wifi when the door is closed and the radiated power is fully legal (<0.1W IIRC), so the effect should be amplified a lot when the door is open. Long distance flight is already getting close to the limits of what signal integrity you can get, so even a few miliwatts at the drone might be enough to disable the communications with it. I too would really like to know, and try it too, but getting permission for 800W transmission would be a pain.
- genewitch 4y ago
  In the us the regulations say "minimum power required" but no more than 1W eirp, which means the radio can be less than a watt with a directional antenna. Good 802.11 radios can do 1000mW. A microwave oven magnetron and a simple aluminum waveguide is many hundreds or thousands of times more effective radiated power.

83 4y ago

Most people serious about drones aren't using 2.4ghz. I mostly use 433mhz control freq and 1.2ghz video if I'm going more than a few miles out.