Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Listening device found in dissident republican’s car…
RECENT revelations about a former Sinn Fein driver’s role as a British spy led many to recalling the bug found in a car used during political talks. Yesterday, dissident republicans revealed a similar bugging device has been found in a vehicle used by a member of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, widely regarded as the political wing of the Real IRA (and widely suspected of being riddled with informers). Some close-up pics at the 32CSM site and Cryptome.
Belfast Gonzo @ 12:48 PM
Looks a bit big for a 2008 method of surveillance.
Any proof that this is true. Most circuit boards etc can run more efficiently now off longer life low powered batteries.
For example you need only look to laptop sizes and indeed phones to see the transformation in downsizing over the last 10 years especially.
It seems a bit suspect...but who knows.
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 01:23 PMseems very crude by government standards.
perhaps if it is real it was planted by an NGO or even by someone else in the 32CSM
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 01:31 PM“Listening device found in dissident republican’s car…”
Good. Next.
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 01:31 PM“Listening device found in dissident republican’s car…”
Silver IPod?
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 01:36 PMWhat did they expect? An Easter egg?
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 01:37 PMLooks to me much more like an old style GPS Tracking device than a listening device. They are widely available for sale to anyone at around the £400 mark. Absolutely unlikely to be used by any Intelligence Agency, even the poorly equipped Irish ones. An inside job seems much more likely to me.
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 01:38 PMWould it not be more correct to say “...widely regarded as an arm of MI5 (and widely suspected to be riddled with a few dissident republicans)”
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 01:38 PMSorry, I meant GSM Tracking and about £100.
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 01:40 PMThe most advanced security system - in 1996
Then again the previous owner, a Mr G Adams, might have been using it as part of a health check monitoring system ;)
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 01:57 PMFair Deal
Pithy, but I liked the pics. Thought they might be of interest, maybe to DUP sorts the next time they open the bonnet(!)
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 02:11 PMLove the way they used a cigarette lighter for scale. I guess the packet of rizlas was in use....
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 02:55 PMGlad to see someone is bugging those three cause theyve been bugging me for ages.
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 04:02 PM“perhaps if it is real it was planted by an NGO or even by someone else in the 32CSM”
take a look at the photos on the 32CSM site, Steve. Not a glove in sight!
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 04:25 PMIt is not a listening device, it is a telemetry device used to report a vehicles location. It is not crude or old technology, its just that the assembly has been improvised (ex. batteries added)
The cellular modem (marked 3034591) will have a serial number, it will also have an IP address or an actual cell phone number depending on the service provider. With that information is is a simple matter of looking up who the IP address or phone number is registered to. Ease of access to that information will tell you who is paying the mobile bill!
All mobile phones can report their location based on signal measurement from 2 or more signal repeater points, it has nothing to do with GPS. (Although some phones do now have GPS built into them)
Additionally, the modem could possibly have been set up to make phone calls to release data packets to a DAQ system. If there is memory in the design (flash / eeprom), then that can possibly be accessed to see what data was being stored and to where it was being sent.
There has to be a fairly sizable antenna for the set up to work. That and the size of the unit tells me it could be a common unit used for tracking the location of haulage trucks or it could be a bit of a homemade effort. (More pictures required) Although the most sophisticated telemetry devices are not than much different in design.
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 04:36 PMSo McGrath, are you saying this is just crap satnav?
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 04:48 PMWhy would anyone need to plant a bug to track the movement of the 32csm ?
Sure, doesn’t everyone know they’re going nowhere?Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 05:45 PMThat is funny, TAFKABO.
Joke of the day.Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 05:52 PMSo McGrath, are you saying this is just crap satnav?
Posted by west belfast on Mar 25, 2008 @ 03:48 PM
Nope, SatNav is GPS based.
Telemetry devices typically report position and time. It can be used to follow a vehicle, or using simple tracking software you can log its position over time. One of the most common commercial applications is in haulage, so you can keep an eye on where your drivers really are.
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 06:09 PMYes, McGrath, pretty sure it’s a GSM Tracker as I suggested. All you need to track the vehicle is a Sim card placed in the unit. You ring the number and it tells you the approximate position of the unit. All very, very old hat!
If you check Nevin’s link, referring to a 1996 device, you will also find that it refers to a M2050 device, a number clearly visible in the pictures provided by the 32CSM.
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 07:13 PMIf I had to guess, it would seem like an internal affair, as the real spokes would only have to make a phone call to learn the whereabouts of any particular person of interest.
All of this simply implies that dissident republicanism is in a state of disarray, which is a good thing.
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 07:37 PMWell indeed, hardly the real spooks but what impact would it have if it were discovered that the IRA planted this device, in keeping with Caoimhign O’Cs “dissident” theory. Would this be viewed as a breach of the ceasefire?? what would the IMC think??
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 08:44 PMGonzo
“Thought they might be of interest, maybe to DUP sorts the next time they open the bonnet(!)”
I sincerely doubt anyone has to go to those lengths to find out what is going on in any Unionist party.
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 08:45 PMCheck out last year’s AGM photos on the 32CSM website… that has to be some sort of record for the lowest attendance at such an event.
Posted by on Mar 25, 2008 @ 09:27 PMAs an electronic engineer by trade I have to laugh at this ‘listening device’! It’s huge - I’d have expected the British to have been using devices this size to listen to the Nazi’s during WWII. So either this device has been planted by the 32SC themselves or the British wanted them to find it.
Seriously, if M15 wanted to bug you nowadays you wouldn’t know about it - microphone devices less than a few mms squared in area can be manufactured quite easily these days. There’s now way M15 would use something as big as that to bug someone.
Posted by on Mar 26, 2008 @ 10:28 PMIm sure MI5 are saving the good gear for the bugging of Muslim MP’s these days.....
and as regards the size of this yoke, either it was bought out of LIDL or it was envisioned to remain in situ for a lenghty period, which would necessitate a larger power supply, thus increasing the size of it.
Posted by on Mar 27, 2008 @ 12:30 AM
