TMDE - Recommended Intercept Receivers and Instrumentation
TMDE - Recommended Intercept Receivers and Instrumentation
Signal Detectors
One of the first items of test equipment used by the TSCM Specialist is often a set of compact signal detectors.
The Optoelectronics 3000 and Scout may be easily concealed in a briefcase and can be the first piece of equipment turned on. They will alert on most low cost, spy-shop and "spook wanna-be" eavesdropping devices.
A low-cost laptop computer may be used to then log all frequencies detected for further analysis.
A Scout and APS-104 interfaced to a AOR AR-8000 scanner will provide the TSCM specialist with a highly concealable detection system which may be easily concealed in the lid of a briefcase.
The R10 and R20 are good for locating "hot-zones" in a room.
The APS-104 Preselector/Filter is used to selectively reduce background noise and interference
WARNING: The Optoelectronics equipment DOES NOT replace a good spectrum analyser or search receiver.
Handheld Video Monitor/Hi-8 Recorders
Several small video monitors and Hi-8 recorders will be very useful. The Sony and Citizen monitors works very well with the OSCOR, TSCM Equipment, and similar receivers.
ICOM Transceiver Radios ideal for TSCM work
The ICOM 781 HF Transceiver provides an excellent Current Carrier/VLF receiver
The ICOM 970H provide a good multi-band VHF/UHF Transceiver with excellent microwave coverage (to 2.5GHz).
ICOM Receivers ideal for TSCM work
The ICOM R-9000 receiver is (for the money) the best inexpensive search receiver made, only the Watkins-Johnson WJ-8xxx series (10 times the cost) performs better.
The R-9000 gives coverage from 30kHz to 2GHz, and is easily expanded to cover 3kHz to 18.5GHz with low cost mixers.
The Icom R-7100 is an excellent, solid, low cost VHF/UHF receiver.
The Icom R-71 is a good, solid, low cost VLF/HF receiver, units and is perfect for VLF and carrier current sweeps (in WFM/NFM mode).
The ICOM R-7000/7100/8500 receiver is a stripped down version of the R-9000. Try to use the R-9000 when possible for TSCM work, while it tends to be a bit more expensive, but the extra sensitivity and selectivity are invaluable.
The Icom R-100 provides a very low cost, compact option, but overall performance is limited for TSCM work (weak preselection and selectivity).
Strongly suggest the following additions and modifications be
made to any search receiver used for TSCM work:
AOR radios used in TSCM work
AOR makes several radios that are handy for TSCM work, while they don't classify as search receivers they do make good general purpose radios and channel/frequency monitors.
Both the AR5000 and the AR3000 should be used with a Analog 10.7 IF Panadapter (AVCOM SDM-42).
The AOR hand held radios are useful, but don't rely on them to find bugs. Use them to monitor the signal once found, but don't use them to find the eavesdropping device.
Honorable mention also goes to the AR1000, AR2700, and AR8000.
WARNING: The AOR equipment DOES NOT replace a good spectrum analyzer or search receiver.
Handheld Video Monitor/Analyzer
In addition to several 9" video monitors a TSCM team should have at least one handheld video/waveform/vector monitor for video.
A covert video camera can be installed on normal telephone lines, and a number of companies make video camera's concealed inside telephones. All phone wire should be checked with an oscilloscope, video monitor, and spectrum analyzer for video signals.
The Tektronix WFM90-NTSC is excellent in this capacity, and works well with the OSCOR-5000... a very impressive little monitor.
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