Book Image

Raspberry Pi for Secret Agents - Third Edition

Book Image

Raspberry Pi for Secret Agents - Third Edition

Overview of this book

This book is for all mischievous Raspberry Pi owners who’d like to see their computer transform into a neat spy gadget to be used in a series of practical pranks and projects. No previous skills are required to follow along, and if you’re completely new to Linux, you’ll pick up much of the basics for free. We’ll help you set up your Raspberry Pi Zero, Raspberry Pi 2 and Raspberry Pi 3 and guide you through a number of pranks and secret agent techniques that are so inconspicuous yet high on mischief. You’ll learn how to configure your operating system for maximum mischief and start exploring audio, video, or Wi-Fi techniques. We’ll show you how to record, listen, or talk to people from a distance and how to set up your own phone network. Then, you’ll plug in your webcam and set up a motion detector with an alarm and find out what the other computers on your Wi-Fi network are up to. Once you’ve mastered the techniques, we’ll combine them with a battery pack and GPS for the ultimate off-road spy kit.
Table of Contents (7 chapters)

Tracking the Pi's whereabouts using GPS


Go right ahead and connect your GPS gadget to the USB port of your Raspberry Pi. I'm using a U-blox7 device, which supports both the well-known American-owned GPS system, as well as the lesser known Russian-own, GLOSNASS system, which it will use in conjunction with GPS to improve accuracy.

Note

Many GPS modules designed for boards such as the Raspberry Pi or Arduino often come with a serial interface, which connects to the UART pins on the Raspberry Pi's GPIO connector, and work in the same way as USB dongles.

However, the Raspberry Pi Model 3 has changed the way these UART pins work, as the UART is now linked to the onboard Bluetooth system, and so devices designed to connect to those pins won't work anymore without a lot of work re-configuring the Pi's firmware. Therefore, stick to using the USB-based versions to save yourself a whole load of hassle.

U-blox7 GPS dongle is widely available from Amazon for about £15 and is supported by Linux

To see...