Description

In this video I talk about the latest discovery by the Osmocom team, who have made it possible to transmit radio signals with USB to VGA adapters!

The USB 3.0 to (Analog) VGA adapter is able to transmit radio signals because of the DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) chip, known specifically as Fresh Logic 2000, or FL2000/FL2K in short. These adapters can be bought for as low as 5$, so they are definitely worth trying out for this type of hack.

From my preliminary testing, results have been mixed but it did work with WBFM (Wideband FM) and also a “Dummy GSM signal”. For the latter, keep in mind that you still need a full-duplex SDR to enable clients to authenticate to your own GSM network.

This device should also be able to transmit GPS. I have not been able to get mine to transmit a consistent GPS signal yet, but that would make GPS spoofing very cheap. Keep in mind that the generated signal without any modifications to the adapter is not very strong, at least not in my case.

However, always be careful when transmitting any type of radio signal and check applicable local laws if you want to be on the safe side.

It’s important to note that not all USB to VGA adapters are compatible with this type of hack. If they advertise higher resolution than 1920 x 1080 at 60Hz, then they’re most likely not using this chip. It also needs to be USB, preferably USB 3.0, as you will be able to achieve much greater “million samples per second” (i.e. ~130MS/s in my case) than USB 2.0 (~15MS/s i think).

Special Thanks:
– Josh (First elite supporter!)

External Links:
– Source: https://git.osmocom.org/osmo-fl2k
– FL2K Samples: https://github.com/steve-m/fl2k-examples
– Slides: https://people.osmocom.org/steve-m/fl2k_slides/osmo-fl2k.html#(1)
– Wiki: https://osmocom.org/projects/osmo-fl2k/wiki
– RTL-SDR Website: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/osmo-fl2k-a-tx-only-sdr-hacked-from-commodity-5-usb-to-vga-adapters-demos-available-for-transmitting-wbfm-gsm-umts-gps/
– Hackaday: https://hackaday.com/2018/04/23/spoofing-cell-networks-with-a-usb-to-vga-adapter/
– Upcoming video by Osmocom: https://media.ccc.de/

Confirmed Working Adapter:
https://www.logilink.eu/Produkte_LogiLink/Kabel_Adapter/USB_30_Adapter/Adapter_USB30_auf_VGA.htm

Stay tuned and subscribe for more upcoming videos showing actual hacks!

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