Cellular System Data Reception

Please Note: Use of the devices and/or procedures mentioned here may be illegal in certain jurisdictions. The author takes no responsibility for the consequences of this, and discourages use of this information for illegal purposes.

CCS, of Milwaukee, sells the Digital Data Interpreter (DDI) which interfaces with a scanning radio receiver and a PC running special software to create a cellular data reception station. As their device is so widely known, "DDI" became the generic term for this type of device.

As usual, much of the information in this subject comes from the U.K. DaveX has written several articles describing the theory behind these types of data receivers.

• Snarf! is a primer on "snarfing" data for the electronicly experienced. Written for U.K. (ETACS) Phones, but useful starting point for other (such as AMPS) systems.
• Snarf 2 is an improved and expanded version of SNARF!
• Snarf 3 is a proposal to the cellular hacking community for DDI interface standards.

Plans for a DDI box made from a modified Motorola phone (U.K. Version).

SnarfWare software, for AMPS (U.S.) system, user provides signals, software interprets them. Beta version, looks promising!

Using a Motorola 4800 for receiving forward channel data.

NiceGrab soft, for ETACS (U.K.)

MacSnarfa is a Snarf type program & hardware for the mac. [not ready yet 7/1/96]

In any case, all of these designs are going to require a good-quality communications receiver such as the Radio Shack PRO-2006. A receiver capable of receiving the cellular bands is getting harder to come by in the US. raw archive of scanner modifications. Not all these modifications are for cellular, and not all scanners capable of receiving cellular are good enough for data. It may also be neccessary to tap the BaseBand audio at the output of the discriminator. Here is Bill Cheek's guide for many scanners.

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