The slightly less secret secret service radio. The APX3000 part 2, surveillance accessories

[@SamThornby]

The in-ear bug method is crazy, hands-down one of the most covert systems I've ever seen 👀

[@cakearmy_maxgaming6346]

Take a look at the "n-ear" and similar products. Significantly cheaper and can't be seen at a distance at all.

[@AdventureCruiser]

@@cakearmy_maxgaming6346 I’ve tried a few of those, and the n-ear is not my favorite version of the thin-wire earbuds. I can’t remember the brand I like, but when I do I’ll post it here.

[@AdventureCruiser]

sheepdogmics.com/products/sheepdog-hdlo-covert-listen-only-3-5mm-tubeless

[@AdventureCruiser]

The Sheepdog HDLO is a little clearer than the n-ear in my opinion.

[@elvismburu1510]

What brand is the in ear bug or where can it be bought

[@lmoore3rd]

Yes, the "mission critical" accessories for APX have additional bluetooth encryption and near field pairing handshake. The "operations critical" accessories for MotoTrbo not so much. And either of those variants of the pod look identical except for the blue dot on the APX version. Internally, they are different firmware. I've bought a few of these pods over the years for the APX and it's annoying when you get the wrong one from the seller. That happened at least once and the MotoTrbo version wouldn't near field pair with APX. There is also a slight delay going over bluetooth to the radio and then over the air.

[@PCISLOT]

So I looked into the Motorola part number and I found that this Bluetooth is NTN2570, and it cost MORE than RLN6544A, which is remote wireless mic and speaker with external battery... That's crazy! Thank you for the review, it's wonderful :-)

[@Gregtries]

Love the motorola saber.

[@Subgunman]

What’s the current price for the earwig device? I believe they are made by Otto for the big M. That was in the catalog back in the 90’s. I am still using my Astro Saber and programming of the Astro is not easy. The CPS for the XTL 5000 is a lot friendlier for programming a radio but you are looking at programming logic from 25 (if not 30) years ago compared to the logic used for the XTL series from the early mid 2000’s.

[@LukePRTR]

I have that in ear phonito system for my Harris RF-7850S's. You wont see movies showing them because it dosent potray very well because there isnt an easy clear tube to spot in the film. I feel like the best balanced system is going to be wire pair of white apple earphones. You look normal wearing them without raising alarms -also lets others guard down thinking you may be occupied listening to music.

[@Manumave]

Wow!! Super interesting. Very informative, great video as always!!

[@Anon-fv9ee]

That device @7:55 is an induction (tesla) loop which works directly at audio frequencies not RF. At ticket windows, museums, information stands etc a blue “T” alerts people with hearing aids to flick a switch to pick up the loop audio. The benefit is the earpiece can be made smaller by completely omitting radio circuitry. The drawback is it requires A LOT of audio amplification to work. The output from the Bluetooth may not be strong enough to plug in the T-loop directly (hence you can barely hear it) and there’s also the issue of impedance matching.

[@Subgunman]

I wish I could get some OEM Saber batteries from the big M.

[@ropehnd]

The antenna loop is super interesting.

[@thomasmoran9114]

The Motorola LEX 11 smartphone is designed to be paired with the APX series radio and using it with the APX 3000 really opens up the capability.

[@airplaneian]

Great video! i recently switched from the traditional ear tube surveillance kit to one that has the driver in the earpiece itself like an IEM and the reduced visual signature without losing any volume/clarity seems like a nice compromise compared to the loop and bug setup still running a wired (quick disconnect) setup tho, will have to bug my moto rep about the bluetooth interface, that looks super slick!

[@airplaneian]

lol just saw you posted about the exact model I use, the Sheepdog HDLO... i really like mine

[@AdventureCruiser]

I’d love to see your set up, any chance you be willing to make you too short and send me the link?

[@AdventureCruiser]

@@airplaneian ha, that’s awesome. Yeah the sheepdog is by far my favorite. eventually, I’ll get around to making a movie about it too.

[@airplaneian]

@@AdventureCruiser I've been meaning to do a blog write up! I'm still trying to find the best carry solution... I don't wear it constantly, so I've defaulted to a firefighter strap for the past few years but I don't like that if I have to run around in the field so I've been exploring various chest rigs and belt holsters. The latest experiment is the Talon Radio Carrier system which is intriguing but I'm not sure if I'm sold on it. I am also picking up the Team Wendy radio rig. I think I will probably end up having multiple carry options, each with their own mic/headset solutions all standardized on the sheepdog quick release system. Overkill, but I'm picky about gear ergonomics.

[@joestreiff9401]

I noticed at the assassination attempt the secret service sun glasses. they all appeared to be the same, they all wore them, and it looked like it was very important they all had them on. I'm thinking they're some sort of smart glasses, maybe tied to their radio or encrypted phone

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

thay where those glasses so you can tell if thay are watching you which thay are

[@vidoman362]

A misconception, USSS does not have the latest high-tech gadgets. Their moto, "Yesterdays technology, Tomorrow".

[@nolongerinuse9714]

There's a wireless key fob lookalike within the Operations Critical series that is compatible with each of the kits shown in the video. Very interested to be "slightly" covert but seemingly suspicious if you were to be using it with a crowd surrounding you.

[@ocsrc]

Is this the high 300 MHz low 400 MHz radio ? 380 to 420 MHz ?

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

what happens when the secerit service showed at your door and want's

[@coreybabcock2023]

I think you must be a former secret service agent

[@AdventureCruiser]

@@coreybabcock2023 nah, I’m better trained. Or at least more observant. Ha ha

[@LegoWarFims]

The Astro Saber is still better 🥵

[@charlie_nolan]

I am still confused by this thing. It’s not covert enough that it doesn’t look like a 2-way radio, and it’s not a lot smaller than other APXs. But it’s still cool and I’ll think about getting one and have been for years.

[@AdventureCruiser]

@@charlie_nolan as many concealed carriers know, measurements that seem insignificant are often critical in certain circumstances. In this case, it’s not something that is completely “covert” but it admittedly is smaller than an APX8000 and could fit under a dress coat a bit better. That’s not my world so I don’t have first hand experience, but I can make assumptions based on experiences I have had.

[@airplaneian]

@@AdventureCruiser before I got into my current career, i worked in the film industry for awhile and worked with recordists that needed to conceal wireless transmitters underneath clothing and a little thinness goes a looooong way towards reducing the silhouette... a tall slim object is much easier to conceal than something a bit shorter but a bit thicker

[@charlie_nolan]

@@AdventureCruiser Makes sense. I just feel like if they tried they could have made it even smaller, I wonder why not put in a couple of those thin 3.7V cells used in old cell phones and used in Moto's cheaper commercial radios. But yeah, makes sense. Like how the Astro Saber looks huge but is more pocket-able than most of their other public safety radios due to being thin.

[@jovanjanevski3747]

Nice video!

[@Jennifer-007]

HEY! Don’t answer them! (The calls)

[@coreybabcock2023]

How do you afford to get all this stuff ?

[@AdventureCruiser]

Everybody has their secrets, mine is hard work, self sacrifice, long hours, honesty and a drive for excellence and eventually it pays off. I was the guy working long hours on tough jobs while my friends had fun jobs and were partying.

[@Luftvapenbladet]

This is the emergency button " i have not figured out a useful way to program this to something else"😂😂😂😂

[@cpreovol]

I mean if they don’t want to be noticed they should get different haircuts

[@BabyBoomersDoomer]

3 on the 2 on the sides

[@jeffkardosjr.3825]

The problem with Bluetooth is, it's easy to jam.

[@digitalradiohacker]

My tiny little ground floor flat is right next to the street. Pretty often, people will walk past and sometimes hang around outside with one of these awful BT speakers, usually blearing the very LATEST in "DnB". I got totally fed up with this and decided to create an "audio clean zone" by building a BT jammer. I googled and googled. I downloaded datasheets for BT transcievers. I read and read all I could find and came to the conclusion that it would be very difficult to put a BT jammer together because of the frequency hopping feature. What have you seen that leads you to think that BT would be easy to jam? Is there some resource I could go and look at?

[@jeffkardosjr.3825]

@@digitalradiohacker Many people have them in their kitchen.

[@tmanF4]

@@digitalradiohacker It's simple to jam as long as you don't mind wrecking the entire RF spectrum. As Jeff said, an improperly shielded microwave over can make BT, wifi, and even some ISM band devices useless. Lately I've been going to the gym and finding it hard to keep my airpods connected. With so many BT radios around I get crackling audio and even full dropouts!

[@digitalradiohacker]

@@tmanF4 "improperly shielded microwave" "so many BT radios around" So I can choose between a death ray or buying £10k worth of BT devices and just hoping that they provide enough smog. This does not add weight to the OPs assertion that BT "is easy to jam".

[@tmanF4]

@@digitalradiohacker No, Jeff’s original statement is correct. Look at the context of this discussion: We’re under a video discussing radio tech used by secret service. The secret service is frequently targeted by organized foreign actors with access to financial backing and sophisticated electronic equipment. A determined person, with access to a Rhode & Schwarz BR/EDR test rig can very “easily” create an unfavorable RF environment, and even “jam” Bluetooth comms. Taken to the other end of the sophistication spectrum, a bad actor can run a microwave with damaged shielding and (even unwittingly!) create so much noise that the spectrum used by Bluetooth is unusable. Ease is relative. Cost is relative. The fact is that Bluetooth is a relatively insecure and delicate protocol, especially if your bad actors don’t mind if their countermeasures are noticed.

[@bearb1asting]

Hey man. Editing isn't hard. I did it as a kid in high school Show us what it looks like in CPS.

[@AdventureCruiser]

Ha, yeah sorry, it was more of a joke than anything. I edit a bit, but usually for my own trip videos. The real reason I don’t edit is that I’m a full time businessman, full time family man, and wouldn’t have the time to actually share what I think is cool if I had to set time aside for editing. I know my production quality is low, but I’d rather release videos than not.