Day: June 14, 2023

Flipper Zero “Smoking” A Smart Meter Is A Bad Look For Hardware Hackers

June 14, 2023 by 126 Comments

Alright, we’re calling it — we need a pejorative equivalent to “script kiddie” to describe someone using a Flipper Zero for annoyingly malign purposes. If you need an example, check out the apparent smart meter snuff video below.

The video was posted by [Peter Fairlie], who we assume is the operator of the Flipper Zero pictured. The hapless target smart meter is repeatedly switched on and off with the Flipper — some smart meters have contactors built in so that service can be disconnected remotely for non-payment or in emergencies — which rapidly starts and stops a nearby AC compressor. Eventually, the meter releases a puff of Magic Smoke, filling its transparent enclosure and obscuring the display. The Flipper’s operator mutters a few expletives at the results, but continues turning the meter on and off even more rapidly before eventually running away from the scene of the crime.

We qualify this as “apparent” because the minute we saw this over on RTL-SDR.com, we reached out to reverse engineer par excellence and smart meter aficionado [Hash] for an opinion. Spoiler alert: [Hash] thinks it’s an elaborate hoax; the debunking starts at the 4:32 mark in the second video below. The most damning evidence is that the model of smart meter shown in the video doesn’t even have a disconnect, so whatever [Peter] is controlling with the Flipper, it ain’t the meter. Also, [Hash] figured out where [Peter] lives — he doxxed himself in a previous video — and not only does the meter shown in the video not belong to the Canadian power company serving the house, StreetView shows that there’s a second meter, suggesting that this meter may have been set up specifically for the lulz.

It should go without saying that Hackaday is about as supportive of hardware experimentation as an organization can be. But there have to be some boundaries, and even if this particular video turns out to be a hoax, it clearly steps over the line. Stuff like this paints a poor picture of what hardware hacking is all about, and leads to unintended consequences that make it harder for all of us to get the tools we need.

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This Rohde & Schwarz Computer Is A Commodore PET

June 14, 2023 by 24 Comments

The IEE-488 or GPIB bus for controlling instruments by computer has existed now for many decades. It’s often implemented over USB or Ethernet here in 2023, but the familiar connector can still be found on the backs of pricey instruments. In the earlier days of GPIB when a powerhouse Linux laptop was decades away, what computer did the would-be GPIB user reach for? If they were a Rohde and Schwarz customer in the late 1970s the chances are it would have been the R&S PUC process controller, an 8-bit microcomputer that under its smart exterior turns out to be an enhanced Commodore PET. [NatureAndTech] has one for teardown, and you can see it in the video below the break.

Readers with long memories will remember that the PET had an IE-488 bus on a card edge connector, and it’s possible that’s why R&S took it as the basis for their machine. But this isn’t merely a PET in a fancy box, instead it’s a fully new PET-compatible computer, and it has some interesting features. There’s more memory than the original, a set of disk drives, and an expansion bus complete with a high-res graphics card allowing pixel graphics rather than text. Surprisingly though it has a BASIC interpreter it’s a hardware clone of the PET only, the ROM is unique to Rohde & Schwarz.

We think this machine is probably rare enough that we’re unlikely to see one in the flesh, but it’s been a fascinating thing to examine. You can join in with the video below the break, or you can look at the PET’s impact on a more recent scene.

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