I’ve been struggling for the last month or so trying to find an 802.11b
coprocessor similar to the NetMedia SitePlayer
or Lantronix XPort.
Something that is easy to strap onto the side of a little microcontroller like a PIC
or Stamp, or maybe even could work stand-alone for simple tasks.
(Yes, eventually there will be the Lantronix WiPort
and maybe the DPAC Airborne will be made availble
to mere mortals, but until then wireless is sorta out of our reach)
Except that if all you want is to do wireless actuation without feedback,
one can get a free pager with a six-month contract for ~$40, rip it apart, intercept the data
going to the LCD (or hopefully there’s an earlier stage one can get at the real data sent)
and use it to trigger at least 1B diferent things (10-digit numbers).
Initial web searches prove kinda useless. Searching for “pager hacking” gives you lots of
2600-style crap about intercepting pager messages with PC soundcards.
Hi Dan,
I’ve not looked into much since I made that blog post. It is possible though, since it’s how the Ambient Orb and similar devices work.
Hey Todd, we think alike I suppose, your site has frequently been the only relevant search result for things I’m looking for now several times. Any luck on doing the PIC to pager thing? I was thinking of doing a remote car start using a web server interface for the iPhone… Might just have to hack into a pager and find out.
Thanks,
Dan