SpyCams
A Brief History

The concept of seeing from afar with radio technology is not new. The possibility was discussed by fiction writers, and scientists like Nikola Tesla.

One early television pioneer wrote...
"When radio service to the eye shall have a comparable development to radio service to the ear, a new era will have indeed been ushered in, when distance will no longer prevent our seeing our friend as easily as we hear him."
1925 - C. Frances Jenkins in "Vision by Radio"

There was even a movie called "Television Spy" released in 1939.

The first television spy on real television was George Burns, in the 1950's The Burns and Allen Show. As remembered in wikipedia, "...Another running gag showed George watching all the action on the TV in his study and breaking the fourth wall by commenting upon it to the viewers."


1962 - The first generation of "mini" spy cameras came into use. Jim Vaus shows his camera. (below)

1987 - Miniature television cameras using AM microtransmitters (in the 900 MHz frequency range) became a threat.

Murray Associates was the first countermeasures firm to purchase a special spectrum analyzer capable of detecting and viewing these TV signals - a Tektronix 2710.

1997 - Miniature television cameras using FM microtransmitters (2.4 GHz frequency range) became a threat. Countermeasures equipment of the day couldn’t even see these signals. A few spectrum analyzers could detect the signals, but couldn’t decode them for viewing.

Murray Associates researched and solved the problem. Drawing together various technologies, we created a system that was the next step in the evolution of spectrum analysis... Radio-Reconnaissance Spectrum Analysis™. We could easily receive, view and capture wireless surveillance video signals... and immediately record them for evidentiary purposes.

2007 - Miniature television cameras (with audio) are now common in the 2.4 GHz range, with most cameras selling for under $100. A wireless spycam system which can be monitored worldwide over the Internet, using a computer plug-in board, is also available for less than $100. 1.2 GHz and 5.8 GHz wireless spycams are rapidly becoming popular as well.

In short, when it comes to spycams, we have always "seen it coming."

FutureWatch™
Click here to see what Murray Associates is doing now to protect our clients from spycams (wireless, Internet and hard-wired).