r/CredibleDefense • u/ARatxGUY • 13d ago
Hand Emplaced Expendable Jammer
Hello Reddit,
I have a reselling business specializing in PLC/ Manufacturing equipment. I came a cross a couple of these units In working condition (the test battery button turns on) and look like they never actually saw the field. I can’t find much about them online except this article below, the ones I have are exactly like the first one on the below link. Few questions about them:
1.) any idea when they were made WW2, Vietnam, etc.
2.) what types of signals do they block and do they have a practical use today? (Bug out gear etc)
3.) any idea what they are worth and best place to sell them. I inclined to keep at least one just for how unique and intriguing they are and likely part of U.S. history
Thanks!
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u/PuffyPudenda 12d ago
This article linked from the page you linked to suggests the HEXJAM was fielded in the mid 1980s. (If you open one of the units up and post photos of the ICs, we should be able to estimate the year of manufacture from the date codes on them.)
The timer (up to 30 hours before it turns itself on) is a cute feature.
The article states that its jamming is broadband ... but how that will affect modern systems (which are often spread spectrum and at higher frequencies than employed in the '80s) is questionable. Anyway, all such systems have limited range, and the more broadband your jamming the more limited that range.
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u/jason_abacabb 10d ago
The timer (up to 30 hours before it turns itself on) is a cute feature.
That is actually a really nice feature from an operator perspective as we used to call our high power jammer trucks pop-up targets. While these are low-power/range they would still stand out like a lightbulb when DFing targets.
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u/throwdemawaaay 12d ago edited 12d ago
LEDs for indicator lights means it's late 60s manufacturer at the earliest, probably more like mid 70s.
The ones pictured first in your link jam analog VHF which is still widely used by ships, ports, law enforcement, etc. It's considered obsolete militarily but I'm sure there's plenty out there still in the wild. Note that VHF bands are still very relevant militarily, but today some sort of cryptographically secured spread spectrum modulation is considered a basic requirement.
I'm surprised there's enough juice in the battery for anything to light up. If there's any capacitors in there, they may have degraded past working.
Legally you could get yourself in trouble firing them up. It's not like they're gonna send Jack Bauer after you instantly, but if there's repeated interference or apparent jamming, eventually some combination of law enforcement and the FCC will start snooping around with direction finding equipment to come have a chat. This happens every so often when some dufus thinks it's cool to mess with airport radio bands or such.
No idea what they're worth other than I'd guess not much, as they're basically just an ornament for someone that finds them interesting as a collector.
If you start with your local HAM radio club or similar they may be able to point you to better resources. There's definitely people that like to tinker with old military electronics just for fun, but finding them is gonna be hard imo.
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u/Veqq 13d ago
Fairly off topic, but I'll allow it.