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Hack The Spy Ear and Learn to Reverse Engineer a Circuit

by Biotele on August 9, 2007

Table of Contents

intro: Hack The Spy Ear and Learn to Reverse Engineer a Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 1: How to Reverse Engineer a Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 2: Draw the Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

File Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

step 3: Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

step 4: Picachu's Spy Ear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Customized Instructable T-shirts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-The-Spy-Ear-and-Learn-to-Reverse-Engineer-a-C/
intro: Hack The Spy Ear and Learn to Reverse Engineer a Circuit
This instructable introduces the venerable Spy Ear in details and my way to reverse engineer a circuit.

Why does this device deserves its own instructable?:

-You can buy a Spy Ear for a dollar!

-It can amplify sounds up to 60 dB or a factor of a 1000.

-It has a self limiting property and adjusts the gain so that the amplified signal volume is always just right.

-It runs of two LR44 1.5 volt button cell alkaline battery, so it's perfect for portable projects.

-Many of today's projects, such as in robotics, require analogue front end for sensing the environment and the Spy Ear circuit is just right to fill in as a multi-purpose front
end amplifier.

-It is simple enough to reverse engineer.

-I am making another instructable using this device.

So the Spy Ear is a fantastic cheap,small and rugged circuit for modding and hacking

Check out my other Instructables:

MAKE A HIGH VOLTAGE SUPPLY IN 5 MINUTES
Super Easy E-mail Encryption Using Gmail, Firefox and Windows
Make a Voltage Controlled Resistor and Use It
Make a Ball Mill in 5 Minutes
Make a Rechargeable Dual Voltage Power Supply for Electronic Projects
SODA CAN HYDROGEN GENERATOR

step 1: How to Reverse Engineer a Circuit

This step shows you how to reverse engineer the circuit.

1. First take a picture of the front and back of the circuit.

2. Trace the pcb layout on the back using a graphic program like photoshop. Try using the "bucket fill" tool first. if that doesn't work color it by hand.

Don't color the whole pcb layout. Leave the areas where a solder is made clear, so that you can figure out which component's leg goes where.

3.Copy the pcb layout you made and paste it on top of the device's front picture. Flip it horizontally and adjust the scale and position so that the trace is super-imposed
exactly on top of the components (see picture below).

4.Then comparing the different pictures and looking at the actual circuit, draw in the components' symbols from node to node. (see last picture).

5. Next, you'd need a circuit drawing program to rearrange the rough circuit that you drew by hand (see next step).

Count the components. Use the count as a checksum when you reconstruct the schematic. It is easy to forget something.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-The-Spy-Ear-and-Learn-to-Reverse-Engineer-a-C/
 Image Notes
1. Trace of the PCB made by Hand
2. Notice that I leave the portion where there is a solder clear

Image Notes
1. the above picture with the trace super-imposed

Image Notes
1. this is a transistor
2. This is a capcitor
3. This is a resistor
4. The battery
5. The earphone
6. The variable resistor is drawn in the schematic as two resistor in series. Notice
the outer trace are for the switch which I omitted in the schematic
7. The microphone leads go here

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-The-Spy-Ear-and-Learn-to-Reverse-Engineer-a-C/
step 2: Draw the Schematic
To draw the circuit and simulate it I used Linear Technology's LTspice. It's free and it is great.

LTspice
http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/switchercad.jsp

I make the Spy Ear schematic available for the first time on the web in this instructable.

V1 N001 0 1.5
Q1 N006 N009 0 0 2N3904
Q2 N004 N008 0 0 2N3904
R6 N001 N004 4.7k
Q3 N005 N004 0 0 2N3904
R7 N004 N008 200k
C4 N008 0 5n
R���§VR1 N002 N003 5k
R���§VR2 N003 N006 5k
R2 N001 N002 220
C���§BigC N002 0 10���µ
R8 N006 N009 200k
C1 N007 N009 .1���µ
R1 N002 N007 3.3k
C2 N003 N008 .1���µ
V���§Microphone N007 0 SFFM(0 1u 2000 100 100) AC .1u
R���§Earphone N001 N005 75
C3 N001 N005 .1���µ
.model NPN NPN
.model PNP PNP
.lib C:\Program Files\LTC\SwCADIII\lib\cmp\standard.bjt
.tran 0 100ms 0 1ms
.backanno
.end

File Downloads

spyear.net (954 bytes)

[NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'spyear.net']

spyear.asc (2 KB)
[NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'spyear.asc']

step 3: Simulations
Here are the simulations that I ran from the previous netlist and they show the characteristics of the Spy Ear.

You'd notice the frequency response is not even which produces distortions in the output (see next pic).

But this is ok, because Spy Ear is designed to focus on speech. The main spectrum of speech is between 300 and 3000Hz and if you are trying to spy on someone's
conversation as the package claims, the goal is to amplify speech frequencies while cutting out ambient noise.

There is an advantage of having a schematic for simulation because with a few clicks you can investigate the effect of modding the components without actually doing it
physically. For example, if C1 and C2 are replaced with larger capacitors, like on the order of 100u, the response approaches HiFi (see last picture). HiFi requires that the
frequency response be flat and wide.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-The-Spy-Ear-and-Learn-to-Reverse-Engineer-a-C/
step 4: Picachu's Spy Ear
Picachu bought spy ears that are different than the one I used. It turn out they are missing two capacitors that makes it amplify less.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-The-Spy-Ear-and-Learn-to-Reverse-Engineer-a-C/
 Related Instructables
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Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 91 comments

Grzegorz says: Jan 3, 2009. 2:14 PM REPLY

Try to use layers in Photoshop. What I am doing is taking the pictures of bottom and top then flip the bottom one and cover the top PCB picture with flipped
bottom as different layer. Then you can set brightness and transparencies of layers (each one separately) for the best result. Even if they aren't exact same
size you can stretch pictures to match the layers.

Biotele says: Jan 4, 2009. 1:27 AM REPLY

that is the best way to do it.

Lance Mt. says: Dec 24, 2008. 2:31 PM REPLY

I want to make this wireless, any ideas?

Biotele says: Dec 25, 2008. 3:15 AM REPLY

sure. if you are lazy hook it up to an ipod car radio transmitter or an fmrs walkie talkie. if you want to build the circuit google "fm transmitter".

freerunnin1 says: Oct 16, 2008. 12:03 PM REPLY

hi, do you think you could send me a picture of where the mic is linked to? cos mine came off and i dont know where to solder them. thanx

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-The-Spy-Ear-and-Learn-to-Reverse-Engineer-a-C/
 Biotele says: Oct 16, 2008. 12:48 PM REPLY
The microphone goes where the green dots are on the reverse side picture in step 4.

dulciquilt says: Jul 19, 2008. 1:14 AM REPLY

I just got home from Walmart and could not find these. I checked electronics, toys and the gadget area by the registers, None of the workers in those areas
had ever heard of them. They had a more expensive one in the toy area, but I didn't want to pay $10
Where do you find them? I bought one years ago at a truck stop, but can't find it now.,

naw duder says: Oct 8, 2008. 1:59 PM REPLY

I always find them at super sketchy 99 cent stores that sell Chinese bootleg transformers toys

absolute zero says: Jul 19, 2008. 4:12 AM REPLY

i saw some in hungates, a craft store.

i805 says: Jun 29, 2008. 8:49 PM REPLY

Hello biotele
i was very impressed by you and your instructable and tried to construct the circuit myself.

i used BC547 instead of 2n3904(that's what i have but the specs are the same) and used 220K instead of the 200K resistors(didn't think it would matter)

but it just didn't work for me ,as hard as i tried i made noise and talk to the mic and there is no sound through the speaker. :-O

i checked the mic,speaker and the VResistor and they are fine.
also i checked to see if i didn't do a mistake of connection the wires and component. but still no sound :(

was it OK to use 2 AA instead of the 2 LR44?

Biotele says: Jun 30, 2008. 2:47 AM REPLY

You need to trouble shoot it stage by stage. First, hook the oscilloscope to the microphone output. Is there a waveform? Then test the output of the first
transistor, the second transistor and finally the third. Make sure all your transistor Have the proper DC bias, use a voltmeter to test these.
it is ok to use 2AA.

i805 says: Jul 1, 2008. 7:01 PM REPLY

by the way the only test measurement i have i DMM.

Biotele says: Jul 2, 2008. 2:11 AM REPLY

Ok then, measure the voltages on around the transistors. Try injecting a tone from a mp3 player (don't use an Ipod, get a cheap one, just in case
you ruin it), before each transistor stage.

i805 says: Jul 4, 2008. 8:28 PM REPLY

results:
(I had tried 5 different mics i had lying around, which one of the was new,and non worked.)

i put(instead of the mic) a tone out of my radio through a headphone (one of the channels) and i could hear real good the sound coming out
of the circuit speaker,amplified.

the volt around each transistor was:

q1 Vce=0.52v
q2 Vce=0.7v
q3 vce=2.6v
(those values where also given when there was nothing attached where the mic is)

the volt when the mic was there

q1 Vce=0.06v
q2 Vce=0.7v
q3 vce=2.6v

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-The-Spy-Ear-and-Learn-to-Reverse-Engineer-a-C/
 i805 says: Jul 4, 2008. 8:49 PM REPLY
this also resemble to the pc sound card inputs
the line in & the mic in

my circuit works as a line in. i don't understand much of it ,but this analogy seems the same here.

Biotele says: Jul 5, 2008. 3:32 PM REPLY

make sure you have the mic hooked correctly

"A typical electret microphone preamp circuit uses an FET in a common source configuration. The two-terminal electret capsule
contains an FET which must be externally powered by supply voltage V+. The resistor sets the gain and output impedance. The audio
signal appears at the output, after a DC-blocking capacitor."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electret_microphone

i805 says: Jul 8, 2008. 4:49 AM REPLY

as i was staring at the circuit aimlessly frustrated and defeat..
i found the problem :)
i put 220k in R2 instead of 220.

i couldn't do it without your help.

i think i know why i made this mistake. as i was preparing the parts for making the circuit ,my eyes confidently passed through the
diagram from right to left and as i glanced the the R7 220k and then R8 220k i saw the beginning of R2 200 and my brain
automatically completed it to 200K because R7 & R8 were 200k.
i know it may not make a lot of sense,but that's what happened.

all is fine, but there is a problem though,there is a very load inbearable high pitched sound coming from the earphone as i
increased the VR ,does it happen to you too?

Biotele says: Jul 14, 2008. 2:37 AM REPLY

You got oscillation, this happens when signal feeds back to the amplifiers. Usually the signals feeds back through the power
bus.You have to divert the feedback signal to ground. You need to put a big capacitor across the battery, or try small
capacitors at the output of the transistor.

i805 says: Jul 1, 2008. 4:44 PM REPLY

ok i worked all night long making it work but no good reasults

i don't have a scope so i checked the mic and speaker like this :
connected the mic to an old computer mic wire and i could recorded my self in windows.
connected the speaker to an old headphone wire and i could hear a music file in windows.

i tested the bc547c in the test circuit shown in the pic it, was taken from here:
http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/tran.htm
the led went on.

i put 5k VR in my circuit cause i saw 5K in each side,but then i figured out you meant 5k in each side,so i put 10K VR,where its middle leg goes to
C2.

in the bigCAP you didn't mention it was electrolyte( + -) but i saw it in the original circuit so i figured it was electrolyte and not ceramic.

after all that and endless checking of right wire connections, the only thing i got was a little hamming through the speaker,but sound(as i talked and
made noise to the mic)never came out.

any other checking perhaps :)?

Biotele says: Jul 2, 2008. 2:15 AM REPLY

The mic needs to be biased with a dc voltage. Check that there is a dc voltage. Then use you pc mic input as a scope, but decouple it with a big
electrolytic capacitor. Probe the transistor stages while in the circuit. The transistor might work, but they might not be biased correctly. Check that
they are NPN not PNP.

i805 says: Jul 4, 2008. 8:37 PM REPLY

BC547C is an NPN for sure.

i didn't understand the "mic needs to be biased with a dc voltage"

didn't see something in the scope i even downloaded this nice soft:
http://zeitnitz.de/Christian/Scope/Scope_en.html

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-The-Spy-Ear-and-Learn-to-Reverse-Engineer-a-C/
 Picachu says: Jun 25, 2008. 5:16 AM REPLY
Well, I must apologize. I was paying so much attention to your device and schematics, didn't realize mine is somehow different, can't explain why. Packaging
is the same, model is the same, case is the same, even the pcb looks the same, but at a closer look it isn't. The component layout is very different, I have
only 2 ceramic caps, while your device has 4! Damn! All I can say is mine doesn't work as it should, I'll probably try to build yours, so your reverse
engineering schematics will be very handy.

Picachu says: Jun 26, 2008. 3:27 AM REPLY

Sure. Here they are. As you can easily see, they are very different, but I just noticed it when I was checking out the caps values. Looks like I'm stuck with
10 of these non working models. Don't bother reverse engineering these ones... :)

Biotele says: Jun 26, 2008. 4:56 AM REPLY

I think the Chinese manufacturer cut corners with this model. But it will be interesting to trace them out and do a spice simulation to see what wrong
with them. Maybe adding one cap in the right place will fix it. Can you do that?

Picachu says: Jun 26, 2008. 6:41 AM REPLY

Here, new photo with component values. Are you able to folow the circuit at the back side of the pcb trough the image I posted earlier? If you
wish I can draw over the circuit as you did, if it helps. Looks like we're going to reverse engineering these ones after all... ;) Thanks for your help,
you're my kind of guy, allways looking for new experiments, I like electronics too, but I'm more of a computer geek. xD

Biotele says: Jun 26, 2008. 7:15 AM REPLY

Thanks for the pics! Yes, it will be very helpful if you drew a circuit, then I can transfer it to spice and do a simulation. I am more of an
electronic guy, maybe we should combine our skills.

Picachu says: Jun 26, 2008. 11:42 AM REPLY

Ok, see if you can work with this. I think it's readable. I have it on Photoshop with layers, if you need any particular detail just say so, it's
easy to get it. All photos are in high quality macro, I can mail them as well. I didn't put values because they are in the previous pitcure. Oh,
green dots is where mic conects. I hope you can improve it! :D

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-The-Spy-Ear-and-Learn-to-Reverse-Engineer-a-C/
 Biotele says: Jun 26, 2008. 1:37 PM REPLY
I got it and I am working on it. The ceramic caps should be in the nanofarad range not in in the microfarad. Thanks

Picachu says: Jun 26, 2008. 2:33 PM REPLY

Well, actually they are. I read them correctly but typed it wrong on the photo. They are both 100NF in deed. Sorry for that, here
you are trying to help me, and I post stupid errors like this.

Biotele says: Jun 26, 2008. 3:39 PM REPLY

Finished, check out the last step. Your problem is the missing caps. They make a difference! in your circiut you only have
40dB of amplification, while mine pumps out 100dB. Maybe you should ad the missing caps. Private message me your e-mail.

Picachu says: Jun 26, 2008. 7:02 PM REPLY

Nice! I'll be looking forward to try to improve the circuit with your help. I'll post results in Step 4. I PM'ed you my mail a
while ago, hope you get it. Meanwhile I think I'll try out your version of the device, but I'm missing the 200k resistors, the
5nf cap and the variable resistor. I'll try to buy them tomorrow and give it a try to see wich device works better. :)

Biotele says: Jun 27, 2008. 2:49 AM REPLY

add the caps first, see if it works.

Biotele says: Jun 27, 2008. 2:48 AM REPLY

You don't need to buy them look in some old electronic device. And you don't need to be exact. The 5nf cap is very
important, it acts as an automatic gain control.

Picachu says: Jun 27, 2008. 3:35 AM REPLY

Allready bought them, I had nothing I could take them from. 200k was the less important, I could make it out of two
100k, the one I really didn't had was the 5nf cap. Neither did the store, I had to buy a 4.7 and a 5.6, I'll try them
both to see wich one works better.

Picachu says: Jun 26, 2008. 8:47 AM REPLY

Great! I'm alone with my kid now, but as soon as I have a little break I'll draw the circuit as you did in your project and post it here.

Picachu says: Jun 26, 2008. 6:56 AM REPLY

Oh, forgot to tell another funny thing: As one of the transistors was unreadable, I opened another device to confirm values. Turns out that this
one, instead of the electrolytic 47uf as a 22uf, and instead of the 3xS8050(PNP) it has 3x2N3904 wich is NPN! Can this be right? anyway, the
3 transistors in each device are the same "model" but are different as they have more small specifications wich I think is the Hfe value (ie.
S8050 D199). Is that value important to you? Thanks again!

Biotele says: Jun 26, 2008. 7:17 AM REPLY

Funny thing about this NPN/PNP mix up. Does the NPN device sound the same? Maybe the transistors are mislabeled. A PNP circuit
should look like a NPN circuit but flipped vertically.

Picachu says: Jun 26, 2008. 2:42 PM REPLY

About that components mix up, I tried them both under the same conditions, and both of them provide little low amplification, pratically
none, as I said. However there is a significant difference, the one with the 8050 makes human voices clearer by lowering surroundig
noise. The 3904 one, when first turned on seems louder than the first, but in fact is the surrounding ambient noise that is louder,
human voice is almost unaudible, unless you speak near and directly to the microphone.

Picachu says: Jun 26, 2008. 8:45 AM REPLY

That's what I thought, they should at least be reversed, but they are soldered the same way. Honestly I cannot see a difference
between them, both have very low amplification, but I'll test it again later, when there's someone for me to "spy" on. :)

Picachu says: Jun 26, 2008. 5:50 AM REPLY

Yeah, no problem. Just tell me where, I'll try it out. That would be great. Are you able to folow the schematics just using the pictures I posted? If
you wish I could take better quality photos in macro and mail them to you. I'll post component values, just give me a while. Like I said, device
works, you can ear sound through the headphones, but volume is low, there's not enough amplification.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-The-Spy-Ear-and-Learn-to-Reverse-Engineer-a-C/
 Biotele says: Jun 26, 2008. 1:08 AM REPLY
Intresting. Can you send me a pic?

Picachu says: Jun 26, 2008. 7:15 PM REPLY

I was just in my bed having trouble to sleep, and had this crazy idea. Decided to ask you before trying it out. Would it be possible to connect two of these
devices in series? Like, plugin in the earphone output jack of one device to the mic input of a second device... Would it work, or would it cause some sort of
sound distortion? :) Trouble sleeping=crazy ideas! lol :)

Biotele says: Jun 27, 2008. 2:46 AM REPLY

You can try it. The easiest thing to do is to use a variable resistor between the output of the first and the input of the second, so you can control the
amount of signal. Also put a decoupling capacitor, like 10u, at the input of the second.

Picachu says: Jun 26, 2008. 6:51 PM REPLY

Yep, chinese versions I guess... Just to make this accurate, like you said, those 2 ceramic capacitors are in fact 100nF, not 100uF as I labeled them.

Derin says: Jun 25, 2008. 1:39 PM REPLY

at least remove biotele.com before saying this is the first schematic

Biotele says: Jun 26, 2008. 1:08 AM REPLY

explain.

Derin says: Jun 26, 2008. 1:53 AM REPLY

ohhh i didnt see the username
sorry

Biotele says: Jun 26, 2008. 4:51 AM REPLY

Lol. no problem.

thefutureisnow says: Jun 25, 2008. 5:26 PM REPLY

I tried to use the spy ear to amplify a bluetooth headset. The idea was to turn the headset into a speakerphone. But the sound comes out very distorted. I
tried lowering the volume on the headset all the way, but no use. The only way I can understand what the other person is saying is by setting the volume
verly low, which defeats the purpose of this prodject. Any suggestions?

Biotele says: Jun 26, 2008. 1:07 AM REPLY

Lol. You cannot use it as a speakerphone because that requires power and the circuit is designed for low power amplification. It is very suited for pre-
amplification but not for power amplification.
Use the LM-386 and get forrest Mims intro to electronics book from radio shack.

http://www.seseyann.com/circuits/LM386.html

http://www.amazon.com/Forrest-Mims-Engineers-Notebook/dp/1878707035.

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http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-The-Spy-Ear-and-Learn-to-Reverse-Engineer-a-C/