XM Radio a secret gov. tracking device?

I have a theory and was wondering if it was feasable.

XM Satellite Radio.... 101 channels of music.
Based in Washington, DC.
You subscribe to the service with your name, address, credit card info, phone number.
Your XM tuner has a unique ID code that the satellite sends a signal to.
What's keeping the Government from triangulating the signal sent to that unique ID code in order to keep track of the whereabouts of ANY user at ANY time...

XM Satellite Radio...Secret Government Division? Hmmmm

What's your thoughts folks.

PS they had over a million subscribers this year alone.

I believe it's possible,they already put tracking devices in music cd's and clothes,but they call that "Security" reasons.

Hmm; interesting.. never thought about that..

It's possible.. I wouldn't put it above the Goverment to do something like that.

Why should XM Radio be a tracking device?
Does it transmit or only recieve?
Don't see why the gov't would need it - they can already track you down if your car has On-Star or if you have a cell phone turned on (whether it's actually in use or not).

Originally posted by intelgurl
Why should XM Radio be a tracking device?
Does it transmit or only recieve?

come to think of it.It probably doesn't transmit,not that it couldn't have something in the radio but why bother?right? ok I stand corrected.Your right I'm wrong,geez, hope your happy!!!!lolj/k

It only receives. But that doesn't mean the transmit feature couldn't be built in and not known about.

Why would they need this when they have the internet to use ......

Something to think about

If anything they could track you down with your cell phone. It transmits and receives.

I'm not sure if this how it works either, but the sattelites would have to send a broad signal out over the US not a confined beam, otherwise not everyone would get XM. In other words, the continental US is blanketed with the sattelite signal and your XM receiver just decodes the signal, like everyone elses. But then again anything can be used to someone's advantage.

Originally posted by denyingallknowledge
It only receives. But that doesn't mean the transmit feature couldn't be built in and not known about.

No, some geek out there has already taken an XM apart, and if anything unwanted was inside, we'd know.

maybe xm, onstar would be more suspect to me

Originally posted by denyingallknowledge What's keeping the Government from triangulating the signal sent to that unique ID code in order to keep track of the whereabouts of ANY user at ANY time...

Easy... the XM transmission is a one way broadcast not a two-way exchance. The unique ID code is authorized to descramble the XM singnal, much like a unique serial number is entered to enable purchased software. The XM receivers are just that, receivers. They do not transmit.

Another thing that doesn't allow XM radios to transmit very well is that it has to have properconditions to recieve, which implies that it needs thr right conditions to send.

Just like with any radio, XM radios lose their signal as soon as you go under a tunnel or in some sort of close area, only that since XM radios have a signal distinct from regular radio waves, it's completely blocked out rather than fading out.

Maybe there are special individual tracking devices installed with the XM radio, but seperate of it's recieving capabilities. Wouldn't be so practical I would think.

Originally posted by denyingallknowledge
I have a theory and was wondering if it was feasable.

XM Satellite Radio.... 101 channels of music.
Based in Washington, DC.
You subscribe to the service with your name, address, credit card info, phone number.
Your XM tuner has a unique ID code that the satellite sends a signal to.
What's keeping the Government from triangulating the signal sent to that unique ID code in order to keep track of the whereabouts of ANY user at ANY time...

XM Satellite Radio...Secret Government Division? Hmmmm

What's your thoughts folks.

PS they had over a million subscribers this year alone.

I would be more interested to know if they have listening devices to spy on their own people. Perhaps looking for NWO defectors, is all they really care about. They want to maintain power, to do so, is to keep men in chains, while they do what they will.

Originally posted by denyingallknowledge
It only receives. But that doesn't mean the transmit feature couldn't be built in and not known about.

True, but that goes for the thermos that you take to work too.

As others have said I don't think XM or Sirius transmits. Its like sat tv in that signal is encrypted and beamed all over the world to everyone regardless of whether they subscribe or not, and the reciever is basically a hardware decrypter. With something like direct tv I remember people hacking the recievers to get it for free and is what made is illegal was modifying the direct tv card and reciever which is technically property of the company. So if you could build a decrypter from scratch on your own I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be illegal. The NSA probably gets sat tv and radio for free

I would be more concerned with things like a cell phone, gps or onstar as other have mentioned.

One thing that I remember reading that I though was pretty interesting was about how there are RFID tags in some car tires, and people were consipracy theorizing that there could be reader strips in the road

Originally posted by warpboost
I would be more concerned with things like a cell phone, gps or onstar as other have mentioned.

FYI OnStar is a gps receiver connected to a cell phone. When you push the blue button what is basically is happening is your speed dialing the the OnStar phone number. It has something quite like a caller ID that tells them what car is calling and the coordinates from the GPS receiver.

Now in the case of an accident whenever the airbags are deployed the cars computer dials up the the OnStar call center and sends the coordinates and a code that says there has been an accident.

When you lock youself out, you phone the call center and give them your name and a pin, they then look up your cars phone number and call it, when it answers they send a code to the computer and it unlocks the doors.

If your car is stolen, they call the car and ask for the coordinates from the GPS receiver and report it's location to the police.

If you have any fear they are checking in on you, all you need is a radio frequency counter, with it you can tell if your car is phoning home.

[edit on 1/28/2006 by Cug]

Originally posted by Allen
I believe it's possible,they already put tracking devices in music cd's and clothes,but they call that "Security" reasons.

NO they havn't, they've put RFID tags in - which are something different. They need to be within a certain proximity of a reader to be picked up, it's not like a tracking device in the conventional sense. I wouldn't not worry about it though, it has potential for misuse.

As for the XM radio, as has already been said it is a one way only device, if you are paranoid about that or indeed any other device containing a hidden transmitter then get yourself either or both of these devices:

Are you being bugged? One sweep over a wall, floor, ceiling or suspect device and this miniature RF detector will immediately alert you to the presence of wireless RF bug or cameras. Effective from 50MHz to 3.00GHz, this device covers all common wireless camera, microphone, and cellphone frequencies. Uses CR2032 battery (supplied).
www.maplin.co.uk...

I have the above unit, it is very cheap and very effective and is capable of picking up any form of transmitter within it's very wide range of frequencies. I wouldn't worry too much above 3ghz anyway as the range would be so incredibly limited without high power levels and obvious to see high gain antennas it would be useless.

If you want to spend a little more money, then get a frequency counter. The one below is pretty cheap and crucially (unlike some other counters) is able to detect both analog and digital transmissions.
The best thing is that it will give you the exact frequency of the transmission, so you can tune in with your scanner to hear what's going on.
If you want to jam something, it's also useful to know what frequency you should be transmitting on..

At last, a frequency counter that can handle digital and analogue signal. Until now there has not been a generally available digital frequency counter. A normal frequency counter cannot handle digital signals and results in no display. But the DIGI HUNTER has changed all that.

This very small hand-held unit will allow you to check almost any digital device up to 2.8GHz. It is great for key rings, remote devices, portable telephones and digital transmission equipment.
www.wsplc.com...

No transmitter can hide from them - it's impossible.

[edit on 28-1-2006 by AgentSmith]

I think the real question should be 'Why is Satellite Radio' so expensive in North America?

Digital Radio in the UK has been going for a while, and as soon as you buy the radio, it's completely free!

reviews.cnet.co.uk...

www.bbc.co.uk...

Imagine my horror when I went to Best Buy and saw that there was a monthly fee!

Is it simply the case that the UK is a small country so is able to do digital radio 'on the cheap' via ground transmitters, or companies in North America simply profiteering?

TD

Originally posted by AgentSmith

The best thing is that it will give you the exact frequency of the transmission, so you can tune in with your scanner to hear what's going on.
If you want to jam something, it's also useful to know what frequency you should be transmitting on..

Or if you want to spend even more money get a nearfield receiver or even better a nearfield spectrum sweeper like this.

store.yahoo.com...

:: DROOL ::