DIY Bug Detector Instructions

Technology has made life easy but has bought many dangers to our lives too. Many people’s data or privacy gets stolen away by other wrong people. All this can be possible even with a tiny bug. A bug is so tough to identify as it is very small. A bug detector can help us in this problem but the ones in the market are expensive or fake. So here we have provided diy bug detector instructions to help you with your search.

DIY Bug Detector Instructions With Different Methods

 So before making a bug detector, we should know how a bug detector works. A bug while working may give away radio frequencies. A bug detector tries to catch the bug by identifying the radio frequency emitted by the bug.

After catching the frequency, the bug detectors tell the user about the bug. It can be some sound or some light based on how we design the model. So this is how a bug detector works. Let us see the methods to make a bug detector at home.

Method 1: Using BNC Connectors

This is a simple method to make a radio frequency detector. We use a tube and BNC connector to connect the different components and make a simple model.

So let us see the steps needed for this method.

1. Get the materials ready on the place and keep it separate to avoid confusion. Take the copper wire first and take off its ends with the strippers. Make sure the wires get exposed after the stripping is complete.
2. Now take the toothpick and try to have a thicker model for better work. Make a coil of the copper wire around the end of the toothpick. Make about 19 turns around as that would help our model work and do this with the first end of the copper wire. Glue the other end of the coil to make it firm and not fall away.
3. Now run the stripped end of the wire through the brass tube and strip another 0.5-inch wire from the end of the tube. Connect the copper wire to the BNC connector. Now we will be able to see two wires from the stripped wire. We have to solder these two to the positive and negative sides of the BNC connector. There will be the symbols of + and – on the connector for easier identifications.
4. Attach the connectors of the BNC connector to the brass tube. An epoxy may help us with this but make sure to leave it untouched so that it can dry. Next, we must get a cotton swab and glue it well. We must rub the cotton swab with glue on the outer side of the wire that we coiled around the toothpick.
5. Now we must take the toothpick and place it in the brass tube. Handle it with proper care as too much force can break or ruin our whole work. Push the glued wires in a way that they get attached to the sides of the glass tube. Now stick them together and leave them untouched so that can dry.
6. Step 6: After it dries, we must connect our connector to the radio frequency voltmeter. Screw our connector to the female BNC connector of the radio frequency voltmeter. And now we have a simple bug detector in our hands.
7. Turn the voltmeter on and test it once. Move the brass tube around and check the values of the voltmeter. If there is an increase in the value, it means we have detected some object’s frequency. It may be a bug or am an electronic listening device.

This is an easy method with some very simple components. We do not need to spend much on making this model too.

The things needed for making this bug detector are

• Toothpicks
• Brass tube of 0.1-inch diameter
• Wire strippers
• A 41-AWG enameled copper wire. AWG stands for American wire gauge and it is a common diameter standard.
• Extra wires of about 0.5 inches
• BNC connectors
• Epoxy
• Glue and some cotton swab
• Radiofrequency voltmeter

Method 2: Build From Scratch

 This is a much-advanced method than the previous method. We use transistors, resistors, and capacitors to do this. This can work better than the previous method. We may need some knowledge about these boards do finish this task. If not have somebody elder to get the connections right. We do the connections in the pegboard. So let us see the steps needed to make this bug detector.

1.Get the components ready in a place to work without any discomfort. We can begin by soldering the capacitor. Keep the board in the usual schematic representation itself. This will make our work easier and many of us may have worked in the schematic representation only.

 

2.The polarity of the capacitor is also a factor to check before working on it. We have to identify the negative side and have a negative side to the left. The negative side may have a silver stripe on it. Make sure to straighten the leads of it to make it fit the board.

 

3.Insert the capacitors on places where it is necessary. Bend the leads on the side to make sure they are in a place. Bend the leads in the direction where we will solder the capacitor. This is for an easier setup for the user and it will help us in backtracking our setup too. Now we can start soldering these leads.

 

3.Now we have to start fixing the resistors. There will be marks in different colors and there will be values printed on it too for our understanding. Place the resistors and the inductor on the pegboard and bend the leads to make sure they hold their places. Flip them over and start soldering their leads. Remember to arrange everything in the schematic representation for better results.

 

4.If you’ve placed the resistor right, it is time to fix the transistor. Do follow the same orientation as given in the picture and do not make the board look clumsy. The flat side faces the left of the board and bends the leads out to make it fit the board well. To make the soldering process easy for us, bend them on the other side too.

 

5.Now it is time to focus on the diodes and LED. Identify the cathode and anode of the tools. If you’ve doubts, don’t worry it is easy to identify them. The cathode will have a shorter lead and also have a white line on the diode. The cathode should go on the bottom on the LED and at the top on the diode. Again we may need to bend the leads as it makes it easy to solder them in place.

 

6.After the LED and diode gets done, we focus on the switches. Insert them and spread their leads more than the others. This is to make them fit right in the board and it will also help us while we place the buzzer. Place both of them and solder their leads like how we did to the others.

 

7.The next task is making the turns in the coil and makes sure to get a copper wire for it. We bend it around an object that will have a diameter of about 3 mm. Do the turns tight to it and the glue might help to keep things in place. This is the reason we have the hot glue gun for. After this is over, start stripping the ends but do not do too much of it.

 

8.The antenna is nothing complicated as it is a wire of 100 mm. Take the batteries as that is what we have to focus on next. Get two wires in a length of 10 mm each. Bend both of them separate to change them into U-shaped wires. Place them in the Pad 1 area of the board and again follow the schematic orientation of the board. Once done, place the battery clip too. After the soldering gets done, we may be ready to place the battery.

 

9.The work is almost over. Solder the traces and try to use the excess leads. This is a very important step as a mistake can ruin the whole setup. Never bridge two traces that we are not supposed to bridge as this may ruin our work. Have a piece of wire to make sure the traces are right and do this step with proper focus.

 

10.Get the whole setup inside an Altoids tin. Make sure the bottom of the tin gets isolated so that the board never gets short. Make holes in the size of the switch and LED for the user to view it. Again get the hot glue gun to secure the PCB to the tin tight.

So the things needed for making this bug detector are

• The pegboard
• Capacitors: Four 0.22 uF ceramic disc capacitor (C6-C9) and One 47 uF capacitor (C1)

• Resistors
  • One 32 ohms resistor (R9)
  • One 2.2 ohms resistor (R6)
  • Two 3.3 ohms resistors (R5, R4)
  • Two 1M ohms resistors (R3, R2)
  • One 220K ohms resistor (R7)
  • One 47K ohms resistor (R8)

• Inductors

• • One normal inductor (L1)
  •  10 uH inductor (L2)

• Bipolar n-p-n transistor for Q1-Q3
• A bipolar RF transistor for Q4
• Batteries
• Coin cell battery holder
• Buzzer
• LED and diode
• Slide switch
• Hot glue gun and the glue

Final Thoughts

A bug detector is a tool that helps us detect the tiny bugs present at different places. The bug detectors in the market may be expensive or fake too. So we have provided DIY bug detector instructions to help you make your own bug detector. Hope you make a good working bug detector.