RF Bug & Hidden Camera Detector G618, Three Antennas

Is Something in Here Sending a Signal?

You pick up a hire car for a long run. You book a cabin or a holiday rental through an app. The ute has spent a week out of your sight, at a workshop, in a shared car park or at someone else's place. A wireless camera can sit inside a power socket or a TV box, and a tracker can ride under a bumper without anyone knowing. A tracker on the ute tells someone where it parks at night and when the house is empty. Most of the time there is nothing there. The trouble is not knowing.

The G618 is a handheld RF detector: it listens for radio signals through three antennas, covering 300 to 2,700 MHz and 5,810 to 5,890 MHz. Turn the knob on, set the sensitivity, and walk the room or the car slowly. As you close in on something that is transmitting, the 10-step LED meter climbs and the alarm beeps faster. It is made for checking a car, a room or an office for a wireless bug, a tracker or a wireless camera while it is sending.

Be clear on what it is. It is a signal detector, not a camera finder. It finds things that are transmitting while you sweep. A camera that is switched off or only recording to a memory card, or a tracker that only reports now and then, will not show. Your own phone, the Wi-Fi router and anything on Bluetooth will set it off just as readily, so you switch your own gear off first and read the results with some sense. Used that way, it gives a quick, straight answer to the question that matters: is anything in here sending?

What it Solves

• Checking the Hire Car: sweep the dash, under the seats, the boot and the bumpers before a long trip, and know what is sending before you load the family in.
• The Holiday Rental or Cabin: run it past the smoke alarm, the clock, the TV box and the chargers before you unpack.
• The Ute That's Been Out of Sight: after a week at the workshop or in someone else's hands, check the wheel arches, the tray, the bumpers and the cab.
• The Office or Site Office: before a meeting about money, staff or a tender, sweep the room for anything sending audio or video out.
• The Caravan or Camper: it lives in the glovebox and charges off USB, so the van can be checked wherever it is parked up.

Key Features

• Three Detachable Antennas: RF 300 to 700 MHz, GSM 700 to 2,700 MHz and 5.8 GHz (5,810 to 5,890 MHz), each listening to its own band.
• 10-Step LED Signal Meter: the more LEDs that light, the stronger the signal you are near.
• Alarm Speeds Up as you Close in: a sound alarm with flashing LEDs that gets faster the nearer you get to the source.
• Sound or Vibrate: the seller's G618 drawing shows a button to switch between a sound alarm and a vibrate alarm.
• One Knob for Power & Sensitivity: turn it right to switch on, then up or down to set how much it reacts.
• Sensitivity Under 0.03 mW: with a dynamic range of more than 73 dB, both the supplier's figures.
• Rechargeable by USB: 1000 mAh 3.7 V lithium battery, 12 to 15 hours working time on the supplier's figure, USB cable included.
• Aluminium Alloy Body: 51 × 20 × 85 mm, and 187 mm tall with the antennas on.

Limits

It only finds what is transmitting. This is a radio signal detector. A camera or tracker that is switched off, a camera that records to a memory card without sending anything, or a tracker that only sends in short bursts while you are not sweeping will not show. A clean sweep means nothing was sending on its bands while you looked; it does not prove a room or a car is clean.

Your own gear sets it off. Phones, Wi-Fi routers, Bluetooth speakers and headsets, and a car's own Bluetooth all transmit, and it reacts to them the same as it reacts to a bug. Switch your own phone and Wi-Fi off, or leave them outside, before you sweep. In a flat, a motel or an office block, a neighbour's Wi-Fi can come through the wall too.

It does not see camera lenses. The G618 has no lens finder. It cannot spot a camera that is not transmitting, and it will not find a wired camera that sends its picture down a cable.

Its bands have edges. It covers 300 to 2,700 MHz and a narrow slice of 5.8 GHz, 5,810 to 5,890 MHz. Anything sending outside those bands will not register, and that includes most of the rest of the 5 GHz band.

It points you to an area, not the object. The meter and the alarm get stronger as you get closer, and then it is up to you to look: behind the clock, inside the charger, under the bumper.

No water rating. None is published. Keep it dry, and do not sweep under a wet car in the rain with it.

Q & A

How do I Sweep a Room Properly?

Turn the knob right to switch it on and set it so the second or third LED is lit. Hold it near your phone first: if the LEDs jump, it is working. Now switch your phone and Wi-Fi off, or take them outside, and walk the room slowly, close to the walls, the furniture, the power points and anything plugged in. If nothing shows, turn it up to the fourth or fifth LED and go again. Do not run it on the tenth LED; at full sensitivity it alarms straight away and tells you nothing.

Will it Find a Hidden Camera?

Only a wireless camera that is sending on its bands while you sweep. A camera that is switched off, records to a memory card without transmitting, or is wired into the building will not show. It has no lens finder.

Will it Find a GPS Tracker on my Car?

It will pick up a tracker while the tracker is transmitting. Many trackers only send now and then, so a tracker that is quiet while you sweep can be missed. Sweep slowly, sweep more than once, and look as well: under the bumpers, in the wheel arches, behind the dash and under the seats.

Why does it Go Off Everywhere?

Either the sensitivity is set too high or there is a transmitter nearby, and the most likely one is your own phone. Switch your phone, the Wi-Fi and any Bluetooth gear off, then turn the knob down until only the second or third LED is lit and sweep again.

Does it Block or Jam Signals?

No. It only receives; it does not jam or block anything. Jammers are illegal to use in Australia, and this is not one. Use it on your own car, your own home or office, or a room you are staying in.

How Long does the Battery Last?

The supplier gives 12 to 15 hours of working time from the 1000 mAh 3.7 V lithium battery. It charges by USB and the cable is in the box. No charging time is published.

Specs