Some Guy

This is probably one of those things that varies by region based on what the nearby electrical distributors carry, what the telco uses, etc., but in my area at least, the one that pretty much everbody has is the Tempo/Progressive Electronics "200EP Inductive Amplifier" probe and "77HP Tracer 2" tone generator. You can get them seperately, or together with a handy blue pouch. Works great for most uses, but the tone generator is sometimes too weak if the other end of the line is loaded down by an Ethernet switch.

There's a crucial variable missing here! How much current does the Pineapple draw? I don't have numbers, but in general, at higher voltages, it will draw less current. So a battery pack with fewer Ah but higher voltage could actually last longer than one with more Ah but lower voltage. There should be a particular voltage range within which the Pineapple's regulator is most efficient. You need to determinate what that is (e.g., from spec sheets) before it is possible to answer the question of optimal battery pack configuration. Trial-and-error is an option too, but the thread title does specifically ask about doing it with math.

I did mine last night. I used a 0.25-inch drill bit. In retrospect, I should have actually researched what the proper size for an SMA connector is. Fortunately, 0.25-inch is indeed the size of the SMA threads, according to Wikipedia. So I guessed correctly. You have to remove the washers that came included with the pigtails. If you try to use the washers, then when combined with the thickness of the Pelican case, not enough thread is left sticking out to fully screw on the antenna. Make sure you experiment with getting everything arranged inside the case before you commit to antennae locations. I found that the extremely short cable on the battery pack made it a bit tricky to arrange everything in such a way that there wouldn't be any stress on any of the cables or connectors, or pressing on the power switch. I need to pick up some velcro for securing stuff down inside. With the contents left unsecured, the battery switch can easily get bumped (already had that happen once) or the pigtail connectors could get damaged when stuff shifts around. IMO it is a disappointment that the kit didn't include anything for securing the contents against movement.

Yeah, same for me. I had it plugged in with the switch on for almost a week, and the LED just stayed red forever. Turning the switch off did make the LED go green. But even when the battery has no charge, turning the switch off still makes the LED go green. So I'm pretty sure it does need to be switched on in order to charge. I'm kinda thinking the directions are incorrect and there simply is no visual indicator for a complete charge. But you can guess when it finishes by judging the warmth of the battery pack's electronics section.

Lol, whenever you import something from another country, it always has to be declared at Customs. That's the law. You're not allowed to just smuggle anything you want across international borders. It's a pretty big stretch to call this an "unbelievable lack of personal privacy and security." Countries have inspected goods crossing their borders for about as long as borders have existed, so it seems pretty believable to me. You have to pay GST on all imports. UPS is required to collect the GST and hand it over to the Canadian government. Again, that's the law. UPS always adds an additional "brokerage fee" rip-off of their own, in addition to the GST. I agree, that does suck. But it should be no suprise if you've imported using UPS before. Shipments that are imported via USPS + Canada Post should generally have GST due upon arrival. Usually when they don't, it's because USPS makes it relatively easy for the sender to fill out the Customs paperwork inadequately. Smaller purchases can slip through the cracks and end up with no fees, due to incorrect or falsified paperwork. E.g. incorrect value declared, or marked as a gift or sample when it is not. When this happens, you are breaking the law as an importer. Technically there is a procedure that you're supposed to follow to correct the paperwork errors when this happens. If you import a suspicious number of "gifts" from other countries, expect the CBSA to investigate you for fraud. Hak5 didn't break your trust. You were trusting in your own ignorance. That's what bit you.

We are discussing ways to avoid a third-party sniffing the air to detect that I have a Pineapple. Why would the behaviour of the third-party's IPS system "depend" on whether or not I'm using my Pineapple responsibly? My detectability remains the same regardless of my intentions. I could be doing nothing but giving out free Internet from a 4G dongle, but an IPS could still sniff the air and see that I have a Pineapple, even without connecting to it.

Um... no. Anyone can listen to unencrypted traffic that's in the air. An IPS could conceivably watch unencrypted traffic in the air for signs of a Pineapple. No need to connect - just watch others who are connected. And, of course, you do realize that the Pineapple can be used as more than just an AP? If you use client mode, then its hostname will show up at the DHCP server you get a lease from. As well as to anyone who listens in on that.

I doubt they're trying to lie. Cluelessness seems a more reasonable explanation than malice. My guess is that this relates to what I mentioned earlier about UPS using subcontractors for parts of their operations. Their internal communication goes to pot when your package goes through one of those stages. If you call UPS, then *sometimes* the person will unofficially IM/phonecall the subcontractor and get info that way. In my experience, that info is often out-of-sync with what the UPS online tracking shows. When I buy something that's coming via UPS, I just expect from the start - before I decide to make the purchase - that it will take 3-5 days longer than promised and that I'll have to pay $30-70 when it shows up. Then I just chill out until the local contractor phones me to come pick it up. OCDing over the tracking and getting all stressed doesn't do any good.

Ah, thank-you! That's where I read it - "US (adaptable) AC Power Supply LED indicates charge complete." So I guess something is broken with my charger, battery, and/or booklet since the LED has yet to indicate anything after about 96 hours. :-(

Okay well I guess I can probably unplug mine then! Sometime between roughly 12-18 hours was when it stopped being warm. I could swear I read somewhere that the light on the power supply was supposed to change when the charge finished, but I can't find that anymore so maybe I made it up.

How long is the initial charge supposed to take? And does the PSU light go green when finished? Mine has been on the charger for about 75 hours and the light's still red. I'm supposed to leave the power switch turned on during charging, right? There were no instructions with it and the whole thing looks very... homemade. Like, airport-security-might-be-suspicious-of-it level of homemade. ;-)

I think many USA-based merchants are simply unaware of how horribly awful UPS is to deal with at the international receiving end. It's even worse for me because I'm not in a major urban centre. With a population as spread out as Canada's (very spread out!), most of the courier companies don't have any local operations in a lot of areas. They just contract it out, sometimes a couple layers deep of subcontractors and they all have horrible internal communication amongst themselves. But all the USA-based merchant sees is the glossly marketing from UPS claiming that they're so amazing at handling deliveries to anywhere. Post office FTW, screw the crappy courier companies. The Canada Post brokerage fee for bringing an international package through customs is usually $0-7. And they have operations in every neighbourhood across the whole country. USA-based sellers often seem to be under the impression that USPS is crappy, but I think if they were better educated on what the receiving experience is like, they would realize it is often the best choice for their customers.

No. "Free trade" just means there are no *extra* taxes for foreign purchases. We still have to pay the usual taxes that would apply to domestic purchases (5% GST). I ordered the Mk V plus Elite kit to Canada and the charges were $36.43. IIRC it was about $10 GST and the rest was the normal UPS ripoff of "fee to collect the fees, because we can." Most Canadians who shop online are well aware of UPS being the worst for that.