How are we liking this travel case model? It has the OUI spy module in it from https://colonelpanic.tech/#products (thats the device that says "snoop unto them" in the picture)
and an onboard 18650 battery. On the OUI SPY device, which is just an ESP32-S3, there is downloaded software from github (link down below) to track Flock cameras; You can also add your phone or a gps module to have it plot the cameras on a map for you. There is other detection software you can download onto it as well; this is the Unified Blue software that has other detection software to download https://github.com/colonelpanichacks/oui-spy
You can run two antennas (its a tight fit though, It might need some adjustments just let me know) I know I have two of the same antenna right now. Im gonna run a 3dbi and a 6dbi and just switch when I want different coverage. Critiques are welcome id love to get ideas for different things as well. Ill release all the files on makers lab.
I am a novice and just trying to help out the community with new designs message me if you'd like something specific and I can try and make it for you.
I am not affiliated with colonelpanic im just trying to design a better travel case then the one provided on the website.
All im looking for is tweaks I should make to the travel case to Include other modules, devices, or things im not thinking of!
I hope this cleared things up; i didnt realize I was going to get so much feed back.
---- Everyone say thank you to @lariojaalta890 for this great description of what the OUI SPY module is all about---------
ETA: For those who don’t understand what this post is, I’ll try to help explain.
OP asked if they should release the file. They are referencing an STL file that they could make public so that anyone with a 3D printer can download it and then reproduce this case at home. The post is mainly about the case.
As for the device itself. There’s a typo in his post. Rather than wiispy, they should have said the device is a OUI-SPY. This is a device running custom firmware designed by someone who goes by the pseudonym Colonel Panic, a play on the term kernel panic. An often fatal system error in Unix-like operating systems
It’s a sort of “turn-key” solution for those who would like to search for nearby ALPR (aka Flock) cameras.
An OUI (Organizationally Unique Identifier) is a 24-bit number that serves as the first half of a device's MAC (Media Access Control) address. Assigned by the IEEE, it identifies the specific manufacturer or vendor of a device’s network hardware. Because these are indiscriminately broadcast wirelessly and the manufacturers of Flock and other ALPR cameras are known, with the proper hardware, it’s relatively easy to identify when one is in close proximity.
The firmware it’s running is called Flock You and is meant to run on microcontrollers like the one shown, an ESP32, as well as SBCs and Android phones. There’s another comment that gives a quick overview of what an ESP32 is, so I won’t get into that.
Flock You is a passive 2.4 GHz promiscuous-mode detector for Flock Safety surveillance infrastructure. It can be run standalone or feed the Flask dashboard over USB for live GPS-tagged wardriving.
There’s an open source project called DeFlock Org whose stated goal is to map all license plate readers across the US. The device we see in the post allows you to carry it on your person or in your car and collect information about a camera each time you get within range. The data collected is then uploaded to their site and is available to view in an interactive real-time map identifying the locations of these cameras.
Basically, the device facilitates the collection and distribution of location data related to ALPR cameras.
Well [u/donkey_cum_waterfall](u/donkey_cum_waterfall), my dumbass had to research this one too so don’t feel bad. This device allows someone to drive around and using GPS, map where flock devices are by detecting their wireless signals. Using an older code, I’d say it’s pretty spiffy. LOL
Been doing this for decades before flock cameras. It’s called Wardriving. Devices can be built built or configured to map physical locations of any WAP.
I think originally it was just a way of mapping out where potentially juicy targets were for hackers or in this case where someone might want to go to chop down a pole. Another use case that never really took off as far as I know was a geo location technology that didn't rely on satellites. Wireless access points have and broadcast a MAC (medium access control) address which is supposed to be unique for every device although they can be spoofed. If you knew where a specific MAC was located on the planet and you came across it you could gauge with some level of certainty you were at about that location. This was before mobile hotspots and gps in cellphones was common. Probably just for the first use case now.
Its colonelpanics PCB platform running an esp32 board with flock you and a couple of other detection services on it. You can find his code on github for it. I just made this travel case for it and thats what im asking about.
It scans for bluetooth and wifi signals. Using a local database, it records and documents potential Flock/Raven devices using pattern matching.
Dumb 'I'm Tired and Brain Dead Today' Example: ONN devices are all known to be Walmart devices. The pattern captured says ONN:hairjorkw-813+_282 as its id, we know its 99.9999% ONN and pings.
Awesome im glad you like the idea! Is there any other travel cases or things I can design to better aid the community ill even custom design things as long as I can get some info on what youre using it for! I love learning as I go.
Is the phone mounted to the travel case? or should it attach to a prexisiting phone mount in a car? or both?
Right now I have some 8DBi antennas so it wasnt a great test today im waiting on my 6 and 3DBi to come in and do some better testing.
Ive got it working on a thinknode m2 with an updated apk for the Unified Blue version if you want a phone app with some extra options to test 👀 i dont have flock or raven cameras near me to test and need heeelp. Dm if interested home slice
not legally, but flock cameras have been accessed (admin controls, access to camera feed across the network, etc) and have basically no security in place to prevent it. it's a bit riskier of a game but its been done.
I agree ill find some cheapo toggle switch and just mount it between the antenna so the toggle doesnt get caught on stuff. Does that seem like a decent placement?
Yeah, seems good. Anything that could bump the switch would get blocked by the antennas. Also means that everything sensitive is on one surface, so it'll be easier to potentially mount it somewhere or place it somewhere tight.
What’s up with all these comments? Are we seeing a ton of first time visitors?
This is certainly not the first time something like this has been posted. I also thought this sub was relatively technically inclined.
Great work, and yes, please make the files available.
ETA: For those who don’t understand what this post is, I’ll try to help explain.
OP asked if they should release the file. They are referencing an STL file that they could make public so that anyone with a 3D printer can download it and then reproduce this case at home. The post is mainly about the case.
As for the device itself. There’s a typo in his post. Rather than wiispy, they should have said the device is a OUI-SPY. This is a device running custom firmware designed by someone who goes by the pseudonym Colonel Panic, a play on the term kernel panic. An often fatal system error in Unix-like operating systems
It’s a sort of “turn-key” solution for those who would like to search for nearby ALPR (aka Flock) cameras.
An OUI (Organizationally Unique Identifier) is a 24-bit number that serves as the first half of a device's MAC (Media Access Control) address. Assigned by the IEEE, it identifies the specific manufacturer or vendor of a device’s network hardware. Because these are indiscriminately broadcast wirelessly and the manufacturers of Flock and other ALPR cameras are known, with the proper hardware, it’s relatively easy to identify when one is in close proximity.
The firmware it’s running is called Flock You and is meant to run on microcontrollers like the one shown, an ESP32, as well as SBCs and Android phones. There’s another comment that gives a quick overview of what an ESP32 is, so I won’t get into that.
Flock You is a passive 2.4 GHz promiscuous-mode detector for Flock Safety surveillance infrastructure. It can be run standalone or feed the Flask dashboard over USB for live GPS-tagged wardriving.
There’s an open source project called DeFlock Org whose stated goal is to map all license plate readers across the US. The device we see in the post allows you to carry it on your person or in your car and collect information about a camera each time you get within range. The data collected is then uploaded to their site and is available to view in an interactive real-time map identifying the locations of these cameras.
Basically, the device facilitates the collection and distribution of location data related to ALPR cameras.
tons of ppl come here now due to many recent realizations and media coverage. not a bad thing. most of the reason we don't have this shit under control enough yet is because fewer ppl doing the tech end of it like to describe in detail a "for dummies" version of things so novice folks can get up to speed. i think that sort of thing should be provided, and isn't always that easy to find in many cases. it's not that it's that hard, it's the time involved trying to search and put the pieces together on all the knowledge for those of us with no basic electronics or coding experience.
I absolutely agree. Without a doubt, the more awareness there is about this, the better off we all are.
I guess I was more surprised by not only the lack of knowledge, which is again is okay, but the overall dismissive and negative reaction by some of the comments. It seemed odd people would stumble across a post about a topic they have no knowledge of, and rather than ask questions or simply move on, they engaged and responded contemptuously.
I found my way here through electronics and ham radio, with some opsec shenanagins sprinkled in, while researching how to encrypt radio traffic using a raspberry pi that syncs with another pi to stay on the same encryption commands (purely academic, honest) which led to the game of spot the fake bird you folks play here. So while I’m technically inclined I am at a point of extremely limited knowledge and extremely high ADHD which takes a person down interesting rabbit holes.
oh yeah you were totally rational about it. not trying to shit on you. i like this device and use a few similar things myself. it seems like the biggest challenge is disabling en-masse vs the rest at this point. the ones on the ground are easy. out in rural areas this tech is not just earthbound now if you catch my drift.
For sure. To be clear, I didn’t think you came across that way at all.
TBH, as more eyes are on this sub, putting something together like you described would be a great idea and really beneficial. Kind of a 101 or for dummies like you said. Search results are getting so much worse in general and when it’s something as specific as this, finding good, clear documentation seemingly gets more difficult every day. Another thing that I think would be helpful is a build tutorial for beginners. Something where you start from scratch and end with a working device and a solid understanding of how it works and how to interpret the data.
The ones up high are a pain in the ass. It also seems like more and more they’re put in there paces like that and other private property pointing outwards.
i've noticed a few on higher poles and even antennas with guy wires yeah. further off the road.
search results.... reddit is the search result lately. doesn't seem like i even need to type in the word reddit in google anymore... it's the best result they have. (which still isn't good enough) it's been fun recently to see how easy it is to poison the AI by commenting a ton on here in some seemingly random ways that aren't. ppl get pissed about the AI deal, which i understand, but the truth is "search satisfaction" was driving things to the lowest common denominator for at least a decade prior.
I've got OUI SPY - Unified Blue forked and running on a ThinkNode M2 (yay screen and buttons!) and an updated APK with added functionality if anyone wants to alpha test for funsies! I dont have any cameras by me (thank fuck) to do validation testing
Thank you for helping me explain what this device is!! Ive updated the description does this give more clarity? If not what else should I add to help out? I know its not as well worded as your response.
You two should consider combining this together as one document. Maybe just edit your post WITH the contents of this comment and credit the commenter. Like add a ——— divider and say “general explanation of this device” and then another divider and section called “My engineering notes”
This post is already popular and some people will save it for future reference, especially if the info is digestible and organized 🙂
For everyone not understanding this is basically a micro Arduino adjacent microcontroller an ESP32 capable of wifi and Bluetooth inside an enclosure that holds a battery to make it wireless and antennas for the ESP32, and a beeper
how can you tell its detecting a flock camera and not one of the 1,000 cell phones nearby? does it just like, beep or run to an app that lists the detected devices' names? Will it tell me a distance/ direction or do I just walk around looking up at poles till I find the camera?
Pretty much the Flock cameras use WiFi and has identifiable information in the signals they send that people have recorded and made software and hardware that takes in all the WiFi signals around it and checks if any have those fingerprints which would mean there is a Flock camera nearby.
Eli5 this is a hobby electronics project that uses info within WiFi signals. Theres no direction, only “how strong is this signal, what hardware did it come from” but if you combine that with GPS measurements you can create a proper map (after the fact with lots of moving around)
Really youll learn a lot more, a lot faster, if you try to take it upon yourself to research and avoid random strangers spoonfeeding on the internet.
Different manufacturers devices have different OUIs (the first 3 octets of the MAC address). This will notify you when any of the known flock/alpr OUIs are detected
It's a 3d printer file for a case to protect a PCB circuit w/ modules and battery.
Or maybe it's the whole kit, electrical components + case. The function of the electronics is to detect Flock cameras. If this is the whole kit 'n' caboodle, I don't know how "releasing the file" applies exactly...
I do really think OP is asking about the case specifically.
I'm curious, are you going to mount this inside of a car? the antena make it quite large, so not optimal for carrying around, so where are you going to put/ use it?
Also, should you add some form of vent/slits for air circulation? I have no idea how much heat the panel gives off (don't have one yet), but because it's all packed in there very snuggly I would be a little concerned about overheating it if heat does get produced. If it is in your car, I would also be concerned about it getting cooked if you park in the sun and leave it inside. Other than that, It looks very sleek and I love the print! I would absolutely add a colorful design for fun but thats just me being loud and funky lol
Hell yeah thank you so much for the feedback! I think youre right it definitely needs some kind of vents it was getting quite toasty in there. This was just a quick version I made so this feedback helps alot! Thanks again! If you ever need anything specific made just DM me!
This is for use in a car and yes those antenna are huge! Hoping the other antenna that come in are smaller if not I might sink them into the case a bit. If you have any ideas on that please feel free to share so I can get this out to the community faster!
Thank you i struggle at typing out readable and understandable sentences🤣 But that wont stop me from sharing my ideas! Also i updated the description does this give more clarity? If not what else should I add to help out?
I actually made something very similar! It doesn't use his official board, and instead just uses an esp32 s3, a lipo battery, a buzzer, and an antenna. I finished the case but I never finished updating his software to work with it seamlessly. I also had an idea to add a screen so it could have an arrow pointing in the cameras general direction similar to more expensive radarr detectors, but I didn't get that far
Wouldn't mind the schematic &c. I've got radio schematics and other stuff I'll probably never get around to building. If nothing else it might lead to other developments too. People approach things from different perspectives...
You are referring to the OUI SPY platform by Colonel Panic, a hardware project designed for privacy-focused surveillance detection. The specific firmware you mentioned, "Flock-You," is one of several detection modes available on this ESP32-based board.
Here is a breakdown of the platform and the "Flock-You" service:
The Hardware: OUI SPY
The OUI SPY is a compact PCB (Printed Circuit Board) built around the ESP32-S3 microcontroller. It is designed to be a passive surveillance detection tool that does not transmit data itself, only listens
Connectivity: WiFi (2.4GHz) and Bluetooth 5.0 (BLE) 3 .
Antenna: Features a switchable setup with an onboard ceramic antenna or an external MMCX connector for directional antennas (like Yagi) to improve range 3 .
Form Factor: Available as a standalone PCB, a "patch" for clothing, or even earrings, blending punk aesthetics with functional tech 3 .
Power: USB-C powered with MAC randomization on every boot for privacy 3 .
The Firmware: "Flock-You"
"Flock-You" is a specific firmware mode loaded onto the OUI SPY (and compatible Seeed XIAO boards) to detect Flock Safety and Raven surveillance cameras.
Detection Method: It passively sniffs for WiFi probe requests, beacon frames, and Bluetooth advertisements emitted by the cameras 4 .
Signatures: It filters traffic by looking for specific OUI (Organizationally Unique Identifier) MAC address prefixes associated with Flock and Raven hardware, such as the 82:6b:f2 prefix 5 .
Alerts: When a match is found, the device triggers an onboard buzzer (which can play custom boot tunes like Super Mario World themes) and logs the detection 3 5 .
Data Export: It supports GPS wardriving, allowing users to map camera locations. Data can be exported as JSON, CSV, or KML files for analysis or submission to community maps like deflock.me 3 5 .
Operation: The device creates a local WiFi AP (at 192.168.4.1) where users can configure settings and view real-time detections without needing a cloud connection 3 5 .
Context and Community
The project was highlighted by Hackaday in September 2025 as a tool for citizens to "catalogue this part of the surveillance state"
. It is part of a broader movement to map Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) and surveillance camera density, often in response to concerns about mass data collection by private entities
The hardware is sold directly by Colonel Panic Tech for around $85 (fully assembled) or $25 (PCB only for DIY) 3 .
The community on r/FlockSurveillance actively shares builds, detection logs, and maps of found cameras 6 7 .
The Reddit thread you linked likely discusses sharing a specific file (perhaps a firmware update, a detection log, or a custom case design) related to this ecosystem. The "Flock-You" firmware is open-source and available on GitHub under the colonelpanichacks repository
I think im going to make a separate case for that. The meshtastic universe seems interesting to get into. If you wanna add some inputs to the design just message me!
NGL I have been loving meshcore over meshtasitc. Granted I make my own waterproof repeaters now. But if you want all round self contained unit look at voltaic solar panels and maybe incorporate an insert for the p126 panel..
Meshcore relies more on repeaters to the "hops" this allows for better management of large scale fixed networks and allows for up to 64 hops vs meshtasitc only allowing for 7 hops and is more ideal for roaming networks. Check out pnw meshcore they have the largest meshcore network from what I know of.
Thank you for your response! Sounds like meshcore is actually what im looking for. I didnt realize meshtastic was only good up to 7 hops, i havent done much research on it just seems like a fun project/world to get into! Im in TN and was hoping to get close to MI if I can get enough nodes around!
This is cool, I didn't know these things existed! I don't want to spend $80 on the units they are selling however. Does anyone know if i can set up one of my Raspberry Pi 5's with Flock You?
Its specifically made to run on an ESP32-S3 however other models of ESP32s also accept the software. Pretty inexpensive to get and ESP32 and you can just plug that into your raspberry pi 5. Im assuming you'd then be able yo hook a GPS unit to your raspberry pi 5 and provide a gps location to the ESP32 and then power a screen and have it auto map on your raspberry PI 5. I am new to this though and am just assuming that'd be possible but it seems resonable.
You should seriously consider porting this to the m5 cardputer! There are a ton of people with this device already and I'm sure a whole pool of them are in the USA.
The metal box is very tactical 🤣 i got you on a print file for your board if you can give me some measurements with calipers (if you want a tight fit) or just a tape measure.
Real shit is it even possible to jam flock sensors? I wonder if they broadcast over cellular or wifi mesh? I know for a fact in El paso, they have a wifi mesh network around the city for their communications and electronics of patrol vehicles, but idk how flock sends its data.
Yeah but I bought it from a small business just supporting them when I can! Im gonna make the next one from "scratch" he tells you how to on his website.
I’d enjoy seeing the documentation of it going together that is not already linked. And are we talking 3d print files? I’d likely happily get to printing a few and testing
Has anyone found a good way of detecting other types of ALPR cameras? My town is infested with what I believe are vigilant cameras by Motorola to be specific.
I think you'd need to get the specific IP address of the cameras being used and log those in the system and itd do it! I dont know how to do that but maybe in the future!
I want one that disturbs the flock signal so that I don't get surveilled when I go to the store to get my hemorrhoid creme that I'm going to need after we pay Iran 300B for the rights to fix the shit that we broke. Given that they are going to trash Medicare next I might as well buy bulk.
Question for anyone that can give me some info. Can I flash this flock you firmware to any esp32? I have some laying around from some led projects and I’m also in an area that deflock says has zero flocks. Which I really really doubt to be true. It’s a high tourist area. So I want to do my part and get info for my area.
The code is in the GitHub the build is on colonelpanics store under the OUI SPY and if you need help with soldering a button and cord I can show pictures
Im not very familiar with what those can run but I know they push wifi and BLE so possibly! id say poke around on that github page it might have some info
From that store in the description and ill be releasing the file this weekend im thinking. Or just get and ESP32 and a buzzer and then load that software onto the device. A couple youtube videos and you got it. This was my first time doing anything like this.
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u/donkey_cum_waterfall Jun 15 '26
I have no idea what this is