Garage Door

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N0IU

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You are not anywhere down near Hillsborough (if I spelled that right), south of St. Louis, are you? There is an Air Force wideband site there that often uses freqs. in the 300 MHz. band and high powered transmitters. These stations have been known to cause garage door interference for a long time now.

Bob, WoNXN
Hillsboro is about 45 miles as the crow flies from Lake Saint Louis so if this is the system causing the problems, we are in a lot of trouble!
 
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Don_Burke

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That sounds like some serious fundamental overload.

That is too heavy for anything I would expect a ham to be doing.

Asking a garage door company is a good suggestion. I would also check around for something big that either just started up or just changed something, possibly due to a malfunction.

The keyless car locks having problems might be the biggest break you have been given. I would drive around and map out the extent of where the car locks do not work. Plot it on a map and start looking for your source in the center of your dead zone.
 

pdog13

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Ok so i have talked to the garge door company, and they are saying its the tv station wires or a military base. The gal i talked to said one of there older channels was turned over to a military base. We have a new model and it runs on a differant frequency. I think i am ruling that out. I live in a new sub and they are still building and adding new additions, so i think that is our problem. Charter and centurytel are the local providers here. They are sending a truck out to check for a leak in the fiber optic wires. They thought i was crazy telling them this, but i think we will see some change tommorrow. The total is around 15 to 25 house that are having this issue.

Thanks for the help i will keep you posted
pdog13
 

GrayJeep

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Just a thought- the US Secret Service sets up temporary radio systems in support of VIP visits.
So if the Prez were going to visit someplace in your area, there might be a radio system up that hasn't been there before.

I really don't think that a fiber OPTIC leak would give these symptoms. (who's with me on that?)

But a leaky cable TV system could be a problem.

It will take somebody with some RF knowlege and tools to figure it out.
(That's not the Police.)

Good luck!
 

kb2vxa

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Unbelievable, when an appliance breaks down do EVERYTHING BUT arrange to have it repaired. Blame it on a ham, blame it on some girls running around (they hid a jammer in the bushes just to mess with you) and above all CALL THE COPS! Now it's leakage from fiber optic cable? Hey pal, it works on LASER LIGHT, not RF!

This is like calling a plumber to fix a flickering light bulb so get with the program, don't BE the problem, FIX the problem. Looking for a source when you have no idea what the source could be has you running in circles and finger pointing up and down the block can get those fingers broken. You guys are no help save the one who hit the nail on the head, having the units serviced or replaced is the only solution.
 

kd7rto

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You've considered the local hams as a potential cause for the problem, but have you considered them as a potential solution?

I seriously doubt that a garage door installer would have either access to a spectrum analyzer, or even know of how to use it if he did. The amateur radio club in your area will have members with the knowledge and equipment needed to get to the bottom of this, willing to help as a service to the community.
 

pdog13

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Yes that is a good thought. I looked it up and the Prez will be in town tommorrow. He is speaking at a high school around here. Thanks for thinking of that.

Pdog13
 
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pdog13

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This is for kb2vxa

Well for your knowledge. This is why i am asking you guys, and thats to get to the end of the problem. you guys are the best athis stuff. It seems you just want to point the finger yourself, so a little helpful advice or none at all. All of these problems have happened in the same week, so you tell me why we shouldn't jump to conclusions? its $250 to have the the frequency changed, and if i buy a new unit it will run on the same frequency as the one i have know.
 
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dracer777

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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7D11 Safari/528.16)

No offense, but the only "incidents" that I see in this thread that are related is the garage door opener and car remote malfunction. Now, I had this same issue at my house(and ONLY my house, in a very dense residential area. Didn't have a scanner to play around with then. We never did figure out the issue. It just went away a few weeks later.

But I'm very curious as to what local radio amatuers say/do and what the final outcome is, so please contact the local club and post the results. :)
 

N0IU

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Yes that is a good thought. I looked it up and the Prez will be in town tommorrow. He is speaking at a high school around here. Thanks for thinking of that.

Pdog13
The leader of the free world will be speaking at St. Charles High School... which is well to the east of us. The motorcade will not be coming this far west into St. Charles County... unless he has plans that we don't know about.
 

pdog13

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Ok, now we are getting some where. can someone send me the local number to the radio amatuers club, or email? I will give them a call, or does anyone know someone that can help? We are located in Lake St Louis Mo.

Thanks,
Pdog13
 

GrayJeep

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Googled 'ham radio club st. louis' and got-

HamDepot - Missouri Ham Radio Clubs | Missouri Amateur Radio Clubs


or a scanner guy here in RR found in the MO group might help.

Having all the neighbors have the same issue at the same time means it's not a broken appliance.

I suspect you'll find out that a Federal radio system has come up in the area. Or the local cable operator has a problem (very, very, very common source of interference to ham radio and other)

You could also call the White House and ask why they broke your neighborhood's doors. But they might take a long time to get back to you :)
 

pdog13

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How do you get in contact with them? I cant just call them out of the blue. I am bold but not that bold.
 

N2JDS

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Maybe just drive by this evening, drop in, I don't think I've met a HAM not willing to talk about radios.
Another group that is pretty active WB0HSI - St. Charles Amateur Radio Club
I live in O'fallon/St. Peters area, can't think of any new stuff that's gone in around you directly that should effect just your area. But I do await the real answer.
 

gmclam

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Use a scanner to get to the bottom of this

This does not sound like interference from ham or amateur radio to me. Ham radio operators do not transmit constantly, and that's what it would take for you to have this problem 24/7.

its $250 to have the the frequency changed, and if i buy a new unit it will run on the same frequency as the one i have now.
Changing the frequency to another one in the same band may or may not work. If all of your neighbors have the same problem, as does the remote key locks on your autos, my bet is that a frequency change will NOT make a difference.

pdog, do you have a scanner? You know these radios that most of us on this site have. If I was in your area, I'd come by with a scanner or two and see what is being broadcast in your area. Hold your garage remote or car key remote near a scanner, find out what frequency they are on. Then scan the area for interference. That seems pretty basic to me. If you don't have a scanner, perhaps there's an RR memeber in the area that can help out.
 

kb2vxa

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"This is for kb2vxa
Well for your knowledge. This is why i am asking you guys, and that's to get to the end of the problem."

You're AT the end of the problem yet you persist in dancing around the maypole.

"its $250 to have the the frequency changed,"

Don't be a cheapskate, cough up the dough, problem solved.

OK, for the sake of argument say you do eventually find the source of interference, what makes you think you can eliminate it? The opener is a Part 15 device, READ THE LABEL! I give up on trying to talk sense to you guys, you obviously lack the capacity for understanding.
 

Citywide173

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"This is for kb2vxa
Well for your knowledge. This is why i am asking you guys, and that's to get to the end of the problem."

You're AT the end of the problem yet you persist in dancing around the maypole.

"its $250 to have the the frequency changed,"

Don't be a cheapskate, cough up the dough, problem solved.

OK, for the sake of argument say you do eventually find the source of interference, what makes you think you can eliminate it? The opener is a Part 15 device, READ THE LABEL! I give up on trying to talk sense to you guys, you obviously lack the capacity for understanding.

I understand what you're saying, but someone radio illiterate probably won't.....

Plain terms.....your remotes are in a band that has priorities. When those priorities set up a system, you have to live with the consequences, and "accept any interference" that may be made to your device. If you find the source of the interference to be a radio system, I'd be willing to bet that they are appropriately authorized and have priority on the band, which means that you're out of luck, their system trumps yours and there's nothing you can do about it.
 
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