Mystery signal vs. Arvada garage door-openers
- Thread starter datainmotion
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Same thing in the foothills west of denver. Garage door rcvr has been blocked since last Friday. Garage door company has sent 2 different techs out. Their solution is to replace the 4 year old rcvr. Any new 380 systems on the air? I haven,t had time to listen. My system is a Genie.
It seems pretty clear to me its a high-power transmitter in the vicinity. Do you know where the Foothills location is in relation to the location in Arvada?
That site was dark. Maybe the power is back on???
ScannerSK
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This sounds like a challenge for someone with direction finding equipment!
Does anyone know what brand of garage doors are being affected and what frequency they operate on (380 MHz?).
Shawn
Does anyone know what brand of garage doors are being affected and what frequency they operate on (380 MHz?).
Shawn
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K9WG
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Probably those darn Ham Radio operators.... 
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Mine is a Genie. I'm at 7500'. N Table is in a shadow for me.
ScannerSK
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Last time this happened it was just NORAD running a few tests:
http://forums.radioreference.com/co...rum/54903-norad-380mhz-radio-transmitter.html
http://forums.radioreference.com/co...rum/54903-norad-380mhz-radio-transmitter.html
This has been a nationwide problem around military bases.
NBC: Military signals jam up garage doors - Technology & science - Wireless - msnbc.com
Manufacturers were given permission to use low power transmitters (garage door openers) on military some military frequencies in the 1980's. Now, the military is making greater use of those frequencies, causing the interference.
NBC: Military signals jam up garage doors - Technology & science - Wireless - msnbc.com
Manufacturers were given permission to use low power transmitters (garage door openers) on military some military frequencies in the 1980's. Now, the military is making greater use of those frequencies, causing the interference.
I think we've all been aware of the Mil 380 interference issues, but this one seems very localized, with no Mil Base nearby.
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ScannerSK
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I was in the area today and only heard a slight increase in white noise in the 300-406 MHz band. The white noise would appear to be originating from the radio/TV towers between Golden and Genesee so is likely unrelated.
Shawn
Shawn
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Was the cause of this specific event ever determined? I have an elevated noise floor, but no specific signal on the receiver frequency. The garage door company is coming out tomorrow with a new receiver. I presume they will bring one of the new 2 frequency receivers that have a second channel at 315.00, but the noise floor is just as high at 315 as at 390.
ScannerSK
Member
As far as I am aware the issue has not been resolved. The elevated noise would appear to be originating from the TV towers atop Lookout Mountain. However, I am not sure this would be the source of the problem as it would certainly affect a much wider area than simply Arvada if the noise is originating from the Lookout tower(s).
It's really a mystery for two reasons: 1.) No other signal appears to be present near the 390 MHz frequency other than a general increase in wide-band noise. 2.) If the wide-band noise is from Lookout why is not a larger area affected?
Possibly the signal is traveling down the electric lines? If a person were to take an extension cord and wrap it around their scanner antenna, possibly they would receive a signal near 390 MHz?
Shawn
I don't know why I didn't think about this before - I wonder if its CATV leaks? It could be just one large, or numerous smaller ones from shoddy cable and connector attachment when the homes were built. Anyone have any idea how old that development is?
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The garage door company came out and replaced my receiver with one on 315 mHz. The problem went away.
I asked the tech if he had been involved with or knew anything about the Arvada incidents. He had not heard of any specifics. He said if these are new homes they may all have a new Liftmaster opener that they are having a lot of trouble with. I believe he said it was a model 8550 which he said has a dual receiver. He was not specific about what type of problems this model has. Online it says it can be connected to the internet. The 8550 is NOT compatible with the automobile Homelink System.
He said he had recently had a service call at a million dollar home which had so many electronic gadgets that the remotes would not work.
Poor journalism if KMGH has not done a follow up story after hyping the story originally.
I asked the tech if he had been involved with or knew anything about the Arvada incidents. He had not heard of any specifics. He said if these are new homes they may all have a new Liftmaster opener that they are having a lot of trouble with. I believe he said it was a model 8550 which he said has a dual receiver. He was not specific about what type of problems this model has. Online it says it can be connected to the internet. The 8550 is NOT compatible with the automobile Homelink System.
He said he had recently had a service call at a million dollar home which had so many electronic gadgets that the remotes would not work.
Poor journalism if KMGH has not done a follow up story after hyping the story originally.
ScannerSK
Member
One house that is affected shows a year built date of 2007. After watching the 9 News clip again a few items stood out. They mentioned it was a "powerful signal" covering more than a "1/2 mile" area.
When I was in the area I definitely did not receive a "powerful" signal near 390 MHz which makes me wonder if the signal could be traveling down the power grid (which the garage doors are directly tied to).
It would be interesting to find out what is behind the mystery. If not CATV maybe DSL interference in the phone lines? Hard to say... If I lived in the area I would figure it out!
Shawn
ScannerSK
Member
What? The follow-up story leaves one with more questions than answers. So, the issue was caused by an "accidental socket surge issue" or should I say a radio frequency hungry Christmas display? So, let me get this straight, the radio signals would reach their intended target (the garage door) however before the garage door could open the signal would just as quickly be re-directed to the neighbors Christmas display (up to 1/2 mile away) making the signal that reached the garage doors ineffective?
LOL, I guess I am on a slightly different wavelength...
Shawn
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