Marine signal knocks out garage door openers

Marine signal knocks out garage door openers

Source Link: www.cnn.com

QUANTICO, Virginia (AP) -- For many suburbanites, life without garage door openers is unimaginable.

But neighbors of the Marine base here have been reduced to just that after a strong radio signal coming from the facility began neutralizing remote-control openers.

Residents have had to spend hundreds of dollars on new systems.

"I feel there should be some kind of compensation," said Queen Carroll, who is in her early 70s and was forced to buy a new receiver and remote. "I am a struggling widow, if you will, and I praise the Lord I'm still here, but I am on a budget. When things like this come up totally unexpected, it is very upsetting."

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It knocked out the units totally? Do they use sound or are they on infra-red? Thats really strange. Kinda like an EMP that attacks garage door openers LOL


Pie

Yeesh, and I remember the days when most people opened their garage door by hand. Even if it was below zero and the wind was whipping snow at you like a scorned lady.

we had the exact same thing near a base here in the UK , i think it was in cambridge. i will try to find the story.

snoopyuk

/2k5m6h

For decades, the military has held a portion of the radio spectrum, from 138 to 450 megahertz, in reserve. That part was borrowed by remote-control manufacturers, with the understanding that the signal be weak enough to be overridden by the military.

The reserve frequencies became active after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when officials discovered that first responders could not communicate with one another because they were operating radios on different frequencies. The Defense Department is using the mothballed frequencies in a system that eventually will link military and civilian emergency responders.

"Consumer wireless devices, such as garage door openers, operate on an unlicensed basis, meaning they are required to accept any interference from licensed spectrum users, including