Military test jams garage door openers

[Malsua]

For some reason, this makes me chuckle

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http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...465/-1/ZONES04

DENVER -- What do remote-control garage door openers have to do with national security?
A secretive Air Force facility in Colorado Springs tested a radio frequency last week that it would use to communicate with first responders in the event of a homeland security threat. But the frequency also controls an estimated 5 million garage door openers, and hundreds of residents in the area found that theirs had suddenly stopped working.


"It would have been nice not to have to get out of the car and open the door manually," said Dewey Rinehard, especially during the year's first cold snap.


The signals were coming from Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, home to the North American Aerospace Defense Command.


Technically, the Air Force has the right to the frequency, which has interfered with garage doors in three other states.


Holly Strack, who lives near the entrance to the facility, said friends in the neighborhood all had the same problem.


"I never thought my garage door was a threat to national security," she said.


David McGuire, whose Overhead Door Co. received more than 400 calls for help, said unless the Air Force can solve the problem by tweaking the frequency, homeowners will have to pay $250 for new units.

[falcon]

Frequency Flier
Door industry grapples with military’s siege of 390MHz

Frequency Flier
Door industry grapples with military’s siege of 390MHz
By Amy Campbell
Like many a military invasion, the target was caught by surprise. It wasn’t some foreign country suddenly besieged by a military attack, but garage door operators when the U.S. Department of Defense elected to employ the 390 frequency, which it owned but was not using.


When the military began testing its new mobile radio system at Elgin Air Force Base in Florida, industry panic set in. With an estimated 50 million or more operators using the same frequency, was the garage door opener doomed?


It began simply enough about a year ago. Homeowners living near Elgin found themselves locked out, inconvenienced and puzzled when suddenly their garage door openers went haywire. The Chamberlain Group, manufacturer of the LiftMaster brand, began fielding numerous calls. “We’ve always had some interference here and there from government systems operating on a short-term basis,” points out Mark Karasek, vice president of engineering for The Chamberlain Group. “This was different in that it was longer term and had much more powerful, fixed signals.” At the same time Chamberlain started receiving calls, so did Overhead Door Co., owner of The Genie Co. brand of operators. “At first, both of us were puzzled. We had no idea the other was having problems, especially because they were testing so the system went up then down. We were all wondering what was going on,” says Karl Adrian, president of Overhead Door’s Access Systems Division.


When the Department of Defense (DoD) launched a second Land Mobile Radio (LMR) system in Mechanicsburg, Pa., late last summer, the industry readied for a battle. Chamberlain, Overhead and Johnson Controls Inc., makers of the HomeLink Wireless Control System, joined forces to form the Safe and Secure Access Coalition. “We looked at it as hitting our companies as well as our industry, so we felt we’d be stronger to do this as one unit rather than as individuals,” Adrian says.


One of the reasons the industry was blindsided is simple mathematics. There are millions of products - from microwaves to cell phones - battling over frequency airwaves. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) keeps an allocation table that designates who can use which frequencies and what they can use them for. Also, unlicensed devices - like garage door openers - can operate anywhere except on certain restricted bands, such as TV broadcast bands and some military or scientific frequencies.


It is believed the military owns the frequencies ranging from 280 MHz to 420 MHz. In true military fashion, disclosing highly secure information to the public isn’t necessary for two reasons: who they are and what they do. Once the Coalition was able to obtain an audience with the DoD, it presented its case, with the FCC acting as somewhat of a mediator. “Once both sides became aware of the problem - and the potential size of the problem - they have been working together,” says Bruce Romano, an FCC spokesman.

Far-Reaching or Far-Fetched?
Despite rumors, there are no official plans to tie the 390 MHz frequency to nationwide police and fire departments, according to Romano. Neither will all military bases use the frequency, according to information shared with the Coalition. Although 120 systems are expected to roll out between 2004 and 2008, military bases in 15 states will not receive the system. Another factor is economics. Because the military’s budget fluctuates from year to year, it is unknown how quickly LMR systems will be activated.
The biggest - and most important - question has yet to be answered: How many operators will be affected? The answer depends on who you’re talking to. It’s estimated LiftMaster and Genie brands are in 90 percent of the some 50 million garages in the United States. In the beginning, estimates in the millions were touted by the press, and honestly, in the industry as well. “There was a point where I was wondering if this could bankrupt the company,” Adrian admits. “This could have been huge. We’ve come far from that.”


Both Chamberlain and Overhead conducted testing to determine how far-reaching and what effect the LMR systems will have. The amount of interference depends on a number of variables including the number of towers, the area’s terrain, which side of the home the garage is on, proximity to a military base using the system, how strong the signal is, etc.


“Based on some of the projections that we’ve seen at meetings with the FCC and DoD, the expected impacted area is limited,” Karasek says. “People who are right on top of a tower will be the most significantly impacted. People who are farther away from towers will see some range reduction instead of a total jamming of the garage door opener.” Also, some homeowners may be simply inconvenienced versus completely locked out. For example, they may have to be closer to the opener or may have to push the remote two or three times. “It’s become established that while this problem is not insignificant, it is manageable. What we’re trying to do is exactly that - manage it,” Romano says.
Acting as a good neighbor, the military - unofficially - has tinkered with the security system to reduce garage door interference. For their part, Chamberlain and Overhead will introduce models operating on 315 MHz, the same frequency used by Marantec America Corp. However, the companies will continue to produce operators on the 390 MHz frequency. “It’s important to understand 390 MHz openers are going to continue to work in the vast majority of the U.S. without any interference at all,” Karasek points out. “There are still some unknowns about the impact of the new DoD system, but we are hopeful that the ongoing conversations between the FCC, DoD and industry members will minimize the problem as much as possible.”


Hopping to a Solution
In addition to making the switch to 315, Overhead is taking the matter a step further. “Our plans are to go to 315 and 390 expeditiously and then look to adding anywhere from one to four more frequencies outside of the spectrum,” Adrian says. “We truly believe just a switch to 315 is a mistake. We need to go to frequency-hopping technology. We want a long-term solution and we want to protect our customers.” Adrian says a frequency-hopping product from Genie could be on the market by the end of the year. “That is the ultimate and true solution so we know, our distributors and our customers all know that they have an operator that will work today, tomorrow and five years from now,” he adds.


It is a path Wayne-Dalton may also pursue. The company currently operates on the 372 MHz frequency. “From a more global standpoint, interference from radio, TV and whoever or whatever is becoming more of an issue with garage door openers,” says Tony Ferrante, Wayne-Dalton’s director of marketing. “We are seeing, in some markets where homes are close to TV towers, they will get some intermittent interference with their openers.”


The company is aware that, at some point, the military could expand or the frequency they operate on could be affected in the future, Ferrante says. “What we’re going to try and do is continue to better understand what’s going on in the marketplace in addition to the military; looking at TV towers and cell phone towers and see what impact they have,” he says. “From a product development standpoint, we’re looking at ways of increasing the range capabilities of our transmitters and other product development opportunities so consumers aren’t annoyed. In most cases, it isn’t a constant issue, it is an intermittent problem. That’s the piece we’re trying to address.”


New, better operators, of course, especially ones that can hop frequencies, will likely raise the cost of operators. However, Adrian predicts it will be small - $5 or $10 more. “I’d be surprised if the entire industry doesn’t follow the same logic and move to frequency-hopping,” he says. “The advantage for the company not at 390 is to preach that their product is the answer. Their product is the answer right now. But it may not be tomorrow, given the information, we’re being given.”


In the meantime, the best solution for homeowners struggling with the 390 frequency is an aftermarket conversion kit. Many dealers across the country - especially ones specializing in troubleshooting and repairs - are already experienced with conversion kits, which essentially change the frequency the operator uses. The kits, ranging in cost from $20 up to $100 after installation, typically include an external receiver, power plug and transmitter. All of the major operator manufacturers have conversion kits available.


Overhead Overload
While manufacturers scramble to find long-term solutions, some door dealers are grappling with frequency interference every day. “As long as I can remember, the 390 frequency has not been 100 percent reliable,” says Deric Davidson, owner of Ken Davidson Garage Door Co., a residential repair company in Claremont, Calif. “Even a 2 to 5 percent probability of it not working has proven to be not very cost-effective for me. I have to do repeat calls, troubleshooting, and spend a lot of time and man-hours in the field to rectify that problem.” Although Davidson has already been forced to stock a handful of the 315 aftermarket circuit boards and transmitters, adding more to his inventory in light of the current frequency issue is unlikely. “I’ll probably handle it on a case-per-case basis. I don’t really want to have all of that overhead.”


Dealers who work primarily with builders are bracing themselves for the worst. “We are the largest door company in northern California, and we do mostly subdivisions, so it’s really going to hit us in an especially intense way,” says Kevin Burbridge, director of operations for Easy Lift Door Co. in Sacramento, Calif.


Another catch-22 for Burbridge: a large percentage of Easy Lift’s customers are near two military bases. “For us as a big installing company, it’s a product nightmare. It’s bad enough we’ve had to stock two brands out of necessity, that is a reality in our business, now we’re essentially carrying a third line,” he says. “We try to keep our overhead down and limit the amount of products we carry. Now we’ll have another line we’ll have to stock and keep separate.” Distributing remotes before the crew leaves each morning could turn into a logistical nightmare, Burbridge says. “I know the issue, but I’ve got employees on down to minimum wage that are handing out remotes that aren’t really abreast of the issue. It’s going to be an issue of retraining.”


For now, Burbridge is struggling with when to alert his customers. “As we deal with big builders almost exclusively, we face the dilemma of how much do we tell them,” he says. “If we notify a builder of potential issues, there could be an overreaction and they ask for full disclosure. And telling them may turn out to be unnecessary when we look back in 10 years. It could be like a Y2K thing where you don’t want to make all of these internal changes unless you have to.” “Builder lawsuits have grown so much, they want to know about any change. But I think we’re going go with a ‘wait and see’ attitude because otherwise it could be opening a can of worms,” he adds.


Giving customers at least some information is the “correct thing to do,” says Martial Maitam of Marwest Access Controls Inc., a Canoga Park, Calif., distributor of gates, garage doors, access controls and entry systems. “We have tried to pass along information to our customers as much as possible. Most of them are already familiar with the frequency change.” He also believes most consumers will understand. “When it comes to the military and Homeland Security, most Americans understand it’s a precaution we have to take now days... unfortunately,” he adds.


A Silver Lining
Some manufacturers and distributors claim there’s a silver lining to be found in all this. “We’ll be able to sell upgrade kits. There are about 40 million garage door openers in the United States and well over 90 percent are in the 390 frequency. There will be a huge market for upgrade kits,” Maitam says. “Also, the proactive dealer who doesn’t want to have any problems down the road is going to steer away from the 390 frequency.”
Many dealers aren’t convinced. Burbridge expects opener prices will go up and door dealers will need to stock and sell retrofit kits. “In a competitive market, we have to justify a markup to the homeowner and it’s not going to fly. We’ll recapture the increase but that’s it.”


Most dealers are predicting problems rather than profits. “It will be a pain. I’m going to have to have 9,000 remotes on my truck. Service will be a huge problem,” says Clayton Stewart, owner of CS Garage Doors in Nesconset, N.Y. The company carries LiftMaster and Linear operators and also does overflow work for some operator manufacturers. Stewart also worries lead times on operators will become longer - or worse, parts will become scarce. “When you jump to a different frequency, every door dealer is not going to stock remotes, transmitters and circuit boards for all these frequencies and brands.”
However, dealers also understand that keeping up to date with the issue is imperative to their future success. “I am trying to stay at the forefront and be prepared for my customers,” Davidson says. “I have to be prepared so when the market moves in that direction, they don’t have to go someplace else.” “It’s going to be anything from a Y2K big scare that amounted to nothing to a disaster,” predicts Burbridge. Regardless, he advises door dealers to plan ahead. “We’ll have contingency plans which might require us to convert an entire subdivision to a new frequency in a pinch. You just have to be prepared.”



http://www.aaaremotes.com/frfldoingrwi.html

[Monterrey_jack]

This last weekend was a holiday weekend in Mexico, so I went up to Tucson to do some christmas shoppin'. My family has a house up there and my grandparents were staying up there for the week. Apparently the garage door stopped responding around wednesday last week. We couldn't get someone to go take a look at it until late Saturday afternoon. The repair guy had us replace the whole unit. Apparently garage door repair services were in unusually high demand last week in Tucson. Don't know if it is related to this story but Davis-Monthan AFB is there so it could be.

[Sean Osborne]

Also related...

In the past week we have seen the interference of US commerical radio stations by what is likely a 'Commander Solo' aircraft. On the east coast this testing has interfered with daily broadcast of the radio station owned and operated by my dear friend Rick Brancadora, WIBG 1020 AM. A single unmodulated carrier was observed by serveral area Hams on 1020kHz for a fairly long period of time.

The scuttlebutt is that this testing is preparatory for potential Commander Solo operations in the likely event of Fidel Castro's death.

[American Patriot]

Mystery of Garage Door Openers
Air Force plans investigation


RELATED VIDEO

Remote Troubles

Posted: 11:34 PM, Nov. 30, 2006
Last Updated: 3:57 PM, Dec. 4, 2006

By Scott Harrison
The Air Force turned it on, and garage doors in Colorado Springs wouldn't open. Now it's off, and doors apparently have returned to normal. Coincidence?
Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station says it's unsure if testing of a new communication system is disrupting the same 390-megahertz frequency used by remotes for garage door openers, vehicles, televison sets and even some cell phones. More than 300 people have reported problems since testing began Tuesday.
"We understand that this is problematic," admits Col. Joyce Jenkins-Harden, the installation commander. "We want to be good neighbors (but) the cause of the problem is unknown." However, the same system, Land Mobile Radios, caused a similar problem in three other states in communities near military installations once they began using the radios. The Department of Defense started providing the radios in 2004 to improve communication among the military, civilian authorities and first responders after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.


Retiree David Meredith uses a walker to get around. He says his garage door opener began malfunctioning Monday. Meredith says he'd be surprised if the Air Force is responsible for the situation. "It's something I can put up with, if it's what the military needs. It's not that big a deal, although it's inconvenient, especially when it's getting cold out." The problem was also a concern for homeowners who say their vehicles locked or unlocked on their own, and garage doors opened in the middle of the night. Many people now use the garage to enter and exit their homes, instead of the key-in-the-door method.


Customers of the Overhead Door company have flooded the office with complaints. President Kevin Maguire says, "I don't know how many people have walked in the door with their transmitters in their hands, saying these don't work. There's some kind of frequency interference going on." Maguire says if the problem's cause isn't determined, customers may have to spend $250 for a receiver operating at a different frequency. Most garage door openers include a manual release.


The Broadmoor area experienced a similar situation in 2003 for a NATO conference at the Broadmoor Hotel, when a temporary communication tower was set up for the event. The Land Mobile Radio system was blamed for disrupting wireless devices in Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

[American Patriot]

Here's a few related articles.

http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2006...-door-openers/

http://www.krdotv.com/story.cfm?nav=news&storyID=1613

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005705841

http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1327164&secid=1

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...a-news-broward

[American Patriot]

Couple of things...

Like many a military invasion, the target was caught by surprise. It wasn’t some foreign country suddenly besieged by a military attack, but garage door operators when the U.S. Department of Defense elected to employ the 390 frequency, which it owned but was not using.

The author of that article didn't research his/her work. The highlighted portion should read "the frequency of 390 MHz" (or Megahertz).

Secondly, garage door openers, like.. say portable phones you use in your home, to wireless routers, to television sets, and many other like devices, are what are in the business generally called FCC Part 15 devices.

Very BASICALLY these devices are NOT allowed to cause interference to other services, like police, fire, military frequencies, etc. And techincally if they do, but be removed from service. However, they MUST ACCEPT any interference that they RECEIVE from other services, including police, fire, military etc.

Thus, the military has no reason to do "anything about it".

Period.

[American Patriot]

If you want to see the converse of the interference WITH garage door openers, try reading through this document from the American Radio Relay League (Yes, I am a member of that organization, and am a technical specialist with the organization in the State of Colorado). Basically, this tells what happens to those of us who are legitimately licensed to operator radio services around the country, in any service, be it civil, military, government, Law enforcement, or fire who are interefered WITH by things like garage door openers, and other such devices.

In other words, as a civil radio service, Amateurs are NOT to be interefered with by things like computer systems, routers -- wireless or otherwise, telephone systems and other things that are part 15 service devices. And... if I'm interefering with, say, someone's television set, stereo system or their router, garage door, telephone, they must accept that interference IF I am within my own legal operations.

I've had some neighbors complain in the past because I was getting into their telephone. It doesn't happen often, but it has happened. In the past , I went out of my way to assist them, and even did things to cut down power on my own.

I never operate radio systems above 100W at my house though I am authorized to operate at a maximum of 1500 Watts Peak envelop power (PEP) on most frequencies I operate. Some things are less (higher frequencies in the microwave ranges for instance) and 200 W max in the Novice bands. So I operate with much less than I COULD and still remain within legal limits.

My equipment is modern stuff, so spurrious emissions and such will be well below the maximum, and I've never had a problem with my signals getting into something incorrectly if it was properly designed.


http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/part15.html


Here's one excerpt from the part 15 rules....

(b) Operation of an intentional, unintentional, or incidental radiator is subject to the conditions that no harmful interference is caused and that interference must be accepted that may be caused by the operation of an authorized radio station, by another intentional or unintentional radiator, by industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) equipment, or by an incidental radiator.


Esentially, no one has a right to complain to the air force that their garage door systems do not work. Rather, they CAN complain to the manufacturers who actually SHOULD work to alleviate any problems associated with the equipment, since those devices are "intentional radiators" that fall within the FCC Part 15 regulations.

Hope this helps everyone.

[American Patriot]

Damned internet went down on me while I was writing this article below.

Sean, please take note of some of the things in it. Thanks - Rick

A single unmodulated carrier was observed by serveral area Hams on 1020kHz for a

fairly long period of time.

Just for clarifaction:

1020 Khz (1.020 Mhz) falls in the middle of the AM (Amplitude Modulated) band, also known as

the standard AM Broadcast band. The standard AM broadcast band is 530 kHz to 1710 kHz in

North America, but remains only up to 1610 kHz elsewhere. This is also called "Medium Wave".

Medium wave runs from 300 KHZ to 3 MHZ.

A Megahertz is a Million Cycles per second, so one million individual full cycle sinewaves in

the space of 1 second.

Wave LENGTH is an inverse mathematical function of frequency. The Wavelength (λ or

lambda)... λ = C/F; where C=speed of light in meters/sec, frequency in hertz and λ = length

of one cycle in meters.

Ok, all that math said.....

Let's look at a couple of things.

1) The military does NOT NORMALLY use ANY frequencies in the standard broadcast band inside or outside

of the United States.

2) The military DOES use frequencies generally above 1 Mhz, and can and will use pretty much

what they want, when they want, where they want (as do other militias throughout the world).

However, GENERALLY they also are assigned operating frequencies by a frequency coordinator in

an operating region. There are several within the United States, some operating stations are

assigned permanent groups of frequencies, and they operate exclusively on those.

3) The chances of the unmodulated carrier being a MILITARY owned station is virtually nil.

However, it does NOT preclude the operation of commercial equipment, amateur radio equipment

or even a radio station transmitter "gone bad" on that frequency.

4) Under NO circumstances will the MILITARY specifically operate on those frequencies.

5) FEMA - under the control of Homeland Security these days may indeed have some transmitters

operating on standard carrier frequencies and it MIGHT Have been a mistake. HOWEVER, my own

knowledge and operations in the past with Civil Defense and FEMA (in the days of yore)

included the fact tha they didn't OWN transmitters, but rather had hardwire feeds going to

various stations through a set up called CONELRAD, later the EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM (EBS)

and even later (1997) the EBS was replaced by the Emergency Alert System. Beginning in 1953,

all new AM radios sold (FM wasn't that common in those days) were required to be marked with

a "Civil Defense" triangle at 640 and 1240 on the dial.

Unfortunately, many of the systems up until NOW relied on RELAYS. That is all stations had to

monitor the two or so frequencies and DROP CARRIER so that everyone would tune to the main

stations. This digital system ends, for the first time, the need to rely on intermediate

stations, and can be activated as required by the proper authorities, and the station

returned to normal operations, without the need for intervention by station personnel.

Now, with all of that said, Sean, I'd like to ask where you got that information since with

my contacts I haven't been able to verify it, and also are you aware if any of them were able

to triangulate the signal?

I'm asking this, as a Ham myself, because I'm interested in the aspect of someone planting a

dead carrier on an AM broadcast band frequency, and no one looking into it. Also, I have

resources to verify stuff like this, and no one can so far. Finally, I KNOW for a FACT that

in any area with an active ham community, it's not difficult for us (hams) to locate a

transmitter within just moments of it going into operation.

Given a few folks with the right equipment we can generally find a transmitter in 3-10

minutes given the terrain. I know that one time, I had a radio go bad, and was putting out a

solid carrier on the frequency for about 5 minutes. A guy drove up, knocked on the door,

asked me I had anything on that frequency, I said YEP, we checked and sure enough I

discovered my transmitter had locked up. Problem solved in less than 10 minutes. And he was

ONE ham radio operator in his car, not twenty of us to solve such a problem.

Most LIKELY hams would not jump on the AM BCB and look for stations though in such a case, so

chances are very much against the hams trying to track the source of the signal.....

Anyway....do you have any further information on that frequency jam up?

Rick

[American Patriot]

One thing....

Sean did mentioned the Commando Solo air ship. IT DOES have TV and RADIO station capabilities. It CAN broadcast on any of the standard TV and AM/FM radio channels. However, it's not NORMALLY authorized to do so in the US. It's purpose as a propaganda tool -- or more appropriately to broadcast on standard frequencies that normal people can see and hear to give information in war-torn areas such as Afghanastan and Iraq.

The idea is to broadcast information to those people to tell them to surrender, to tell them to get the hell out of an area, or to give humanitarian information to them

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/ec-130e.htm

[American Patriot]

I wonder why I never got a response on my original line of questioning here, anyway????????