FCC explains garage door RFI

People living near certain military installations have recently reported that they have experienced interference to their garage door opener controls that may reduce the operating distance or cause the device to stop operating.

Now, the FCC has taken interest and has issued a public notice to explain the cause of the interference and the steps being taken to alleviate this problem. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has more:

As explained in the FCC release, garage door openers operate, legally under Part 15 of the Commissions rules. This means that they are very low power and are unlicensed. As unlicensed devices, there is no right to protection from interference. However, because of this limited use, the risk of interference was similarly limited, so manufacturers of garage door openers chose these frequencies for their transmit and receive devices. They have been permitted to operate on these reserved federal government frequencies since the end of World War 2.

But that was yesterday and this is 2005. A lot has changed and in response to the increased needs of homeland security, the Department of Defense must now make more use of these frequencies to deploy new mobile radio systems on and around certain military bases. As a result, some consumers near these installations may experience interference to their garage door openers that can reduce operating range or cause the remote control to cease functioning.

The FCC explains that the interference will not cause the garage doors to open or close on their own. Nor will it affect the operation of the hard wired, wall-mounted push buttons that manually operate a garage door opener.

So what can the consumer do if the new military radio system interferes with an existing garage door opener? The FCC advises those people experiencing interference contact the manufacturer of the door opener control unit or their local installer for information on available immediate solutions. The FCC adds that it is working with the garage door opener industry to minimize the impact to consumers.

The FCC says that due to national security concerns that it is not possible to predict in advance which specific users or locations near military bases may experience interference.
It also says that those in need of further information on this problem should contact the FCC Call Center at 1-888-
225-5322. (FCC)

Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, Amateur Radio Newsline

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