By Kevin Torres
9 NewsSomething in Arvada produced a frequency signal strong enough to knock out power to 40 garage doors in a tiny community. The problem started two days ago in the 7000 block of Torrey Court. It encompasses a half mile radius.
“It’s really weird,” said Gina, who lives in the area. She did not want to provide her last name. “No one knows what it is.” Gina thought she was alone, until she learned of other neighbors dealing with the same problem.
“I think it’s amazing,” Colin Cooper, another neighbor, said. “What if it’s a UFO?” he joked. Experts say anything with a wireless signal could affect garage doors.
Signal From Our Government?
While these folks in Colorado scratch their heads and wonder if aliens visited their neighborhood, I figured I’d address the fantastical, magical, erotic world of garage door opener frequencies.
Garage door openers use a frequency range of 300-400 MHz. The transmitters and receivers use rolling code technology, which means the frequencies are sent in a specific programmed order. Like your email password, only the right order of frequencies in that 100 hz range will open the door.
This is for your saftey. However, new garage door openers use only 315 MHz. Since 2005, new garage doors use the 315 MHz frequency range to avoid interference from the Land Mobile Radio System (LMRS) used by the US military which drifts in and out of the 100hz interference window of the older “rolling code” garage door systems.
The LMRS is the US Dept. Of Defense’s new shiny communication system, it’s extremely powerful, and chances are if you have bizarre garage door problems like these folks in Colorado – it’s likely due to this type of interference.
It’s happened before – and due to our governments new policy of cloak & dagger shrouded mystique, it seems that we should keep an eye to how the world around us reacts to frequencies, however banal they may be.
Other Links
Mysteriously malfunctioning garage doors
Land-Mobile-Radio (LMR) System Frequency Interference With Garage Door Openers Questions and Answers