Extreme RF Noise source locating

Pick a blank spot on the dial and run the volume way up and walk around the area..

or

list the freg's of the effected receivers and see what their harmonics are

that would then give you an idea what might be causing the over lap..

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Thanks Rocky,

The suggestion of a "old fashion AM portable radio" might go well if I had one. I suggested the same thing to the customer and his response was, "can I use the one in my car??" Well NO...................

Can't remember the last time I listened to AM.............. Whoa!! WBZ in Boston late in the evening or KYW 1060 in Philadelphia

Please explain further your comment about:

------------------------------------------------------------------------ "list the freq's of the effected receivers and see what their harmonics are that would then give you an idea what might be causing the over lap..

------------------------------------------------------------------------ The freq of the window transmitters are 319.5mHz Don't know the opener freq (can't find it on setup sheet)

How do I find the harmonics??

Thanks!!

Les

Just found that the Opener Remotes works on 318mHz So they are in the same basic range. Don't know much about harmonics but it has to be close.

(also further down the page calculators for other items..)

Some of the harmonics I noticed might indicate something dealing with a cell system

maybe a booster or some type for cell transmitter (alarm cell unit ?)

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On 9/25/2018 4:13 PM, ABLE1 wrote: > Thanks Rocky, > > The suggestion of a "old fashion AM portable radio" might go well if I had one. I suggested the same thing to the customer and his response was, "can I use the one in my car??" Well NO...................

Well, maybe. When I worked for Arizona telephone company sometimes noisy insulators on the electrical mains would cause noise on our carrier systems. We would drive a service truck along the power line with the radio between stations and listen for an increase in the static volume level. The power company had a fancy RF communications van to do the same thing.

"The Mighty 690" used to broadcast the top 40 on Sunday mornings. Only time my mom would let me drive her car was going to church on Sunday. LOL. I was kinda glad it was a 30 minute drive each way.

with that in mind you could have a MUR 152-158 mhz radio in the area causing the problem..

(they also make intercom's in that freq range..)

or even am FM station ie.. 102-103 mhz which could harmonic up in your range..

Rocky,

At this point it seems to be a rather small area that is affected. At least 3-4 houses that are close together.

I did find a old AM/FM/Weather radio that hasn't been used (by me) in maybe 30++ years. I can't get anything at my location on AM but do get a couple of stations on FM. I will take it along tomorrow and give it a shot. Never know.

Thanks for the hints.

Bob, your mother would be proud to know that you remembered. :-)

Les

to narrow it even more..

providing it's within the bands covered by the scanner...

We've had problems with R-R walkie talkies, electrical timers, electric dog fences, light dimmers

line carrier intercoms, (if the effected homes share the same power transformer you might look into that)

Customer called this morning and said that his remotes now work ok. Don't know and will never know what caused the problem for two days.

Life goes on..............................

eft

Uhhhhh ?.. have there been any UFO sightings in the area.

Any kids riding bicycles in the sky?

ET go hommmme!!!!!

Hi Jim,

No I don't think so, but I have noticed that there may be a slight shift in the rotation of the earth, or was that a magnetic field pulse.

Needless to say this may be one for the books but I doubt I will have time to write it.

My only hope is whatever it was is now turned off for good.

Les

DHS noticed the leaky bug they had planted and replaced it with a clean one..

(((LOL)))

*

Hi Les,

Well, there is only one sure way to find out if it's the "Vacationers Home" . Just pull their meter can out, and when the backup batteries have died, a nd you now have 'Wireless Peace' in the neighborhood, you hit a winner!

Guaranteed success.

Then, when the vacationing neighbor gets back from vacation, find 2 or 3 ol d microwaves at the junk yard, and bypass the closed door safety switch. Ai m those puppies at the house, and when nothing works at the neighbor's hous e, he will be calling up all kinds of folks to figure it out. After a while he will get very paranoid and after a little while longer, a 'For Sale' si gn will go up... peace will then reign in the neighborhood again. Now, if h e starts looking really tanned, and it's actually cold outside and overcast , turn down the settings on the microwaves to Low, or leave some SPF cream at his door step.

Well, it's a nice thought anyway. It gets straight to the heart of the prob lem.

Disclaimer: No, this is humor for those who are just looking in, and might want to report me to the authorities. Do not try this at home or at anyone else's home, just humor.

...and now seriously, if there is that much interference for that great an area, it is not usually because of everyday items that can be bought by a h omeowner. I only know of one customer who had an old 'Ademco' wireless syst em that was affected by his new garage opener. And that is within the realm of 'close encounters of a wireless kind'. To reach out across multiple hou ses, would be something like the 'power transformer sharing' mentioned by R TS. Also, not always thought of, high intensity heat lamps for "Greenhouses " aka 'CovertWeedFarming' can be a major cause. Those absolutely will disru pt even internet communications in a neighborhood enough to cause the "Cabl e Police" to investigate.

I don't think that I would try to find out the frequency as much as I would want to just find the 'high intensity wave source'. I do use a bulb-type m eter that indicates how much power in being put out and it is tri-axis dire ctional. Though, I don't know if I would go thru a neighborhood aiming that device at homes...I would be rounded up pretty fast by the nut police.

The serious problem with your dilemma is that even if you find out it is su ch and such neighbor, he or she will probably think that you are crazy. And , even if they believe you, they are most probably not going to change anyt hing in their house for anyone. Back to square one.

I am sure that you are using your own security brand that you like and are familiar with, but perhaps, just perhaps, trying out a different brand for this customer, using a different wireless frequency could have some benefi cial effects. Obviously, you have a serious problem in that the wireless de vices are not communicating and therefore, no reliable security.

In regards to the possibility of a cellular-phone home amplifier that can b e fitted on a roof, and wired down to a ceiling to an internal antenna, tha t kind of device would not cause interference to other homes because of its power intensity. If that was true, anyone within close range of any cellul ar tower would always have serious interference.

...mm, maybe just maybe, there is the possibility of some old-bat living in the neighborhood who was drying her hair in her sixties-era dryer that sho rt-circuited,... and she's now lit up like a Blazing Christmas Tree... the vacationer's mother-in-law?

Enjoy.

Hello E D,

Some funny stuff you write!!

You may have missed my last transmission that as of yesterday morning the problem just went away. Therefore at this time it is impossible to even search for.

There was mention of a possible "new street light" blasting out some nasty crap. One was install just across the street a week ago. Also a possible cable company leak somewhere very local.

Again if it is no longer there it can't be located.

My only hope is that it does not return.

Thanks for the extra input.

Les

Hey guys,

Remember this discussion from 2018 that the problem mysteriously went away after two days??

WELL................ it came back!! Yesterday the customer called and said that he had a window sensor that was not working. He then said that they had some window cleaners in that cleaned the outside and inside of the windows. Thought that maybe the sensor was damaged. We tried a couple of things over the phone, nothing helped.

So I got there a few hours later. Yes, Guest Bedroom Window Right was showing open. I checked the battery and it was at 100%. I checked the unit with another magnet and got no response. I then removed the sensor from the Left Window. Went to the keypad and it shows that the zone was OK. I had the transmitter in my hand!!

Puzzled I went to the garage and looked at the LED on the Opener. It was Solid Red. I asked the customer if the remotes work for the garage openers?? He said NO they haven't since yesterday and his neighbor has the same problem!! W-H-A-T!!!

I had bought a small RF Noise device after the past events but it is on my desk in my office 10 miles away and the battery needs charged. Not that it was going to find the problem but I didn't know. Since there was nothing I could do on site I told the customer I would charge the unit and comeback tomorrow.

Last evening customer calls and says that the keypad was beeping with a number of sensors "Lost". All I could do was to dial in to the system and turn off the wireless zones. So I did.

Called him back and he said the beeping and trouble had stopped. Which is should have.

I called him this morning and asked if anything changed. He said that after I "turned the system off" the Garage Doors Openers worked.

What?? I didn't turn the system off. I just disabled the zones in the system. So I dialed back in and turned the zones back on. System showed zone 10 as being lost so I turned that one back off.

Anyhow I got there a few hours later and he said that the openers were not working since I "turned the system back on". ????????????????????

Went to the garage and the LED's were off. He then discovered that the GFI in the garage was tripped and the openers had no power. He reset and the openers worked Ok. He said that there was a big storm in the morning and a lightning strike very close. The GFI must of tripped.

As for the lost transmitter I turned it back on at the keypad and checked the unit. Found that the battery was out of its holder and once I re-seated it, all worked as it should.

Once again at this time 12:23pm on 6/16/2022 all was working..... AGAIN!

Also once again do not know the source of the problem!!

Also once again do not know how to find the problem to make it not happen again!!

Once again the customer thinks that this is my fault although he has not used those words.

Sorry for the long read............ if you read this far, thanks!! I needed to type out the story before I lost the memory cells.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I have re-read the thread from 2018. I just don't know what else I can do or figure out.

MY BRAIN HURTS!!!

Les

Any snowbirds in the neighborhood recently return home?

Hi Bob,

Good question. I don't know the answer to the question. I will have to ask my customer to see if he knows.

Thanks,

Les

Hi Les, Sorry so late responding. Busy busy!

I don't know if you mentioned in this thread which mfg wireless you are using. If Napco, without me checking into the following for accuracy, - - - - - I seem to remember that there is an interference sensing feature in the Napco receiver. There's an LED, (green, I think) that will flash or stay on, depending upon the type of interference. I think you have to take the cover off of the receiver to see if it's on or not. Also, I seem to remember that there is some sort of simple wide band receiver that you can make out of a few transistors and a neon bulb. to see if turning things on or off will make the neon glow or not. Don't know if that's any help since you don't know if the source is it the customers house or not. Running around the neighborhood with a little flashing light transistor circuit on a long stick may get you a trip to the funny factory. Just a thought, - - - - can you think of something that might be under construction or an airport or large manufacturer around the area? Check houses in surrounding few blocks for large antennas (Ham radio operators) Some of these guys try to do some strange things like boosting power to talk to someone in South Africa. Also any electrical power grid stations nearby?

Is there any chance that one of those Powerline Internet systems could create this kind of interference? Just wondering.