[infowar.de] WT 03.12.06: Military radio signal halts garage doors

[Georg Schoefbaenker <schoefbaenker -! - aon - at>]

Da kommt mir doch ein ganz großes Grinsen aus :-)))

http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20061203-123702-1936r

The Washington Times
Military radio signal halts garage doors
Published December 3, 2006

DENVER (AP) -- 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 50 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, pointing out that the outage happened 
during the first cold snap of the year, with lows in the teens.

Capt. Tracy Giles of the 21st Space Wing said Air Force officials were 
trying to figure out how to resolve the problem of their signal 
overpowering garage door remotes.

"They have turned it off to be good neighbors," he said.

The signals were coming from Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, home to the 
North American Aerospace Defense Command, a joint U.S. and Canadian 
operation set up during the Cold War to monitor Soviet missile and bomber 
threats.

Technically, the Air Force has the right to the frequency, which it began 
using nearly three years ago. Signals have previously interfered with 
garage doors near bases in Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

In general, effects from the transmissions would be felt only within 10 
miles, but the Colorado Springs signal is beamed from atop 6,184-foot 
Cheyenne Mountain, which likely extends the range.

David McGuire, whose Overhead Door Co. received more than 400 calls for 
help, said the Air Force might be able to slightly adjust the transmission 
frequency to solve the problem. If not, it will cost homeowners about $250 
to have new units installed.

"The military has the right to use that frequency. It is a sign of the 
times," he said.


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