Marine communications site may interfere with garage door openers

Officials at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma would like to inform residents who live in the Fortuna area of the Foothills that radio signals from a new communications site at Telegraph Pass now in use by the base could interfere with their automatic garage door openers.

According to the air station's public affairs office, strong radio signals coming from the communications site, which was activated on Aug. 1, can override remote controls that move garage doors up and down.

Gunnery Sgt. Bill Lisbon, public affairs chief for MCAS Yuma, explained that the air station began using what is known as a Land Mobile Radio (LMR) system in other Yuma-area locations in early 2008.

The LMR radio system, Lisbon said, is a two-way radio system used to consolidate military emergency communications for law enforcement, security, firefighters, medical personnel and other first responders on military installations.

Beginning in 2004, military installations across the country began transitioning to LMRs. This transition was in response to a 1992 Congressional law and a subsequent Department of Defense policy established Aug. 1, 2001 created to more efficiently use the entire electromagnetic radio frequency spectrum that enables myriad wireless communications.

Used to consolidate the air station's emergency communications, Lisbon said the LMR system operates on a Department of Defense frequency range that many garage door openers have operated within for years at their own risk.

“We have not had any complaints yet that I know of,” Lisbon said.

As a result of the transition to the use of this frequency range, LMRs could cause some nearby garage door openers to reduce their operating range or cause the remote control to stop functioning, The new system, said air station communications director Robert Zittle, replaces a similar one that has been on the site for years, but the upgrade uses a different frequency.

The Department of Defense is the licensed spectrum user specifically assigned to the 380-399.9 MHz frequency bandwidths which the LMR system uses and has been using for many years.

Some consumer devices use frequencies on the spectrum not specifically assigned or licensed to them. This is permitted under Part 15 of the FCC regulations, granted the manufacturer of such devices accepts the possibility that their products may be affected by interference caused by authorized spectrum users.

“These are basically unlicensed,” Lisbon said. “There is nothing we can do, or will do, unfortunately, to fix these devices.”

When consumers purchase these devices for use, they are also agreeing to accept any interference to these Part 15 devices.

The new system, Zittle said, is in compliance with various federal regulations and may impact garage door service, electronic gate openers and other wireless devices within the immediate area.

Chamberlain, Overhead Door/Genie, and Johnson Controls (makers of HomeLink) are the three companies most affected by the problem.

Some manufacturers are offering retrofit kits to change the frequencies of existing garage door openers that would cost consumers $50 to $80, excluding installation. Other manufacturers are either using different or multiple frequencies on their new products.

While the range of the LMR effects are unknown, Zittle said the high elevation of the site coupled with the fact that there are no houses within a mile of the new communications site, may minimize the effect on garage door openers in the area.

Consumers who believe they are affected by LMR use are advised to contact the manufacturer of their garage door opener or the FCC at 1-888-225-5322.

James Gilbert can be reached at 539-6854 or 539-6854.