Mimicking a Garage Door Opener

[slodave]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Dave, I'm wondering if the thing uses the same frequency band as a new one. For instance (and I think I read the same Wiki article you did), my old opener might be using 360 MHz which by all accounts is obsolete. But you ARE the electronics expert.

I actually never read the wiki article. 😃 I can’t say what scanners s person is going to be carrying around with them. My only point was that the older systems are super easy to mimic. Also, my parents had an older system like yours. They used to have a little key box on the side of the garage, where you inserted a key, turned it and you could open the garage without the remote. I showed my dad one day how easy it was to unscrew the two screws holding the faceplate on, then take the screwdriver and shorted the connection and viola! I made the door open. He promptly had that box removed.

[A930Rocket]

One of the first homes I built had an opener that operated randomly at night. I’d be laying in bed reading and hear it raise. Gave me the willies but then it stopped.

[slodave]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

One of the first homes I built had an opener that operated randomly at night. I’d be laying in bed reading and hear it raise. Gave me the willies but then it stopped.

What stopped? The willies or the garage door?

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by slodave

What stopped? The willies or the garage door?

The willies stopped when the door stopped going up at random times (always at night).

So both.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

The willies stopped when the door stopped going up at random times (always at night).

So both.

We lived in a rental house before we purchased our current one. The alarm would suddenly announce "Front door open" randomly in the middle of the night. And only in the middle of the night. Scared the bejeezus out of us the first time it happened. I started putting a small metal trashcan behind it (tile floor), so as long as I didn't hear the trash can scraping across the floor at 2 am, I knew it was another false alarm.

[porsche tech]

Side note: don't put LED bulbs in the garage door opener. Doesn't make it open by itself (as far as I know) but does make it work very erratically...figured out the hard way!

[Seahawk]

This has been a very informative thread - I am so far behind the curve on this type of stuff it is a good thing I live in the boonies.

I hate thieves, not that they give a shcit.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Zeke

That doesn't make sense to me. Could an EE explain?

could be due to EMF on the line form (older?) LED lights

I ain't no EE or EEE tho - I did however take a digital circuits course long ago: one day the prof. walked in all lit up! He said "Hey look guys!! They put FOUR NAND gates on a single chip!! Right here in my hand!"

and there they were - magic

[RWebb]

once the light goes on the EMF could.... could... make it work erratically