Pirate Radio Station In Florida Jams Automotive Electronics

New submitter titanium93 writes "For months, dozens of people could not use their keyless entry systems to unlock or start their cars when parked in the vicinity of the eight-story Regents bank building in Hollywood, FL. Once the cars were towed to the dealership for repair, the problem went away. The problem resolved itself when police found equipment on the bank's roof that was broadcasting a bootleg radio station. A detective and an FCC agent found the equipment hidden underneath an air conditioning chiller. The man who set up the station has not been found, but he faces felony charges and fines of at least $10,000 if he is caught. The radio station was broadcasting Caribbean music around the clock on 104.7 FM."

towed to the dealer?

[frovingslosh]

Keyless entry systems might be handy (although yet another security risk), but having a keyless system with no key backup is insane. Do these people also get their car towed when the keyless entry battery dies? Or if the car battery dies? I would never accept a system that didn't have some form of alternate entry and starting.

I'd bet on corroded antenna leads

[ka9dgx]

I'd bet it was corroded feedline or antenna connection not protected against the salt air. If it formed a diode [wikipedia.org], it would set up a strong 3rd harmonic right next to the 315 Mhz band used by keyless remotes according to Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]. Without that, they may have been able to stay on the air much longer.

I love how Wikipedia makes it easy to give a lot more context for these type of explanations. 8)

Re:No thanks!

[bws111]

And as soon as you drive it to the dealer, it starts working normally again, thereby becoming a wasted trip. Better to have the dealer/towing service come and see the problem while it is failing instead of being put into the 'idiot who does not know how to use keyless entry' file.

Re:towed to the dealer?

[PolygamousRanchKid]

So the radio station operator, also operates a tow truck business, I'd assume . . .

Re:I'm confused

[mpe]

I don't understand. 104.7 FM is a part of the spectrum allocated for radio broadcast. Why was that interfering with keyless entry systems? Is this just an issue of too much power?

Such pirate transmitters are typically built as cheap as possible. Such things as filtering carrier harmonics don't tend to feature in the design. Pirates with two brain cells to rub together tend to assume that their hardware will be quickly found and confiscated. Thus are more likely to spend money on having multiple "hot spare" transmitters than having one half decent one.

Re:Complexity is failure

[WhatAreYouDoingHere]

I know this is completely off-subject...

...before the auto exec took over and ruined it...

If you think the auto exec is bad, wait until you see the config sys!