Something's jamming my central locking!
Discussion
I had to nip out for a quick visit to the post office today and I found the remote fob didn't unlock my car.
It was a newish battery only a couple of months old, and the little red light on the fob came on, but no unlocking.
I used the key, cancelled the alarm and I found out up at the post office it was working again.
Getting back home, same thing again, and the fob doesn't work.
So, I decide to go all James Bond on it...
I've looked up the frequency at 433.92 MHz for BMWs, tune in a scanner, and there's a loud tone being broadcast on 433.900.
If I take a step to each side, the signal (almost) disappears, and I can hear the faint noise from my fob when I press the button.
I went for a walk with the scanner, and the signal fades away something like 30m up or down the road, and I went for a drive too just incase the car was doing something and it still faded in and out.
The other 2 main frequencies are 867 and 315MHz, and I get the same repeating jamming tone on the 867 frequency...
I have a feeling there is someone nearby with a remote fob jammer, and they are planning something...
I can't pin it down any further, I get 5 bars worth of signal strength in a 30m radius or more even with the sensitivity turned down.
What happens in this situation is that when you press the lock button, your car won't lock itself.
Someone in a supermarket carpark for example could do the same thing, and wait until you walk out of view and just help themselves to your car.
My own car is nothing particularly special, and there isn't anything like a Mitsi evo or a new AMG nearby.
No new radio masts nearby or any other obvious radio equipment running (I've even check the door bell).
It's not static, it is a high pitched repeating tone in the middle of the main noise, with a repeated clicking...
Is jamming quite common or are there any other obvious culprits?
It was a newish battery only a couple of months old, and the little red light on the fob came on, but no unlocking.
I used the key, cancelled the alarm and I found out up at the post office it was working again.
Getting back home, same thing again, and the fob doesn't work.
So, I decide to go all James Bond on it...
I've looked up the frequency at 433.92 MHz for BMWs, tune in a scanner, and there's a loud tone being broadcast on 433.900.
If I take a step to each side, the signal (almost) disappears, and I can hear the faint noise from my fob when I press the button.
I went for a walk with the scanner, and the signal fades away something like 30m up or down the road, and I went for a drive too just incase the car was doing something and it still faded in and out.
The other 2 main frequencies are 867 and 315MHz, and I get the same repeating jamming tone on the 867 frequency...
I have a feeling there is someone nearby with a remote fob jammer, and they are planning something...
I can't pin it down any further, I get 5 bars worth of signal strength in a 30m radius or more even with the sensitivity turned down.
What happens in this situation is that when you press the lock button, your car won't lock itself.
Someone in a supermarket carpark for example could do the same thing, and wait until you walk out of view and just help themselves to your car.
My own car is nothing particularly special, and there isn't anything like a Mitsi evo or a new AMG nearby.
No new radio masts nearby or any other obvious radio equipment running (I've even check the door bell).
It's not static, it is a high pitched repeating tone in the middle of the main noise, with a repeated clicking...
Is jamming quite common or are there any other obvious culprits?
for the James Bond malarkery though!
I did check incase the key was making the signal itself, but nothing.
I can even hear the sound of the key's radio when I press a button, and tested the lot by moving out of the area, and the signal stayed behind.
It has been present for about 6 hours now, maybe longer.
No mysterious vans sitting dumped nearby.
Maybe someone near here has bought some ebay tat from China that is blitzing the frequency.
I hope it doesn't last for long, as I'm quite keen on the old keyfob buttons.
I can even hear the sound of the key's radio when I press a button, and tested the lot by moving out of the area, and the signal stayed behind.
It has been present for about 6 hours now, maybe longer.
No mysterious vans sitting dumped nearby.
Maybe someone near here has bought some ebay tat from China that is blitzing the frequency.
I hope it doesn't last for long, as I'm quite keen on the old keyfob buttons.
Gwagon111 said:
We had an issue at our work car park with exactly this. It turned out that one of the phone companies had cranked the power up on one of their masts nearby. Everybody's phones were picking up a 3G signal much more easily, but they couldn't get into their cars.
Hahaha, really? Have a word with OfCom and mention "Licensed Radio" as it would seem that all of your works colleagues cars are using a licensed range 
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