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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."

37 of 315 comments (clear)

  1. RTFM by subanark · · Score: 5, Funny

    From the article:

    Most drivers were forced to read their owner's manual to learn how to access their manual key, Camara said.

    1. Re:RTFM by SJHillman · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's amazing how many people forget to use their key if the remote stops working for any reason, including a dead battery. And from my experience, it's mostly middle-aged people who were driving for decades before remote entry became common.

    2. Re:RTFM by krovisser · · Score: 5, Informative

      Negative. Unlocking the car from the inside sets off the alarm. Using your key on any OEM system will disarm the alarm.

    3. Re:RTFM by Golddess · · Score: 4, Interesting

      My Ford Escort proves you wrong. If I lock it with the remote, and then stick the physical key into the lock on the door and unlock it, the alarm goes off.

      --
      "I'm not sure I like the fugnutish tone you used in your post!" -RogL (608926)-
    4. Re:RTFM by BitZtream · · Score: 3, Informative

      And putting said key in the ignition will turn it off.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    5. Re:RTFM by icebike · · Score: 3, Informative

      Negative. Unlocking the car from the inside sets off the alarm. Using your key on any OEM system will disarm the alarm.

      Depends entirely on the car.

      My owner's manual specifically states:

      The driver’s door key cylinder cannot arm or disarm the Vehicle
      Security Alarm.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    6. Re:RTFM by LinuxIsGarbage · · Score: 4, Informative

      My new(er) Ford Fusion has a factory alarm, it also has a transponder key.

      If I open the door with the manual key, it will count down ~15 seconds before sounding the alarm. The idea is that in that time, you can insert a registered transponder key in the ignition, and turn it to on to disable. This is in addition to disarming if you hit unlock on the fob. And of course the transponder key keeps you from starting the car unless you have a registered key(as has been the case for about 10 years across almost all models)

      I would like to think that any FACTORY alarm would be smart enough to detect a registered transponder key in the ignition.

    7. Re:RTFM by cusco · · Score: 4, Funny

      My Ford Escort

      Well, there's your problem . . .

      --
      "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
  2. towed to the dealer? by frovingslosh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    1. Re:towed to the dealer? by swb · · Score: 5, Informative

      There's different kinds of "keyless" systems.

      Most "keyless entry" systems are remotes that unlock the doors and disarm any security system the car might have. Otherwise, the car is as normal and has physical keys, physical locks on the doors and requires a mechanical key to operate the ignition.

      My Volvo has what Volvo calls "Personal Car Communicator" -- a wireless proximity key that allows the doors to be opened and car started without any button press other than the starter button. The key can stay in your pocket.

      Now in the case of my Volvo, the "normal" starting process for non-PCC cars, the same keyfob fits a slot on the dash. There's no mechanical bypass, although I assume starting would work without any battery in the keyfob.

      The door locks are all electronic and unless you've read the manual, you might not realize that the keyfob's "key ring" is actually a slim metal key that can be removed from the keyfob and used to mechanically unlock the door.

      With a system like this, common to many high end luxury cars, I can see nontechnical people freaking out and saying their car doesn't work, either not letting them in because they don't know the bypass exists or not starting because they don't know the non-wireless starting method (ie, fob in slot or similar).

      Or they may just be really high strung people who figure that anything that doesn't work is Mercedes' problem and they need to get the car and give them a loaner.

    2. Re:towed to the dealer? by AaronLS · · Score: 3, Funny

      Thanks for that. The world is a better place now. Please follow his next 3 posts to ensure grammar compliance.

    3. Re:towed to the dealer? by ChumpusRex2003 · · Score: 5, Informative

      A number of the Japanese manufacturers use a similar system.

      Toyota use a dual NFC (RFID) / "far-field" radio system. The same transponder in the fob is connected to both an NFC antenna, and a battery powered MCU and RF power amp.

      With a working battery, a button push on the fob will cause it to transmit an appropriate radio signal to the car. When key-less starting, the battery will provide power to the RFID transponder, and power the RF amplifier to allow a successful authentication whenever the fob is in the interior of the vehicle.

      In the event of a discharged or removed fob battery, there is a mechanical key concealed in the fob which can open the vehicle doors. By placing the fob directly on top of the "push-to-start" button, then transponder will be sufficiently energized by the car's antenna (which is concealed in the button) to complete an authentication transaction.

  3. I'm confused by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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?

    1. Re:I'm confused by Urban+Nightmare · · Score: 5, Informative

      If the keyless entry is in the 314mhz (thrid harmonic) range then it could possibly be interference. A poorly controlled oscillator can cause this.

    2. Re:I'm confused by Obfuscant · · Score: 5, Informative

      low-quality transmitters emit more on side-bands, IIUC

      "side bands" carry the information in the radio signal. They are created by the modulation of the carrier, and are what make the signal have "bandwidth". While a low quality transmitter may have some noise in the oscillator that appears as side-band information, it is probably not as much "in the side-bands" as a full power FCC licensed FM stereo radio station that has Muzak or other extended signals, also known as "SCA".

      It is the poor filtering of the low-quality transmitter that results in the emission of harmonics (third, fifth, etc.) from a non-linearity in the oscillator or the amplifiers. In this case, a third harmonic around 312 MHz, which is a common unlicensed control device frequency.

    3. Re:I'm confused by mpe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

    4. Re:I'm confused by sco08y · · Score: 4, Funny

      Nope: American cars can't stand reggae, much the same way Martians can't stand country music.

      On the contrary, the American cars were jammin, jammin, jammin, jammin right straight from yah.

  4. I'd bet on corroded antenna leads by ka9dgx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd bet it was corroded feedline or antenna connection not protected against the salt air. If it formed a diode, it would set up a strong 3rd harmonic right next to the 315 Mhz band used by keyless remotes according to Wikipedia. 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)

    1. Re:I'd bet on corroded antenna leads by Technician · · Score: 5, Informative

      Corrosion or a Class C power amplifier without an output resonant narrow band antenna or tuned tank. My bet would be home built transmitter with a Class C amplifier and lack of harmonic filtering.

      The rusty bolt can give some harmonic power but not nearly as much as an unfilterd power amplifier.

      Rusty bolt tends to be problems near a receiver such as a rusty downspout on a builting making a clean transmitter look bad to locals within a building. This is most often seen with Ham radio complaints where the ham is clean, but the TV in the apartment a block away is due to rusty guy wires or downspout on the apartment. IE the harmonic is generated in close proximity of the TV viewer a block away.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_C_amplifier#Class_C

      Class-C amplifiers conduct less than 50% of the input signal and the distortion at the output is high, but high efficiencies (up to 90%) are possible. The usual application for class-C amplifiers is in RF transmitters operating at a single fixed carrier frequency, where the distortion is controlled by a tuned load on the amplifier. The input signal is used to switch the active device causing pulses of current to flow through a tuned circuit forming part of the load.

      --
      The truth shall set you free!
  5. wow by geekoid · · Score: 4, Interesting

    " "We were blaming it on the police. The police were blaming it on the courthouse. We didn't know what was going on.""
    Maybe you should stop blaming people for things when you don't know what's going on?

    ""Something mystical was going on,""
    And there it is. people ascribe something as mystical and then they stop using their brain. This is why SCAMs* are dangerous. "It's energy and mysterious? well then I guess we can't find a real answer."
    This thing happens, and it's always in the same area. Clearly Aliens.

    "Most drivers were forced to read their owner's manual to learn how to access their manual key, Camara said."
    Sigh.

    *Supplements and Complementary and Alternative Medicines

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  6. Re:Illegal Radio Frequency jamming car locks? by big_e_1977 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The third harmonic of 104.7 is 314.1 Mhz. Keyless entry systems operate at 314.93 Mhz. The bootleg transmitter/antenna likely didn't have any filtering to reduce spurious emisions or harmonics.

  7. Re:Illegal Radio Frequency jamming car locks? by Technician · · Score: 5, Informative

    Having been in the industry (broadcast) the issue was not with the FM band transmission. The illegal transmitter was most likely home built, improperly adjusted, and lacking harmonic filters and a narrow band tuned antenna. Most transmitters do not run class A or Class AB amplification like a low distrotion audio amplifier, but in Class C a clipped mode transmission rich in harmonics for high energy effeciency (like a switched mode power supply) and the output is filtered with a resonant tuned tank circuit. If the bootleg transmitter was not tuned, or lacked the tuned tank and tuned resonant antenna, then he was not only broadcasting in the FM band but also providing lots of energy on harmonics of the fundemental.

    Fundimental is 104.7
    2nd harmonic is 209.4
    3rd harmonic is 314.1

    My car remote is in the 315 MHZ range and would be impacted by this. The FM signal is not a narrow band frequency as it is Frequency Modulated. It could easily overlap the range used by car remotes. Not getting into the car is only one issue. The second issue is the problem with the chip in the key for anti theft immobolization.

    --
    The truth shall set you free!
  8. Re:Illegal Radio Frequency jamming car locks? by Gordonjcp · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A lot of keyless entry systems work in the ISM frequencies around 433.920MHz - which is annoyingly close to one of the commonly-used 70cm channels around here.

    It's possible that he was using a UHF link to his TX site to avoid detection, somewhere around 433.9MHz.

  9. My Solution by Westwood0720 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Drive a shitty car with the doors unlocked and the key in the ignition. Worked for me for over a decade now!

    1. Re:My Solution by Nidi62 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I dunno... thieves aren't always the brightest bulbs in the box..

      Well, he was smart enough to leave the Pinto, wasn't he?

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  10. I guess it's true what they say.. by geekoid · · Score: 5, Funny

    104.7 FM brings you the best jams~

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  11. Jammin by PaddyM · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...

    We're jammin', we're jammin', we're jammin', we're jammin';
    Hope you like jammin', too.

    ...
    Credits to Bob Marley

  12. Pirate Caribbean radio? by erroneus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Anyone else finding this amusing?

  13. Say a prayer for me now by ischorr · · Score: 4, Funny

    '"At first I thought it was me," said Jacobson, who started to say a little prayer every time she tried to use her electronic key.'

    God: Messing with people's vehicles since 4000BC.

  14. Re:Illegal Radio Frequency jamming car locks? by Megane · · Score: 5, Funny

    And he would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling keys.

    --
    #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  15. Re:Illegal Radio Frequency jamming car locks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The illegal transmitter was most likely home built, improperly adjusted, and lacking harmonic filters and a narrow band tuned antenna. Most transmitters do not run class A or Class AB amplification like a low distrotion audio amplifier, but in Class C a clipped mode transmission rich in harmonics for high energy effeciency (like a switched mode power supply) and the output is filtered with a resonant tuned tank circuit. If the bootleg transmitter was not tuned, or lacked the tuned tank and tuned resonant antenna, then he was not only broadcasting in the FM band but also providing lots of energy on harmonics of the fundemental.

    Yes, but couldn't we just reverse the phase-charge polarity of the main deflector array, route the backup thermoquantum buffers through the primary energy manifold, and use a timed tachyon-gamma pulse to cancel out the interference?

  16. Re:Illegal Radio Frequency jamming car locks? by aevan · · Score: 4, Informative

    Four days after they removed the equipment, a man identifying himself as "Jay" left a message for a maintenance worker at the bank building, police say. When the worker returned the call, "Jay" asked if he'd taken his equipment. The answer: No, but the cops did. "

    ~From article

  17. Re:No thanks! by bws111 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  18. Re:Illegal Radio Frequency jamming car locks? by Obfuscant · · Score: 3, Informative

    And we know its a "HE" because?

    As someone else pointed out, because TFA said so.

    But lacking that, "he" is still the correct word because in the English language "he" is both a third-person pronoun referring to "a particular person who is a man" and a third-person pronoun referring to "a person of unknown gender". This is why people who use the pronoun "she" to demonstrate their "cultural sensitivity" are just confusing, because they have forced a gender specificity on the antecedent when none really exists. How do they know it was a woman? Those who understand the language are left trying to figure out why there is something specific to women involved, or why it matters.

    And those who use "he or she" are really saying "any person or a woman..."

  19. Re:No thanks! by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 4, Funny

    The majority of faults in all technology disappear when exposed to an engineer. Engineers exude technology friendly vibes. (And dont try to dance to Carribean music while putting the key in the slot, unless they are Jamaican, in which case no problem, man!)

    --
    Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  20. Re:Ballsy pirate... by skids · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In our area we have someone who's spliced a radio stations into the ground circuit for an entire city block. Makes it impossible to tone out wires at a few of our network racks -- we can't hear the trace tone over the salsa music.

  21. Re:Complexity is failure by WhatAreYouDoingHere · · Score: 3, Insightful
    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!

    --
    "What are you doing here, Elijah?"