Sidebar Sidebar
  • You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.

Can a home security system interfere w/ Coast Guard communications?

C

caulkins

Member
Sep 21, 2008
3
0
11
My parents live on the Oregon coast. Recently they had a visit from a man who claimed his company was contacted by the FCC because something at my parents' address was interfering with Coast Guard communications. The man thought their security system was to blame. My parents told him he'd have to take the matter up with ADT.

I'm wondering: Has anyone heard of a home security system interfering with marine communications? Does the FCC hire private companies to deal with this sort of thing?
 

I suppose it's possible, but the interfering signal would have to be a lot stronger, I'd think, than what a typical security system would require.

I'd think your folks did just the right thing by referring these guys to the folks who installed and who maintain the security system. Keep us posted as to any follow-ups.

By the way, where on the Oregon coast? Astoria or North Bend would be my guesses for CG stations. I lived in Reedsport for about 8 months in '86 on a Navy minesweeper repair job.
 
1) Why wouldn't the Coasties just send a representative themselves?
2) How did they narrow it down to your folks house? I am sure they aren't the only ones with a security system in the vicinity of the station..
3) Never heard of any security system that affected anything like that.

I think it was some guy in an elaborate scheme to get your folks to shut off their system then leave the house and he will then come in and rob them blind. He then hopes the finger of blame will be pointed at the USCG anf The FCC and throw the law off his trail long enough to get away.
 
Something does not sound quite right here. What was the company name that the guy claimed to be from? Usually the FCC handles this thing directly. I also doubt the guy wanted to hope the finger of blame would be pointed at the USCG and The FCC and throw the law off his trail long enough to get away after he robbed the place. How could the USCG or the FCC be blamed for a theft unless they did it themselves. :D I have ADT Security in my house and they do use some wireless sensors for doors,smoke and motion detectors as well as the wireless entry control.I highly doubt that it was making it all the way to the USCG base four miles away however.I would think that if something happened to the frequency control of the sensor the system should register a fault as having lost communication between a sensor and the control panel.Strange thinge have happened before however.A buddy of mine was cited years ago for transmitting on a coast guard monitored marine frequency. They tracked him down by his ham callsign. He was about two miles away from the base talking on his Kenwood TM-251 on 2m and it had a spur in the marine band. He was told to fix it or stop using it. He sent it Kenwood and it came back without the spur.In this case we are dealing with a 50 watt radio and not a milliwatt sensor however.
 
caulkins,
I think you've gotten the idea at this point that something wasn't quite as 'above-board' about all that as it could have been. I think your parents would be smart if they advised the authorities about their visitor. Their security company too, for that matter. It would be interesting to see how many other 'visits' people may have had about the same thing.
- 'Doc
 
...yeah, but, then what would he have blamed it all on? Another thought is that this could be one way he could get them to turn the security system off!
- 'Doc


Any 'scam' depends on lack of knowledge about something. Certainly doesn't mean the 'scammer' is smart, just that he/she thought of a different 'angle' to take advantage of someone else not knowing much about something. ... @#$, sounds like a politician, don't it??
 
QRN said:
Something does not sound quite right here. What was the company name that the guy claimed to be from? Usually the FCC handles this thing directly. I also doubt the guy wanted to hope the finger of blame would be pointed at the USCG and The FCC and throw the law off his trail long enough to get away after he robbed the place. How could the USCG or the FCC be blamed for a theft unless they did it themselves. :D I have ADT Security in my house and they do use some wireless sensors for doors,smoke and motion detectors as well as the wireless entry control.I highly doubt that it was making it all the way to the USCG base four miles away however.I would think that if something happened to the frequency control of the sensor the system should register a fault as having lost communication between a sensor and the control panel.Strange thinge have happened before however.A buddy of mine was cited years ago for transmitting on a coast guard monitored marine frequency. They tracked him down by his ham callsign. He was about two miles away from the base talking on his Kenwood TM-251 on 2m and it had a spur in the marine band. He was told to fix it or stop using it. He sent it Kenwood and it came back without the spur.In this case we are dealing with a 50 watt radio and not a milliwatt sensor however.
Click to expand...


Not that the finger of blame would be pointed there for long but if what he told the people was mentioned to the police after the burglary then they would follow up on that false lead, buying him a little time.
 
although not impossible
it is highly unlikely to cause such interference

this is 99.999999 % scam

too bad your parents didn't call the cops on them
 
What next?? It just chaps my @$$ to see how far a con will go to get what he wants if this is indeed and it sounds like a scam or setup. I would tell ADT and have them ask or contact other cutomers in the rural area about this and maybe others have been visited by this guy. You could even contact the coastguard about it and see what they say. I would have gotten a card or the guys number before he left and if he had none to give Ide have call police as soon as he started this and hopefully had him checked before he could get out of the area. Or a plate number would also help follow him to his gettaway I mean vehicle. This is more fishy than a can of sardines.
 
When someone fails to present me with ID or at least a business card and tell me their name I could care less what they have to say or claim.If they represent themselves as some form of authority such as police or government official then they had better show me some photo ID or be willing to deal with me and my dog. Speaking of that,it's federal election time up here too. My dog is getting a real workout everytime the doorbell rings. (y)
 

dxChat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.


      Top Bottom
      Back