ham Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Just a thought could your key fob have been blocked by a Radio signal. Some years ago a car transporter with Brand new VW cars was delivering to a dealer in Cardiff. The driver could not off load the cars as they could not unlock then with the key fobs When the driver took the cars back to the supplier lo and behold they could open the cars. So the transporter returned to Cardiff and yes they could not unlock the cars. So they took the transporter to another of the VW dealers in Newport and there they could unlock the cars. After much investigation they found that there was a radio signal on the same frequencies 433MHZ as the key fobs causing radio interference near to the garage in Cardiff. In this Month’s Radio the article is headed 433 MHz radio Keys and Video senders Residents in a road in Southampton found that their key fobs would not unlock their cars at home but could at work and elswhere.Thes licence exempt short range devices share part of the 433-440 Amateur band with Radio Amateur’s and the primary user but they are not protected from Interference by law that is the Key fob holder. In this case, the source was a transmitter but not a licenced one. Ofcom inspectors found that the interference was caused by transmissions from a Home video sender. Details were not given but the only video senders approved for licence exempt use in the UK operate around 2.4GHz. UHF 434Mhz video transmitters are available in the UK from a number of suppliers In the USA you have to have a licence to use one of these devices at your home without proof of a license you will not be sold one. However in the UK they can be bought, but again not used unless you have an amateur radio licence, but no proof required here in the UK on Purchase. You could have been experiencing this kind of radio interference problem the owner could have turned off the sender hence you can now use your key fob again. There are hot spots around the UK were interference to key fobs are a problem close to Aircraft Radar or ship to shore radar. There have been reports at or near airports and sea ports. Also LEDs can cause interference if they are not manufactured to the European spec on EMC or RFI. I have experience the problem at Dover so years ago, I could not unlock my Rover 75 using the Key fob I had to unlock the door with the key I had .When I got to France no Problems, Until I returned to the Calais Port on the way home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwaviation Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 All working perfectly now... :-D 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Just got back from a second Fiat dealer who confirmed that my X250 does not have deadlocks option :'( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.