garage door opener

[Alec]

hi i have a question about a garage door opener first i want to know how to
make the antenna thats built into the circut board longer. so how can i do
this because when i took it apart it looked like it had 3 antennas but it
only opens 2 doors. can u please help.


thanks,

alec





--
Alec

 

[Doordoc]

"Alec" <smartalec87@mindspring.com> wrote in message news:<bh919q$592$1@slb4.atl.mindspring.net>...

hi i have a question about a garage door opener first i want to know how to
make the antenna thats built into the circut board longer. so how can i do
this because when i took it apart it looked like it had 3 antennas but it
only opens 2 doors. can u please help.


thanks,

alec

Are you talking about the receiver or the remote? The receiver has one
antenna regardless how many doors it opens. The remote is a
transmitter so it doesn't have any antennas, regardless of how many
doors it can open. Not sure what you are trying to do, but lenghtening
the antenna on the receiver is not going to increase the range. In the
USA the frequency & the range they work fall under FCC regulations and
they highly frown (as in against the law) upon people tampering with
them.

 

[William P.N. Smith]

doordoc@prodigy.net (Doordoc) wrote:

"Alec" <smartalec87@mindspring.com> wrote:
hi i have a question about a garage door opener first i want to know how to
make the antenna thats built into the circut board longer. so how can i do
this because when i took it apart it looked like it had 3 antennas but it
only opens 2 doors. can u please help.

Are you talking about the receiver or the remote?

That's a good question.

The receiver has one
antenna regardless how many doors it opens.

Usually there's one receiver per door, built into the motor housing.

The remote is a
transmitter so it doesn't have any antennas, regardless of how many
doors it can open.

Well, it has an antenna (probably on the circuit board, but maybe a
coil of wire), or it wouldn't be transmitting.

Not sure what you are trying to do, but lenghtening
the antenna on the receiver is not going to increase the range.

Well, actually, it very well might. Look for a short wire coming out
of the motor housing, and try lengthening it. Receive antennas on
cheap receivers aren't very critically matched, and extending it can
get it out from behind various shields (like the aformenentioned motor
and it's housing).

In the
USA the frequency & the range they work fall under FCC regulations and
they highly frown (as in against the law) upon people tampering with
them.

The FCC doesn't care if you make your receive antenna better, but they
do frown on modifying transmitters for higher power or better
antennas.

The folks in rec.ham will tell you more than you want to know about
the subject..

--
William Smith wpns@compusmiths.com N1JBJ@amsat.org
ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc. www.compusmiths.com

 

[Dbowey]

doordoc posted:

"Alec" <smartalec87@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:<bh919q$592$1@slb4.atl.mindspring.net>...
hi i have a question about a garage door opener first i want to know how
to
make the antenna thats built into the circut board longer. so how can
i do
this because when i took it apart it looked like it had 3 antennas but
it
only opens 2 doors. can u please help.


thanks,

alec

Are you talking about the receiver or the remote? The receiver has one
antenna regardless how many doors it opens. The remote is a
transmitter so it doesn't have any antennas, regardless of how many
doors it can open. Not sure what you are trying to do, but lenghtening
the antenna on the receiver is not going to increase the range. In the
USA the frequency & the range they work fall under FCC regulations and
they highly frown (as in against the law) upon people tampering with
them.
-----------------

Time to go back to door school, doordoc.

Yes, the remote is a transmitter, but it does have 1 antennna of some sort,
whether it is obvious or not.

No, the receiver antenna is not subject to ANY FCC regulations. He can muck
with it till hell freezes over and the FCC will not care.

Don

 

[Dbowey]

wpns posted, in part:

Usually there's one receiver per door, built into the
motor housing.

I bet that more often there is one receiver/decoder for multiple doors, and
there is low-voltage wiring between the ONE decoder to each of the doors to be
controlled.

Don

 

[William P.N. Smith]

dbowey@aol.com (Dbowey) wrote:

wpns posted, in part:
Usually there's one receiver per door, built into the
motor housing.

I bet that more often there is one receiver/decoder for multiple doors, and
there is low-voltage wiring between the ONE decoder to each of the doors to be
controlled.

Not that it can't exist, but I've never seen this, and have a hard
time imagining where it would gain you anything. Can you point to
such a product?

--
William Smith wpns@compusmiths.com N1JBJ@amsat.org
ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc. www.compusmiths.com

 

[Lizard Blizzard]

Dbowey wrote:

doordoc posted:

"Alec" <smartalec87@mindspring.com> wrote in message

news:<bh919q$592$1@slb4.atl.mindspring.net>...

hi i have a question about a garage door opener first i want to know how

to

make the antenna thats built into the circut board longer. so how can

i do

this because when i took it apart it looked like it had 3 antennas but

it

only opens 2 doors. can u please help.


thanks,

alec

Are you talking about the receiver or the remote? The receiver has one
antenna regardless how many doors it opens. The remote is a
transmitter so it doesn't have any antennas, regardless of how many
doors it can open. Not sure what you are trying to do, but lenghtening
the antenna on the receiver is not going to increase the range. In the
USA the frequency & the range they work fall under FCC regulations and
they highly frown (as in against the law) upon people tampering with
them.

-----------------
Time to go back to door school, doordoc.

Yes, the remote is a transmitter, but it does have 1 antennna of some sort,
whether it is obvious or not.

No, the receiver antenna is not subject to ANY FCC regulations. He can muck
with it till hell freezes over and the FCC will not care.

Probably makes things worse, too. Assuming that the antenna is cut for
the Tx frequency, making it longer will cause it to resonate at a lower
frequency, which might make it more difficult for the receiver.

Don

--
----------------(from OED Mini-Dictionary)-----------------
PUNCTUATION - Apostrophe
Incorrect uses: (i) the apostrophe must not be used with a plural
where there is no possessive sense, as in ~tea's are served here~;
(ii) there is no such word as ~her's, our's, their's, your's~.

Confusions: it's = it is or it has (not 'belonging to it'); correct
uses are ~it's here~ (= it is here); ~it's gone~ (= it has gone);
but ~the dog wagged its tail~ (no apostrophe).
----------------(For the Apostrophe challenged)----------------
From a fully deputized officer of the Apostrophe Police!

<<Spammers use Weapons of Mass Distraction!>>

I bought some batteries, but they weren't included,
so I had to buy them again.
-- Steven Wright

FOR SALE: Nice parachute: never opened - used once.

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..

 

[Dbowey]

William posted:
<< Not that it can't exist, but I've never seen this, and have a hard
time imagining where it would gain you anything. Can you point to
such a product? >>
-------------

Yes; here's one example......

Alister has two and three door controls using a single receiver.

It gains a lower cost. That influenced my purchase when my latest home was
built. I had several to choose from.

Don

 

[Doordoc]

dbowey@aol.com (Dbowey) wrote in message news:<20030812133646.13432.00000290@mb-m27.aol.com>...

doordoc posted:
"Alec" <smartalec87@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:<bh919q$592$1@slb4.atl.mindspring.net>...
hi i have a question about a garage door opener first i want to know how
to
make the antenna thats built into the circut board longer. so how can
i do
this because when i took it apart it looked like it had 3 antennas but
it
only opens 2 doors. can u please help.


thanks,

alec

Are you talking about the receiver or the remote? The receiver has one
antenna regardless how many doors it opens. The remote is a
transmitter so it doesn't have any antennas, regardless of how many
doors it can open. Not sure what you are trying to do, but lenghtening
the antenna on the receiver is not going to increase the range. In the
USA the frequency & the range they work fall under FCC regulations and
they highly frown (as in against the law) upon people tampering with
them.
-----------------
Time to go back to door school, doordoc.

Yes, the remote is a transmitter, but it does have 1 antennna of some sort,
whether it is obvious or not.

No, the receiver antenna is not subject to ANY FCC regulations. He can muck
with it till hell freezes over and the FCC will not care.

Don

Ok, some of you got me on the definition of an antenna and my lesson
is learned.
{I must have been out sick that day }

By reading his post I would have to assume that he is referring to an
older transmitter (maybe 20+ years) since I do not see anything on a
newer transmitter that I would think that they would look like three
antennas. Some of the older two-button transmitters did have 3 tuning
coils (1 main coil for the main freq & 1 other separate coil for each
button) & I would guess that is what he was referring to looking like
antennas. So yes the audio coil would be the antenna also, but not a
part that you are going to easily lenghten.

It's not very likely he was referring to a receiver since they do
normally actually have a wire antenna coming off the unit & and it is
highly unlikely his would have three wires hanging off of it, but it
never hurts to ask for clarification.

Yes most newer residential openers have the receiver built-in, but
most of the older residential openers & almost all commercial openers
do not & are outside of the unit. He did not state the age or type of
the unit. Many times we have used one multi-channel receiver (one
receiver with separate relays for up to 4 doors)on garage doors to
eliminate the problem of multi receivers interfering & blocking out
each other, especially on older units. Occassionally we still have to
do it on new openers & disconnect the built in receivers by clipping
resistors to turn them off.

While lengthening the antenna seems to be logical, usually the problem
is not the receiver output strength, but the short range is actually
caused by outside interference. (Satellite dishes, police scanners, &
ham radios for instance)
Therefore making the antenna longer will not solve anything and may
actually make it worse. I have seen people try lengthening them on
numerous occassions & I have never in 25+ years seen where this has
improved the range on a garage door type receiver.

However, as I stated at the beginning of this post I believe that he
is actually planning to alter a transmitter that is controlled by the
FCC.

Doordoc
www.doordoc.com

 

[Alec]

sorry i seem to have some people confused i have a garage door TRANSMITTER
that i bought a few days ago and i opened it up and looked at it and i dont
see any coiled up wire or any thing. if you want i can send you a pic.

Doordoc <doordoc@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:63b5749d.0308122027.5203cb80@posting.google.com...

dbowey@aol.com (Dbowey) wrote in message
news:<20030812133646.13432.00000290@mb-m27.aol.com>...
doordoc posted:
"Alec" <smartalec87@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:<bh919q$592$1@slb4.atl.mindspring.net>...
hi i have a question about a garage door opener first i want to know
how
to
make the antenna thats built into the circut board longer. so how can
i do
this because when i took it apart it looked like it had 3 antennas
but
it
only opens 2 doors. can u please help.


thanks,

alec

Are you talking about the receiver or the remote? The receiver has one
antenna regardless how many doors it opens. The remote is a
transmitter so it doesn't have any antennas, regardless of how many
doors it can open. Not sure what you are trying to do, but lenghtening
the antenna on the receiver is not going to increase the range. In the
USA the frequency & the range they work fall under FCC regulations and
they highly frown (as in against the law) upon people tampering with
them.
-----------------
Time to go back to door school, doordoc.

Yes, the remote is a transmitter, but it does have 1 antennna of some
sort,
whether it is obvious or not.

No, the receiver antenna is not subject to ANY FCC regulations. He can
muck
with it till hell freezes over and the FCC will not care.

Don

Ok, some of you got me on the definition of an antenna and my lesson
is learned.
{I must have been out sick that day }

By reading his post I would have to assume that he is referring to an
older transmitter (maybe 20+ years) since I do not see anything on a
newer transmitter that I would think that they would look like three
antennas. Some of the older two-button transmitters did have 3 tuning
coils (1 main coil for the main freq & 1 other separate coil for each
button) & I would guess that is what he was referring to looking like
antennas. So yes the audio coil would be the antenna also, but not a
part that you are going to easily lenghten.

It's not very likely he was referring to a receiver since they do
normally actually have a wire antenna coming off the unit & and it is
highly unlikely his would have three wires hanging off of it, but it
never hurts to ask for clarification.

Yes most newer residential openers have the receiver built-in, but
most of the older residential openers & almost all commercial openers
do not & are outside of the unit. He did not state the age or type of
the unit. Many times we have used one multi-channel receiver (one
receiver with separate relays for up to 4 doors)on garage doors to
eliminate the problem of multi receivers interfering & blocking out
each other, especially on older units. Occassionally we still have to
do it on new openers & disconnect the built in receivers by clipping
resistors to turn them off.

While lengthening the antenna seems to be logical, usually the problem
is not the receiver output strength, but the short range is actually
caused by outside interference. (Satellite dishes, police scanners, &
ham radios for instance)
Therefore making the antenna longer will not solve anything and may
actually make it worse. I have seen people try lengthening them on
numerous occassions & I have never in 25+ years seen where this has
improved the range on a garage door type receiver.

However, as I stated at the beginning of this post I believe that he
is actually planning to alter a transmitter that is controlled by the
FCC.

Doordoc
www.doordoc.com

 

[Doordoc]

"Alec" <smartalec87@mindspring.com> wrote in message news:<bhcfi9$44h$1@slb4.atl.mindspring.net>...

sorry i seem to have some people confused i have a garage door TRANSMITTER
that i bought a few days ago and i opened it up and looked at it and i dont
see any coiled up wire or any thing. if you want i can send you a pic.

Sorry, but I can not help you alter a transmitter.
Doordoc

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Dbowey wrote:

Alister has two and three door controls using a single receiver.

It gains a lower cost. That influenced my purchase when my latest home was
built. I had several to choose from.

Don

And if the one receiver dies, you can't open any of the doors with
the remote. I serviced some multiple door controls for a fire house, and
they insisted on separate receivers, per bay. The transmitters in the
fire truck had four buttons, so they could open any pair of doors, in
case of a transmitter failure in a single truck.
--


Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Alec]

im sorry i don't understand i just want to make my garage door opener open
better from inside the car. so i was wondering if i could just make a longet
antenna because i also have the original opener and it goes twice the new
one. so can someone explane why this is illigel.

Doordoc <doordoc@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:63b5749d.0308131625.6e614d37@posting.google.com...

"Alec" <smartalec87@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:<bhcfi9$44h$1@slb4.atl.mindspring.net>...
sorry i seem to have some people confused i have a garage door
TRANSMITTER
that i bought a few days ago and i opened it up and looked at it and i
dont
see any coiled up wire or any thing. if you want i can send you a pic.

Sorry, but I can not help you alter a transmitter.
Doordoc

 

Alec wrote:

im sorry i don't understand i just want to make my garage door opener open
better from inside the car. so i was wondering if i could just make a longet
antenna because i also have the original opener and it goes twice the new
one. so can someone explane why this is illigel.

1) Altering the transmitter antenna will NOT help, and
it WILL hurt in terms of the range. The antenna is
is an integral part of your transmitter, most likely
consisting of a trace of copper on the PC board.
2) Lengthening the receive antenna MIGHT help or it MIGHT
hurt. But since your old transmitter worked twice as far
away as your new one, it is logical to believe that it is
the new transmitter that is at fault, not the receiver.
3) It is illegal per FCC regulations to modify the transmitter.

One more point - sometimes the tuning in these units
is *extremely* touchy. If your new unit is ever so
slightly mis-tuned, it can cut down the range. That
might be the reason why your new unit works only
1/2 as far away as your old unit. If that is the case,
you'll need a technician with the proper equipment to
adjust it properly. Since you just bought it a couple
of days ago, take it back and have them replace it or
adjust it.