Dirtnaper

My Feedback: (11)

Well, my family member who is in corporate security enlightened me to the new art of jamming 2.4 ghz. Its actually becoming popular however I'm not sure how legal. They have installed a new 2.4 ghz and cell phone jammer in thier office. It blocks the entire 2.4 spectrum and all cell phone bands. The range is adjustable but the power seems to be quite a bit more than advertised. I guess they are becoming more popular for corporate security because they had a 3mo wait to get the unit which is about the size of a car stereo amp with a few antennas. It also controls personal cell/txt usage amongst cube rats. Wouldnt mind having one at home....When Dad says your grounded from it he means it! Fore more research just search for 2.4 ghz jammers.

Anyway for those who fly electric in and near industrial parks, look out. (it stomps out a JR pretty easy at low power way across a huge parking lot)

Dirtnaper

My Feedback: (11)

I guess jamming the 2.4 ghz is a grey area of legality of the cell phone bands is No No. I cant believe the corporate world is so entangled espionage. He told me his last employer had their boardroom and their flight department swept for bugs before board meetings and found them on several occasions.

JohnW

My Feedback: (6)

It is not grey, it is illegal. Jamming any frequency is illegal in the states. Prison time and $10K+ fines. Jamming public bands like 2.4 is illegal because the jamming denies the public use of those frequencies, i.e. it is theft of the public band.

TFF

Illegal device probably imported from Japan where they use them in movie theaters and such. Not legal in the US, but I read about people bringing them in. One scam was they would block the cell phone use but have a bank of pay phones available to make money.

carrellh

Cell phone conversations, and texting, are extremely annoying inside a movie theater. That is one of the few locations where I think signal jamming should be legal.

dawg3

well if the jammer is solely on their property and does not extend any further i do not have a problem with it.
if they need the security of this feature more power to them.
now if it affects businesses next door then there is a problem.

man i wish we had one at my work. between the 4 younger guys there i am guess there are a bout 400 total texts a day between them. im tired of hearing text notification beeps/rings

Silent-AV8R

This little tidbit from the FCC might be of interest.

http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/ind..._2&id=cellular

Which states:

dawg3

i looks liek that is talking about radio stations or tv stations not cell phone or 2.4ghz freq.

fizzwater2

My Feedback: (61)

I wouldn't think it applies only to radio and TV stations - our use of the 2.4 GHz band is "authorized" under the FCC rules, so it would classify as an authorized use.

Silent-AV8R

The FCC rules apply to ALL radio transmissions since there are none that are not in some manner "authorized" by the FCC.

There was an incident several years ago with a guy shooting down models out here in California. He was prosecuted under the Federal statues noted above.

It is plain and simple, jamming devices are illegal in the US. Period.

And regardless of that, all our model stuff, cell phones, etc. ALL operate under FCC authorization. So again, there is no getting around it, jammers are not legal.

Another article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/te.../04jammer.html

JohnW

My Feedback: (6)

The term "station" does not mean radio or tv station, but a transmitting station, which could be a cell tower, cell phone, wireless device, etc. Yes, everyone is authorized to use the 2.4 band as it is a public band, but you still must adhere to the rules that allow your use of this band, which are clearly set in the FCC regs. You cannot legally jam the 2.4 band, or any other band for that matter. I suppose if it only effect the properties you own, the FCC could care less. Bu unless you have a faraday cage, that will be hard to do. And if you have a Faraday cage, you don't need the jammer anyway as nothing is getting out. Both my parents work(ed, one retired) for FCC monitoring stations, one EE the other organized the sting operations and wrote the docs for the gov lawyers to use during prosecution. I can double check on the fines for jamming 2.4 if you like.

Silent-AV8R

No need, I think the FCC is very clear as I noted above:


And if you don't think the FCC cares, look at the article I linked above where they talk about the FCC monitoring teams going after a restaurant for having a jammer. And if you want some real fun, look up the case of Jack Gerritsen.

Here is one link:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/09/19/100/

rmh

I would think that a artfully designed piece of security hardware for the home - could possibly suffer a defect which effectively kills 2.4 for short distances
"sorry, I did not know it was defective".

modeltronics

My Feedback: (27)

I do know of several churches using these devices right now.

I was just asked about these devices at work by my boss (large international electronics company). I did a couple of web searches and could find many places they could be purchased. I also found that they were not legal. When I reported back that they were not legal the company did not want anything to do with them. The reason they were interested in getting one in the first place is that people would go sit in the bathroom for long periods of time and sending text messages from a cell phone. That had to be the funniest thing I heard all week.

Pete

Silent-AV8R

You might let them know that they are violating Federal Law. You would hope that a place that alleges to provide you with a moral compass would set a good example and not openly flaunt the law.

LSF2298

My Feedback: (4)

My guess is they would be smart enough to discover the "artful design". They might not fine you the first time
but you surely wouldn't want to get caught again. They just love repeat offenders. Some time when you are looking
to kill some time, go to http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/ and read some of the cases.

Carpilot

I could not find the article, but there was a church that got busted for installing just such a jamming device. Apparently whoever was in charge at the church was irritated by peoples phones and their bluetooth stuff and installed it. I would think asking that they be turned off would have been a better choice.

I never heard the outcome of the case but at the time of the article the operator of the illegal device was facing some pretty hefty fines.

Dirtnaper

My Feedback: (11)

According to what I have come up with is that you own and control the airspace which exist inside your structure. The only thing that is against the law jamming freq outside of that "private space". After looking up the above mentioned laws I could help but notice the lack of the word "possession". A Church may be considered public since its open to the public but a private office is a whole different story.

Im just surprised in fact I had NO idea such things existed. (well not in the civilian market). NOW! When I go into an office building or something and my cell phone all of a sudden flat lines 10 sec after I had full signal I have to wonder a little bit. I know they are not 2.4 but some of these things will do both.

JohnW

My Feedback: (6)

You own the RF within your private property… how did you surmise that one? NO.

You do not own any of the RF spectrum in the US, including the photons bouncing around inside your private space. Using any type of jammer anywhere in the US, incluing inside your own personal property, is illegal. There is no grey area here.

Any device over a total output of 100mw (very small), regardless of whether the device can be detected outside of private building walls, is illegal to operate without a license, period. In addition, RF radiators also need type certification, which they would never get if they were jamming devices, again making jammers of any type illegal. Operating a device that needed type certification, even if the device’s RF is contained within private walls, is illegal. Specifically blocking any radio band is also considered theft, i.e. it is illegal. It doesn’t matter if the blocking only occurs within private property you own. While it is true the jamming devices are not illegal to possess, they are illegal to market and use on multiple levels. So any company or individual that markets or uses these devices within the US is breaking federal regulations. The sale and use of jammers are perused on a regular basis. I just confirmed this by contacting the FCC field monitoring station in New Orleans, LA. I was given two recent examples of this, one where a reseller was issued a citation for selling the jammers and another where a business was issued a citation for using a jammer.

tkilwein

If you know of a jammer user, call the FCC and claim the reward.

conexn

If someone wants to jam 2.4Ghz and more use a microwave... Have you ever tried to use your house phone, bluetooth, etc... when your microwave is running? It does not work at all usually with a little leakage while in use. All you would have to do is open the door, fix the sensor to fool the switch thinking the door is closed and punch in what ever amount of time you like just about. But if I get jammed being within 30' to 50' with it being shielded I cannot imagine how far it would kill the signal then, 1200watts I would think would kill it for at least a city block.

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

I tried sitting my 2.4 system on the top of my microwave with the door open and the interlock shorted out. I did this because of a poster screaming that my system would go into failsafe due to "leaking" microwaves. It worked just fine. At least my system works with my microwave.

Blendzall

You guys do know that cell phones don't operate on 2.4Ghz, right?

You might jam a 2.4Ghz signal, but not with a cell phone jammer.

conexn

I have purchased one of these devices to check if it will really jam the RC 2.4Ghz systems and I am sad to say it will. This thig will knock out your system causing it to go into fail safe when you are at equal distance from the aircraft, when the distance is greater from the transmitter you completely loose control. It worked on every 2.4Ghz, Spread Spectrum system out, even Futaba's hopping one because it covers every channel there is, nothing will work. There are serveral models, the one that works the best is the one that is for Bluetooth / Wifi. This thing is palm size, will fit into your pocket and you would never know it is there, you would have to search everybody that came close to your flying field and with a few mods you can increase the range of this thing to a easy 1 to 12 miles depending on how much the person wants to spend.

zero244

My Feedback: (1)

That is scary........someone could take a small jamming device and set it up inside there car at a flying field and shoot everyone down.
Causing thousands in damages in just minutes.
Maybe RC Cars is a better hobby.