2.4 Ghz Jammers

[Tatcher]

Hey everyone,

Bit of a background story for you. I was out flying my RC planes on the weekend near Strathpine and ran into some radio troubles.
first time my mate was flying a rather nice P-40, when suddenly it went dead and refused to communicate with the TX.
it made a rather spectacular water nosedive and we went swimming.
We figured it must have been a dodgy/cheap RX (as the TX was a rather expensive one), so we decided to throw one of his smaller warbirds in the air instead (with a different TX & RX).
about 2 minutes later the exact same issue happened again, it was doing a right hand bank and lost communication and dived into the ground (being a foamie it disintergrated into a billion pieces).
We were dumbfounded, for two completely individual 2.4Ghz radio systems to fail simultaneously was almost unheard of.
I was flying my foam Pitts only 5 minutes earlier and had no such issues (other than a near miss with a bird)
My question to you guys is this, are there 2.4ghz jammers that lock out the whole spectrum out there? and if there are, are there legislations against this?

[Comint]

My question to you guys is this, are there 2.4ghz jammers that lock out the whole spectrum out there? and if there are, are there legislations against this?

It is probably a Grey area.

Jammers that affect Radiocommunications Devices, or the Radionavigation Satellite Service (RNSS), aka GPS, are illegal. By Radiocommunications Devices, they generally mean Mobile Phones.

Most Jammers lock out the whole band, NOT individual frequencies.

--
Comint

[Tatcher]

It is probably a Grey area.

Jammers that affect Radiocommunications Devices, or the Radionavigation Satellite Service (RNSS), aka GPS, are illegal. By Radiocommunications Devices, they generally mean Mobile Phones.

Most Jammers lock out the whole band, NOT individual frequencies.

You're right Comint, after some quick research I have found the relevant information on the ACMA website.
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_1296
so they are out there. why on earth they wanted to disrupt our flying in such a malicious way i dont know ... (they were electric planes so they arent noisy).
how frustrating

[Phantom]

Are you sure it was a jammer? Or not just bad luck with some interference or dodgy transmitter/receiver?

[Tatcher]

Are you sure it was a jammer? Or not just bad luck with some interference or dodgy transmitter/receiver?

Its very unlikely that 2 TX and RX fail simultaneously. both different brands too. i just find it hard to believe that 2 TX/RXs would fail at the same time after all these years of use. maybe could be a freak failure, who knows.
Its not as far fetched as what my mate believes. he reckons that because the Army did the landscaping for this park they have a secret installation underneath the ground that has jammers in case another country invades.

[bodyguard]

hey tatcher, where abouts were you flying near Strathpine ?

[Tatcher]

hey tatcher, where abouts were you flying near Strathpine ?

Was flying at the park where Kremzow Rd meets Gympie Rd. there is a nice open area there where the new Ampitheatre is and there is a steel structure there that makes a good control tower.

[scan88]

Could someone elsewhere be using 2GHz av video links, maybe a media outlet nearby? C Band satellite being transmitted (as the military does) could be an issue. I prefer lower freqs as the range increases and you can see an obvious reception issue whereas 2GHz is worse, it just looses reception and that's it, at least with lower freqs it patchy first. A close by ham radio user using the high GHz band could have done it too...

[Vkfour]

The bottom end of 2.4 gig is full of wi fi, burglar alarms, radio control, phones, baby minders, av links, you name it. Just about any wireless device is there. A little higher up is an amateur band and that can cause trouble for you too.

[chanjyj]

The bottom end of 2.4 gig is full of wi fi, burglar alarms, radio control, phones, baby minders, av links, you name it. Just about any wireless device is there. A little higher up is an amateur band and that can cause trouble for you too.

If you hit the amateur frequencies good luck. They were probably using parabolic/gridpak antennas which would have wiped out your receiver.

[Vkfour]

Mobile phones do not operate in this area of the band. On paper, some may appear to be rather close, but in actual fact, they are several hundred megahertz away. Phone jammers are illegal to use, to import and to possess, and Customs have locating them down to a fine art. There are a large number of devices operating in this area of the spectrum, and anything could have caused the problem, particularly in a reasonably built up and populated suburban area like Strathpine, and near a major arterial road as well.. My son-in-law is a mad keen RC flyer, and even out in the deep country, reasonably remote from towns, problems are encountered. The original commentator hasn't said whether or not this was a one of, or if there is a persistent problem. Also be aware that the RC radios of today are spread spectrum and if the receiver doesn't receive the transmitter signal, it will change frequencies.

[peteramjet]

My question to you guys is this, are there 2.4ghz jammers that lock out the whole spectrum out there? and if there are, are there legislations against this?

Jammers (despite definitely being illegal) are generally low power and therefore short range, so the chance of them having an effect on you in the middle of an oval is probably unlikely. It may be possible to get one more powerful, however concealing it would be difficult. Far more likely that the interference was from one of the many legitimate 2.4 GHz sources mentioned by others previously - probably a legitimate microwave link that your craft interrupted.