So I had a garage door opener installed. Is it just me, or does anyone else with one drive around town clicking the button to see if it opens anyone else’s door?
It’s just you.
Other people do it but usually they are looking for a house to rob.
Lot’s of people don’t lock the door between their house and garage.
One of my pet sitting clients was very upset with me for leaving her garage door open and I had never opened her garage door.
Then she found out it was a neighbors garage door opener.
I have no malicious intent, I guess it is more of a juvenile curiosity.
Well if you found one it opens you could drive the people nuts.
I once scared the hell out of myself with a TV remote.
I was sitting at a clients house and I didn’t know the remote for the family room TV would sometimes turn on the living room TV. When I walked in and saw the TV on I thought somebody else was in the house.
This reminded me of something. Back in college, I’m sitting in my friends dorm room, watching TV and I heard some really bizarre noise. A few minutes later, I heard it again and finally narrowed it down to happening when I adjusted the volume on the TV. It was coming from her old Mac.
The funny thing was, a few days earlier she had called me into her room to tell me that her computer had just randomly turned on (for the second time) and I honestly didn’t know what to tell her. At least now I had an explanation. For some odd reason, her computer (which was probably from 1990) had an IR receiver on the front and the power and volume buttons for her TV worked on the computer as well (turning the computer on (but not off) and adjusting the volume.
Must’ve been for some media/graphic/presentation package. We just about died laughing when we A)figured that out and B)heard that noise.
She almost never had the computer turned on which explained why we never heard the eep sound, as for why it had never turned on before. I don’t remember anymore. She probably had stuff piled up in front of the sensor or maybe the TV got moved to a place closer to the computer.
The very first openers worked exactly that way - they used an audio signal (think tuning fork) to activate.
Yes, burglars would cruise neighborhoods clicking at each door until one opened in a dark house.
And this is why having your electrical service where a passer-by can reach it is a really bad idea…
Bad guys go through the 'hood at night on holidays and throw the switch, then come back and see if any have not been reset. If the lights are off at 20:00, nobody’s home…
The older systems had a limited number of codes. The ones we used to have had these little rectangular punch cards with the code in the holes. You could orient the card in one of 4 different ways. To change the code you flipped the card on the remote and the opener to match. Both openers had different cards so there were several available. In the thousands.
I don’t think people were going around trying all codes. What I think they did was monitor and record the signal, then play it back while driving around. One of our doors started opening at random times and I suspect that was what was happening.
Disconnected it and then replaced it.
Modern systems have shifting codes: they don’t use the same code twice in a row. So capturing one doesn’t directly help in opening the door again.
It would be an extreme one-time-only fluke you your code at that time also opened someone else’s door at that time.
I had a buddy who had the same exact TV as mine. I use to have a lot of fun sneaking up to his house and changing channels and adjusting the volume when he left a window open.
Modern garage door opener signals are encrypted now and must be paired with the garage door receiver. It would be rather rare to be able to open another garage door.
I guess I need to upgrade my garage door opener. It’s been with the house since 2002 when I bought it…probably original equipment since 1989.
Last year, a new neighbor moved in. And I noticed my garage door opening when he came home from work and opened HIS garage door. I reprogrammed mine/rekeyed it to my remote, and haven’t had a problem since.