Mystery signal in South Africa leaves suburb in a jam

A signal-jamming problem has left thousands of residents in the Blairgowrie, Randburg, area battling to work the remote control devices that operate their gates, garage doors, car alarms and security systems.

Residents remain mystified about the cause of the problem, which began on Tuesday and continued to "cause pandemonium" in the evening.

Community leader Bev Boswell, of Blairgowrie Residents Against Crime (Brac), said: "We have no idea what's causing this. We have people checking up, and it seems there could be a number of reasons for it.

"We started our investigations last night and had residents driving out to different points in the suburb to see where the problem is, and it appears to be scattered all over."

Boswell said that according to reports from residents, the signal jam appears to affect remote controls for electric gates, garage doors, security systems, garden beams and cars.

One resident said it appeared as though a new system had started transmitting at about 433MHz, the unlicensed frequency used for remote devices.

"It should not be used for burst communications and should not be constantly transmitting," the resident said, suggesting an inquiry into any new transmitter targeting Blairgowrie, a suburb of well over 3,000 households.

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