Garage door opener remote control rip off

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164 posts

Master Geek
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Topic # 65086 29-Jul-2010 12:09

I needed a new remote control door unit for my garage door and naively went to the garage door specialist for a new one. It cost me $130. I thought this was way over the top. It's just a small plastic device with a dip switch, push button, circuit board and battery, made in China for well under $10 I bet.

I looked up TradeMe when I got home. No one selling them there. I looked up eBay.com.au. Plenty being sold there for a range of prices, all of them substantially less than what I paid. I even found a retailer in the U.S. with a big range for sale, the vast majority of them at less than $20 US.

So I now feel as though I have been ripped off big time. The only thing I need to know before I purchase is what frequency the remote control operates at. And of course there is nothing on the old remote or the door door opener itself to tell me this, strange I thought. But even so I could have purchased both the two of the main options (315 MHz and 390 MHz) and thrown one away and I would still have been better off financially.

Does anyone know of a better way to find out what frequency the remote works at?

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2491 posts

Uber Geek
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Reply # 358289 29-Jul-2010 12:20

What brand/model of garage door opener? Some use obsolete frequencies and need a receiver as well as the remote.

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164 posts

Master Geek
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Reply # 358306 29-Jul-2010 12:31

The door opener main unit is AHI B&D. The old remote control is B&D, the new one is Parker.

BlakJak

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Ultimate Geek
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Reply # 358314 29-Jul-2010 12:39

It's not just frequency. They also need to be 'coded', and not all remotes are created equal.
However I agree it's probably a bit of a captive market.

I just moved into a rental with an automatic garage door (only one remote).
I asked at a local Mr Minute what it'd cost for a new remote (second).
They need the original to check,but could be anything from $70 to $270 depending on type, is what they told me.

I havn't gone back with the remote as of yet, and intend to investigate myself. My door is locally supplied so I am going to try their distributor first...

BJ.
PS: Remote probably operates ~432Mhz. A scanner with close call technology could give you the exact freq, if you're lucky.

This would be me...

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164 posts

Master Geek
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Reply # 358322 29-Jul-2010 12:48

It's not as compilcated as it might at first appear. My garage door opener is from 1995 and the signal encoding is via a 8-setting DIP switch. I have already set that correctly because it is just a matter of reading the old setting off the old remote control or off the main unit. Finding the frequency is all I have to contend with.

Here is some more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garage_door_opener

Check out the external links there for more information too.

Bung

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Uber Geek
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Reply # 359093 30-Jul-2010 00:09

Have you got the $130 one working? There are several garage door specialists eg Dorman with NZ sites. None charge that much for any remote unless it's the Merlin kit to replace an old 27MHz remote.
Parker and B&D or Garador don't seem to use same freqs 303 vs 433

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164 posts

Master Geek
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Reply # 359805 30-Jul-2010 12:54

Bung: Have you got the $130 one working? There are several garage door specialists eg Dorman with NZ sites. None charge that much for any remote unless it's the Merlin kit to replace an old 27MHz remote.
Parker and B&D or Garador don't seem to use same freqs 303 vs 433

Yes, the $130 new remote is working just fine.

heavenlywild

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Reply # 359808 30-Jul-2010 12:56

Yeah these things are expensive. I had to replace mine a year or so back. Bought it from Mitre 10 for just over $100 too.

robbyp

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Reply # 360879 31-Jul-2010 23:37

login: The door opener main unit is AHI B&D. The old remote control is B&D, the new one is Parker.

Sounds like I had the exactly same experience with the same brand, although I think I was only charged $80, which still seemed a lot. These parker openers are all generic, in that you can easily change the code inside them with the sliders. As they are now almost obsolete due to being an old technology, these garage door companies can basically charge what they want, as they are the only source in NZ, so no competition. You can probably pick them up offshore a lot cheaper.

Our new garge door came with heaps of different remotes with it, so I won't have that problem again.

richms

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Reply # 361224 1-Aug-2010 22:12

Or get a seperate reciver and remote combo off ebay. My old opener had 3 terminals on it for connecting stuff to with power, ground and a signal wire. Rolling code now too, but there is still the old fixed code reciver in the opener so I turn it off when not wanting to use it since it is so insecure.

Richard rich.ms

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Master Geek
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Reply # 366350 11-Aug-2010 17:24

I finally discovered the remote control for my garage door opener operates at a frequency of 303 MHz. This appears to be fairly standard for many pre-2000 door opener models. The DIP switches are also a good indicator of this type. So now I can go out and buy a more reasonably priced remote.

robbyp

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Reply # 366373 11-Aug-2010 18:25

login: I finally discovered the remote control for my garage door opener operates at a frequency of 303 MHz. This appears to be fairly standard for many pre-2000 door opener models. The DIP switches are also a good indicator of this type. So now I can go out and buy a more reasonably priced remote.

Garador sell them but when I got mine a few years ago it was about $80. It depends on how much you value your time, as you can probably find somewhere offshore that will sell you it, but I don't think they would be making them anymore, so the stock that businesses have are probably a bulk lot they have got in storage for when peoples break.

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Master Geek
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Reply # 366436 11-Aug-2010 20:32

Yep, that's who I got mine from and the price they charged me was $130. I located a remote control with three buttons that can be programmed for any frequency in the 300 and 400 MHz range. So it can be used to open a gate and two garage doors from the same device. Price = $24 US dollars. Still a long way short of $130 and better value for money too.

richms

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Reply # 372434 25-Aug-2010 03:42

On an old thread too.

IMO selling replacement remotes for insecure doors is very irresponsible.

Friend built a code scanner with a decent output and had all the doors in his housing area going up and down very easily. Totally unsafe if you are parked under it etc too.

Richard rich.ms

Bung

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Reply # 372443 25-Aug-2010 07:13

richms: On an old thread too.

IMO selling replacement remotes for insecure doors is very irresponsible.

Friend built a code scanner with a decent output and had all the doors in his housing area going up and down very easily. Totally unsafe if you are parked under it etc too.

At least he wasn't overcharging :D

Your fancy rolling code remote won't help you if you bump the button in your pocket or bag. The door will have other safeguards if it is blocked going down.

Most roller doors could probably be popped out of their tracks faster than your friend could get his code scanner running.