in need of advice
Record Breaker
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 2,063
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From: Sandy, UT. (SLC Suburbs)
There's no smartphone with radio transmitters in them so you definitely couldn't talk on it like a CB. Some have FM tuners and can pickup FM radio which operates from 87.8MHz to 108.0MHz. CB radio operates around 26MHz to 27MHz so it might be possible to create software to pickup those frequencies but I doubt that the tuners in most (or all) smartphones could be tuned that low.
I did a quick search on my phone and found one called CB Radio Chat. It sorta works like a CB but it is all online so u could be chatting with someone across the country and it doesn't actually pickup/use any CB channels.
I did a quick search on my phone and found one called CB Radio Chat. It sorta works like a CB but it is all online so u could be chatting with someone across the country and it doesn't actually pickup/use any CB channels.
I once looked into makeing my phone open my garage but I found that there's no way to transmit a 300MHz signal with any of the phones devices so, that's a no.
Professional
Joined: Mar 2010
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Yea that's what I gathered. Bluetooth can pick up radio signals too, some apps enable that in-case your phone doesn't have an FM tuner but you have to use wired headphones as the antenna. I wonder if the bluetooth can go into the 26-27MHz range.. probably not but it wouldn't have anywhere near enough power to transmit anyways.
I once looked into makeing my phone open my garage but I found that there's no way to transmit a 300MHz signal with any of the phones devices so, that's a no.
I once looked into makeing my phone open my garage but I found that there's no way to transmit a 300MHz signal with any of the phones devices so, that's a no.
btw... I have had 2 phones (Thunderbolt and DroidX) with built in FM tuners and both required headphones for antennas anyways. I never use it though cuz I listen to Pandora.
As for your garage door... check out some home automation products. Ur phone can't transmit a 300MHz signal but it can send a signal across the internet to your house. I have used X10 products; they were cheap and easy to use but I wasn't happy with the quality at all. A colleague of mine used to do home automation (there's no market for it right now in this area) and he recommended Insteon products but I haven't checked any of them out.
Something like this could be a good starting point...
http://www.smarthome.com/74551/I-O-L...tus-Kit/p.aspx
You could probably get that cheaper somewhere else and you don't really need that whole kit.
Last edited by dingdong2; Nov 26, 2011 at 03:59 AM. Reason: Added more info
Record Breaker
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 2,063
Likes: 5
From: Sandy, UT. (SLC Suburbs)
Yea I've looked at X10 stuff a bit, haven't really put any effort into it yet. I have a neighbor who works as a salesman of deadbolts and door locks who says he can get deals on home automation stuff from X10 and such. I won't be wiring this house up any more than it already is, but when I upgrade sometime down the road, I hope to have very 'smart' house.
oh, shows you how much I know about cb's....lol...thats the one I was talking about...
Professional
Joined: Mar 2010
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Yea I've looked at X10 stuff a bit, haven't really put any effort into it yet. I have a neighbor who works as a salesman of deadbolts and door locks who says he can get deals on home automation stuff from X10 and such. I won't be wiring this house up any more than it already is, but when I upgrade sometime down the road, I hope to have very 'smart' house.
I really don't recommend X10 products though. I had a bunch of them (super cheap on eBay) and they often didn't work. Sometimes I had to press buttons several times for the item to receive the signal, sometimes it didn't work at all. I have the low power contact unit (for garage doors, etc) and the relay often got stuck in the on position preventing me from opening or closing my garage at all (even by the stock button). I would have to get a ladder put the device down, shake it a bit, plug it in and pull it out a few times... after a few times of doing this, I disconnected it completely.
Professional
Joined: Mar 2010
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lol... well I listened to the app for a few minutes and it was just a bunch of ghetto dudes shouting obscenities (more so than the truckers on ch. 19). So it is a worthless app.