Not true.
The bombs were reportedly triggered with model car remote controllers. Those have a range of hundreds of feet and do not require line of sight. They are radio-based, not optical.
So, did the saudi dude Mo visited in the hospital make to to that airport in time to get deported yet?
So then they are avaiable pretty much anywhere.
Not exactly correct. If it was 2.4GHz, or higher, it would more than likely have to be LOS. Wifi has a pretty high data rate, but degrades quickly when LOS is lost.
Something low frequency, like 27 or 49 Mhz, would be capable of more than LOS, but 49 is getting up there in terms of becoming more LOS dependent (near HAM 6m band).
Wifi can only hit its highest rating at a short distance, LOS, and no obstructions. Wifi is 2.4GHZ and the 5.8GHz bands. THe only reason it works at longer distances is good error protection protocols, and encoding rate reductions as the ends detect degradation in the data quality.
Many remote cars nowadays are 2.4GHz. Only recently did I buy a toy that still used 27MHz, but it’s a recharger large sized helicopter.
“The bombs were reportedly triggered with model car remote controllers. Those have a range of hundreds of feet and do not require line of sight. They are radio-based, not optical.”
But we are talking about a big city street. A corridor of buildings. Plus the receiver/transmitter is on the ground. And they likely used a very low cost radio system. I think the useful range in this case is probably short and line of sight. It wouldn’t be, if used in an open field, though.
Ban remote controlled toys! The Christmas list is getting shorter by the day. Grandma won’t be getting a new pressure cooker, no evil SUV for Grandpa, Johnny can’t have video games, Suzie can’t have a backpack, hubby can’t get a new RC toy, and Santa won’t bring me a gun and ammo.