A new military two-way radio system is keeping garage doors shut in communities near this Florida Panhandle base and residents may have to change the frequencies on their remote-controlled opening devices tomake them work.

Homeowners in Niceville, Valparaiso and the Crestview area reported jammed garage door openers during recent testing of the new $5.5 million system at Eglin.

Air Force officials Tuesday said the contractor, Motorola Inc., will try to minimize the problem but they offered no guarantees.

"If we discover that we have some options in that area we'll definitely pursue them," said Col. Russell F. Miller, commander of the 96th Communication Group. "I want my garage door opener to work, too."

Technicians will run the system at slightly different frequencies from those used by garage door openers to try to eliminate or reduce the interference when another test is conducted Friday through Monday. [...]