baby Monitor and Luton ATC

[BRISTOLRE]

News in from ANANOVA.COM...
I didnt think those baby listening devices could do such a thing.

Radio Communications Agency officials pounced on a house in Luton in a Ghostbusters style visit.
It was alleged that the baby monitor used in the household was interfering with messages from Luton ATC to aircraft approaching Luton airport.

Instead of the latest meteo conditions and joining instructions, other noises were heard on the airwaves much to everyones surprise!:}

[Pilot Pete]

Well, whoever was picking up the arrival ATIS must have been flying pretty low as our listening device works over about 100m.......! Which I must admit impressed me first time out of the box......just a shame I haven't got a pub within 100m..........damn!

PP

[niknak]

Just heard a radio interview with the mother of the criminal baby involved.

It appears that the baby's accomplices an co conspiriters were the Tomy corporation, (who have a number of front companies to cover their foul trade in the import of high grade but illegal rusks).

Several years ago Tomy made a small batch of baby moniters which were mistakenly fitted with unusually powerful transmitters and recievers, and it appears that the parents of the youngster involved bought one, (probably in a side street adjacent to the local nursery).
When the family moved to the Luton area last year, they thought they'd get away with it, but their cover was blown when the baby was heard discussing the undercover movement of rattles and nappies with local Mothercare Barons.

A senior spokesperson for NATS, (who provide ATC services at Luton Airport), said "Goo goo ga, ga ga ga".

[Flypuppy]

WTF is a "Ghostbusters style visit"?

How long until this thread gets put in the playpen?

[BRISTOLRE]

Ghostbusters style visit is a group of men outside in a wierd white van with antennas and dishes on top in strange boiler suits and sten guns and RF detectors,just like in the goldold days of CB radio when you had been naughty!

[747FOCAL]

From CNN:

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Instead of landing instructions, aircraft approaching Britain's Luton airport heard the squealing of tiny infant Freya Spratley broadcast over their radios.

Authorities worked 12 hours to track the frequency and determined that a baby monitor at mother Lisa Spratley's house, located near the airport, was broadcasting her baby's cries to the cockpits of approaching planes, the BBC reported on Monday.

"It was like something out of the Ghostbusters. They came down the path and stopped me and said we'd like to check something inside the house," Lisa Spratley told the station.

"They said they were working on behalf of Luton airport traffic control. They'd been asked to sort out interference they'd been receiving on the airwaves and had tracked it down to our address."

The BBC said there was no threat to safety: pilots who heard the infant Freya instead of air traffic control were able to switch to a different frequency.

The company that made the baby monitor supplied the Spratleys with a new one.

And little Freya seemed to have little idea of the commotion she had caused.


:ok:

[crewrest]

Maybe London Control should get a Tomy transmitter; it'd be better than the one they seem to have now; or am I going deaf?

[Bubbette]

In the US, the Federal Communications Commission has to certify these devices (and others) will not interfere in other communications.

[Buster the Bear]

I am surprised that the pilots realised the cries on the frequency were not actually emanating from tower!

I wonder if the sexy voice of the Luton ATIS has knitted a pair of booties for the Stopsley baby yet? Rumour has it that she makes lovely cross stitch blankets! I shall have to buy one to keep my paws warm in winter!

Imagine a Buster monitor at the Zoo breaking through on the ATC frequencies, all you would hear is me stuffing my face or snoring!

[nitefiter]

It all gets very interesting when two or three sets of parents in a short distance all have the same monitor!!

[Iron City]

In the US the regulations on the monitors and similar low power transmitters are there but nobody from the FCC really tests them unless there is a problem. The company must comply with Part 15 by transmitting no more than some small amount of power (500mw. I believe) and then the company certifies and is taken at their word. The FCC is too busy auctioning spectrum for huge amounts of money to spend their time making sure there is minimum possible inteference, it is simple return on investment calculation.

[Send Clowns]

Buster I think the "sexy voice" of Luton ATIS is a controller here at Bournemouth (she has done our ATIS recording and several others). It is a pleasant sound.

[Buster the Bear]

Send Clowns, the Luton ATIS is unique, the only one with the clattering of knitting needles in the back ground!

[Andrew M]

There obviously has been a problem when making the baby monitor. I have heard the neighbours baby monitor which they seemed to leave on 24 hours a day (perhaps they were being bugged come to think of it ! ) - but that was at 14MHz - donno how this managed to transmitt so high - perhaps it was a cheap import ???

Although there is quite a funny story:

I was listening to long wave radio 4 (in the UK) as the FM signal is crap. When retuning I picked up what sounded like a conversation at 271KHz. I thought this was a new radio station so i left the dial there. This was unusual as at the time there was only one LW station available in the UK.

The signal was the neighbours cordless phone ! (not a mobile) - they work at 900 MHz+

- Keep in mind this was a regular, FM/AM radio you can buy for a tenner out of argos.

and cordless phones work at 30-40 MHz - go figure that one out.....

[nitefiter]

Buster
how did they get the knitting needles airside??

[Mad Monk]

Andrew M

The older cordless telephones which some people still use operate on 1.5-2 kHz / 47-48KHz. The Base can be heard on a MW radio.

As for your neighbours baby monitor on 14 MHz, it should not be there, but around 49-50 MHz, or the new ones at 900 Mhz or 2.4GHz.


271KHz could be a harmonic as most of these units are very dirty at close range.

The quoted Rx distance for these units of up to 300 M is only for the Handset to Base station. The Base itself, with both sides of the Tx could be heard up to 3.5 KM with a half decent communications receiver.

Having said all that there is a lot of illegal import stuff around which does not conform to UK regulations.



Listening to any of these transmissions is illegal.

[Basil]

<<how did they get the knitting needles airside??>>

Must be pre-9/11 needles - rumour has it they're exchanging hands now for astronomical prices due rarity value! :D

[Andrew M]

Listening to any of these transmissions is illegal.

I seriously cannot justify that. Their broadcasting on the commerical broadcasting bands is illegal !

1. As for the cordless telephone - 271 KHz isn't all that far above Radio 4 LW. This is the major radio service for the UK. There is a plan for Radio 4 in the event of a national emergency that they will broadcast similar to the Emergency Broadcast System in the US. Hence, the coverage is still on LW rather than MW. LW is available on any reasonable radio from local shops for less than a tenner.

2. The baby monitor - reception within the SW band that 14MHz falls in is legal. Look in argos catalouge (presuming you live in the UK) and you'll find a few Shortwave radios. The broadcasts either end of the baby monitor at the time was Radio Sweden and some arabic station which I didn't get the callsign for (due to my very limited arabic language skills :) ). BBC World Service is also available here.

Don't quote me on this, but you know those little two-way handsets you can get for children - I think they can also be received within this band (around 27MHz) - same as what radio control model transmitters use.

That is not illegal either.

If the service falls within a civil radio band - then reception is not illegal. If you listen to police on VHF or UHF, aeronautical transmissions on Airband and etc. - that is illegal - however you are allowed to listen to Citizens band (such as private radio operators) transmissions without a license (you need one to transmit when over a certain EIRP - think it is when over 1 watt). Obviously you can listen to commercial radio services also.

Because the two devices in question were broadcasting in commercial/citizens band - the reception wasn't illegal. Listening to the newer bands that Mad Monk said is illegal to my knowledge, as they are outwithin the citizens band.

271KHz could be a harmonic as most of these units are very dirty at close range

Yes, could certainly be. The radio is your standard Sony mini Hi-Fi, with the black loop antenna. This was situated above a piece of furniture - and was very close to the ceiling - next to a window by the way (can get RTE radio from Scotland - but virgin radio reception is cr@p :ugh: ). From my knowledge, above us the neighbour had their base unit located on a small table just above the antenna - very close together.

[Bo Lux]

Lets realise the true gravity of this. Freya Spratley's calls of

"Goo goo ga, ga ga ga".

could easily be mistaken for

"enter and backtrack 26"

and of course, her mothers words of encouragement

"what a clever girl to do such a big one in your nappy"

could easily be mistaken for

"call the Fimbles on 132.55"

[TC_LTN]

The voice on the Luton ATIS is definitely Luton based. I miss her constantly while locked in the West Drayton Bunker, dreaming of the happy banter and sexual innuendo in the VCR. I often have to tune the ATIS on the way home to get my 'fix' of the 'Bedfordshire Beauty' and recall those halcyon days!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh perfick