norodnik

Dismayed as I am about the prospect of people using mobile phones on board aircraft and the resultant major annoyance to passengers, not to mention the inevitable fight or two that is bound to break out I want to raise another possible threat.

I imported the other day a nice neat (pocket sized) signal amplifier which has an effective range of 10-15 Metres and will instantly disconnect any mobile device (effectively a jamming device). There are other more powerful versions but I wanted to ask what effect these may have on aircraft systems, both individually and severally if a few of us bring them on board.

Faced with mobiles on board, this to my mind is a cure for extended conversations if not necessarily the ringing. But, how much research has gone into the anti-mobile device league ?

Dutchjock

Norodnik,

Don't you think your signal jammer will do more damage than a mobile phone?

When you'r on a bus or a train, do you even register people are talking on their mobile?

Just be flexible and get with modern age. No fights will brake out and the world won't come to an end

And with roaming charges of up to 5 pound a minute you won't get any useless chitchat..

v6g

You mean one of these?
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4355

- works a treat!

HEATHROW DIRECTOR

But it is a wideband transmitter which, judging from the price, is probably of poor quality and may transmit signals way outside the cellphone bands. Anyone who switched one on inside an aeroplane would be foolishly irresponsible IMHO.

David Horn

I imagine it would also completely defeat the point of a picocell on board the aircraft, since any phone in the vicinity would jump to maximum transmission power in an attempt to locate a signal.

Although looking at one linked to by v6g, I guess you might have other problems if passengers saw you fiddling suspiciously with a mysterious hand-crafted metal box with aerials on it...

FREDAcheck

Apparently, yes. A survey I read suggested that people generally find phone calls more intrusive than conversations where both parties are present. The survey didn't find out why, but they guessed:

• People often talk louder on phones, especially in a noisy environment. A bit perverse, as phones are sensitive enough that you can talk quietly, and in fact the AGC (automatic gain control) works better if you talk quietly.
• With a phone call you get quiet spells, then speech which is unexpected to someone sitting nearby. This may be more intrusive than a steady buzz of conversation

Perhaps, but GSM phones don't transmit at all if they can't hear a base station. So if the jammer blocks out the pico-cell, then mobiles won't transmit.

However, I agree that use of jammers would be very irresponsible on an aircraft.

lomapaseo

Why?

Nothing has been proven to show that they are likely to harm the aircraft.

Opinions are one thing, but the word irresponsible needs more foundation.

I mean that after all when you get a foot in the door using all kinds of gadgets on the aircraft, including cell phones, 99% of us wouldn't know right from wrong in selecting which gadget to entertain us.

Max Angle

It's coming at bmi, we already have a test aircraft with the gear installed. A large server sits in one of the overhead lockers down the back, all the "no smoking" signs have been replaced with "no mobile" signs (I kid you not) and the smoke sign switch in the flightdeck has been changed. No smoke signs now appear on the little lights in the PSU above each seat that used to light up when the doors are opened, there is also a master switch on the overhead panel to turn the server on and off.

I guess they think it will make some money but I reckon it will hack a lot of people off, ghastly thought if you ask me.

David Horn

I'm sorry, thinking about it you're quite right. Although I suspect my comment might hold true for a phone that's getting very patchy reception from the picocell. Either way, it's not exactly a good situation.

Are the prices for calling from the air going to be capped? Suspect that the moment the £2/min (just a guess) roaming bills come in the system might become a lot less popular...

norodnik

Heathrow Director,

that is my point exactly.

If, after a couple of hideous flights with yak yak yak all the time, people decide to do something about it, there may be lots of these devices on board.

Mr Clever Cloggs from Acacia Avenue will no doubt think one little jammer won't harm, and maybe he is right. But what about 5, 10 or 50. You cannot search people for them and telling them they are not to be used is likely to be ignored when Mr Cloggs thinks you are only saying that so you can ruin his peace and quiet and therefore make more profit.

I am not debating the rights and wrongs of phones on board, just the bit about jammers and their effect on aircraft systems.

x213a

Would they not be classed in the UK as an unlicenced transmitter?Therefore the user subject to it's confiscation and criminal action,as well as possible customs & excise implications?

VAFFPAX

x213a, you're correct. A GSM jammer is unlicensed in the United Kingdom. There was talk of cinemas wanting to use them, but the legal implications were too great to even consider using them

S.

Cbryant

Do you mean go use a cell phone jammer?
More info about this website:Portable Cell Phone Jammer Kit Cell Phone Signal Blocker GPS Wireless Jammers - ESPOW
Hope it can help you!

rudderrudderrat

On the ground, when we are parked, and my Mobile Phone is transmitting (e.g. just turned on & whilst it searches for a signal), it can select a different frequency on my communications box on the flight deck. (that's the box I use to select the next frequency to call on).

Why any muppet wants to bring yet another transmitting device onto the aircraft baffles me.

It's very simple - turn them off when asked to.

cwatters

Indeed. I believe even prisons aren't yet allowed to use them to stop inmates using smuggled phones.

FlyKingfisher

When passengers are asked to switch off their mobile phones because "they could interfere with aircraft navigation systems" there obviously is some basis to it.

Aircraft etiquette maybe one thing, but aircraft safety is altogether another matter...

Mobile devices can as rudderrudderrat has said, interfere with any aircraft system that uses any type of transmitting signal.

A very disturbing thing I have noticed is that passengers keep their cell phones switched off during flight but start switching them on during final approach. The attitude is: 'well, we're landing anyway'. This may pose a particular threat if an aircraft is on ILS autoland. Since ILS uses microwaves (same as a cell phone) and if several phones are switched on during the landing phase, this may pose a very serious threat. I don't know, maybe an avionics engineer could shed some light on this. Is there any kind of research being done on this? I'm sure there is.

The question is, how seriously are airlines taking this? I'm sure it is difficult for airlines to implement rules since they don't want to impose strict codes on their patrons. But a certified jamming device is definitely worth it, if being worked on, when you have smart ass passengers who believe it is their domain to do whatever suits them since they've shelled out a fare for their carriage.

The Nr Fairy

It seems airlines are taking it seriously (the active promotion of the use of mobile phones on board) because it's a revenue source.

Or is that too cynical ?