Wow, that's fast! - Page 4

scott_fx · 02-07-2006, 07:53 PM

if cell phones were really a threat, i would hope that they wouldn't let them in the cabin. sounds like a huge risk they're taking. But, i put my life in there hands, so i will obey there rules. (i dont think that cell phones are that much of a threat though)

grimor2000 · 02-07-2006, 08:11 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Scouse Monkey

as for GPS use on a plane..it is also more of a terrorism thing. Terrorists could use GPS to decide when to take over a plane or when to detonate a bomb or to find a building to crash into when they have take in over, therefore GPS use is also resticted to keep tabs on this.

Terrorists would be more likely to use cell phones and watches than GPS. Most of the time, you can look out the window and see if you are over a target you want to destroy or crash a plane over, if you have control of a plane you already have GPS with the plane. Even in cloud cover, you can guestimate your approximate location based on the flight path, time of departure, and ETA.

Scouse Monkey · 02-07-2006, 09:00 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by grimor2000

Terrorists would be more likely to use cell phones and watches than GPS. Most of the time, you can look out the window and see if you are over a target you want to destroy or crash a plane over, if you have control of a plane you already have GPS with the plane. Even in cloud cover, you can guestimate your approximate location based on the flight path, time of departure, and ETA.

well if you want to blow up a plane in the right place for the whrckage to land on the whitehouse, for example, GPS with a nice "press the red button here" POI would be my choice!

(probably didnt want to write that...so just to clarify no I dont intend to blow up any planes)

Scouse Monkey · 02-07-2006, 09:06 PM

oh and some dumb **** terrorist would be more likely to want to use the nice colourful GPS on a PDA with proper locations and areas marked off. Last time I checked aircraft GPS didnt come with street maps!

DiNASTY · 02-07-2006, 09:33 PM

Not sure if it was mentioned earlier, but Southwest specifically lists "GPS Receivers" in their list of acceptable electronic devices in the back of their in-flight magazine. I tried it with a BU-303 and iG and it worked great. However, try to be discrete about it as you will likely freak out passengers when they see you attaching a small black device to your window.

girbot · 02-08-2006, 11:59 PM

Actually the ban of cell phones is not originally a airport thing. The FCC discovered (thought about, whatever) that a cell phone working in a airplane could access multiple towers in an area causing interference with people using their phones below it. Since the FCC gets very angry with any interference causing, they decided to ban cell phones in airplanes.

Another way to explane this:

Why the cell phone ban?
The cell phone ban went into effect in 1991, mostly to eliminate the possibility that cell phone calls on airplanes would interfere with cell conversations on the ground, as well as with the airplane's radio communications.

The FCC cited effects of "frequency re-use," which is a fundamental cell phone principle that's helped mobile phones proliferate worldwide. The signal from a cell phone doesn't go on forever; the energy to propel it dissipates after a number of miles, and it dissipates more quickly if it bounces off buildings, hills and other obstacles. This allows the same frequencies to be re-used by operators in different markets sometimes just a few miles apart.

A cell phone signal falling to Earth from a phone aboard a plane encounters no significant obstacles to slow it down, so it's strong enough to reach the ground and find a network on its particular frequency. But if the airwaves belong to a different operator, there's likely to be "noise" and other forms of interference for everybody, the FCC believes.
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So next time you are told to put away your cell phone by the attendant, just curse the FCC and not them.

scott_fx · 02-09-2006, 12:56 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by girbot

Actually the ban of cell phones is not originally a airport thing. The FCC discovered (thought about, whatever) that a cell phone working in a airplane could access multiple towers in an area causing interference with people using their phones below it. Since the FCC gets very angry with any interference causing, they decided to ban cell phones in airplanes.

Another way to explane this:

Why the cell phone ban?
The cell phone ban went into effect in 1991, mostly to eliminate the possibility that cell phone calls on airplanes would interfere with cell conversations on the ground, as well as with the airplane's radio communications.

The FCC cited effects of "frequency re-use," which is a fundamental cell phone principle that's helped mobile phones proliferate worldwide. The signal from a cell phone doesn't go on forever; the energy to propel it dissipates after a number of miles, and it dissipates more quickly if it bounces off buildings, hills and other obstacles. This allows the same frequencies to be re-used by operators in different markets sometimes just a few miles apart.

A cell phone signal falling to Earth from a phone aboard a plane encounters no significant obstacles to slow it down, so it's strong enough to reach the ground and find a network on its particular frequency. But if the airwaves belong to a different operator, there's likely to be "noise" and other forms of interference for everybody, the FCC believes.
-----------------------------------------------------------

So next time you are told to put away your cell phone by the attendant, just curse the FCC and not them.

hey...i already posted this info..with a link! NOOB!

girbot · 02-09-2006, 10:53 PM

Opps, my bad.

muldrick · 02-14-2006, 12:46 PM

Yeah, watch it! I'm a powerful man and I can have you taken care of.

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Mattkins99 · 02-28-2006, 01:30 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by girbot

Actually the ban of cell phones is not originally a airport thing. The FCC discovered (thought about, whatever) that a cell phone working in a airplane could access multiple towers in an area causing interference with people using their phones below it. Since the FCC gets very angry with any interference causing, they decided to ban cell phones in airplanes.

Another way to explane this:

Why the cell phone ban?
The cell phone ban went into effect in 1991, mostly to eliminate the possibility that cell phone calls on airplanes would interfere with cell conversations on the ground, as well as with the airplane's radio communications.

The FCC cited effects of "frequency re-use," which is a fundamental cell phone principle that's helped mobile phones proliferate worldwide. The signal from a cell phone doesn't go on forever; the energy to propel it dissipates after a number of miles, and it dissipates more quickly if it bounces off buildings, hills and other obstacles. This allows the same frequencies to be re-used by operators in different markets sometimes just a few miles apart.

A cell phone signal falling to Earth from a phone aboard a plane encounters no significant obstacles to slow it down, so it's strong enough to reach the ground and find a network on its particular frequency. But if the airwaves belong to a different operator, there's likely to be "noise" and other forms of interference for everybody, the FCC believes.
-----------------------------------------------------------

So next time you are told to put away your cell phone by the attendant, just curse the FCC and not them.

That might have been how old analog cell phones worked way back when, but not now. I left the cell phone industry only about a year ago after 5 years with AT&T Wireless and then Cingular. There is no magical line when driving on the ground where you no longer have signal from one tower and then suddenly pick up signal from another. Cell phone towers overlap signals all over the place. AT&T used TDMA for years. This is Time Division Multiple Access. In simple terms, it split signal from the cell tower into time slots, and during a call, you are assigned one of the slots. Your conversation is sent at that time and your cell phone knows to listen for it at that time. It all happens so fast it seems like a constant connection... but actually it isn't. CDMA and GSM are similar... but I'm not going to get into them

Anyways... where was I going with this.... Oh yes. So, as you're driving or flying along, you're usually in range of many cell phone towers. There is no problem with this. As other people have pointed out though, cell phone will not work at 30,000 feet. The reason for this is because cell phone towers have very limited range. Old TDMA tower had ranges of up to 20 miles if turned up all the way, but GSM towers have a max range of only 3 miles. And again, that's if they're turned all the way up.... which they aren't. Each cell phone tower has a max number of connections (dependant on the technology) in any moderate sized city, there are far more than this number of people in a 3 mile radius.... cell phone towers are turned down very low so they can pack more in. They’re getting less and less powerful as more people get cell phones. Just think of this the next time you get a network busy signal when trying to make a phone call.

As someone else mentioned, Verizon (and AWS/Cingular BTW) have been in talks with airlines for years trying to get the airlines to include repeaters in planes so people can use cell phones, but airlines have said no because they know a loud talker will drive people crazy and they don't want that. Airlines have had satellite phones in planes for years, but they artificially keep the prices high ($5+ per minute) to keep their use to an absolute minimum.

I personally look at it like this. It's a rule, and just like speeding is a rule, I don't pay attention to; I don't really plan on paying attention to these rules either. I'm not going to talk on my phone... first because I don't have service, but mainly because it's just rude. If I have my MP3 player or laptop on and they tell me to turn it off, I'll be nice and do it so I don't cause a scene. But if we've landed and some guy freaks out because I receive a text message before the captain said I could turn my cell phone on... Well, I'm happy for him because he has nothing more important to be stressed about. (Inside, I'm actually just thinking what a dumb f**k his is.

pate60 · 12-25-2006, 09:40 PM

they should just build a big faraday cage into the cabin of the aircraft, at least that way nothing will acutaully 'work'.

v1per · 01-02-2007, 01:28 AM

Or... they could just keep it the way it is, and make it a federal law.