Mobile phones and electronics

[jwilson]

This is stupid. In the 1940's, 50's 60's, 70s etc most cars had unsealed generators with dirty carbon brushes regularly making lots of big fat sparks on the worn old commutator, and petrol stations did not catch fire every time a Ford Anglia filled up and drove away.

The capacity of mobile phones to generate any sort of spark is very dubious - it is about as likely that a remote keyfob, or static from nylon car seats, will cause a fire. Perhaps they should be banned in petrol stations too?

 

[Leighb]

My only experience of odd things happening in the vicinity of mobile phones relates to use of one as on-call GP. I used to have it by my bedside when on-call at night.
Just outside the bedroom window was an external security light.
Fractionally before the phone actually rang, the light would come on !!

This happened many times so cannot have been co-incidence ?

 

[mikefleetwood]

As I said before, phones unlikely to interfere with electronic equipment with adequate filtering. Maybe that cannot be said for security light sensor in a plastic box (as they usually are)?

As for the car radio and TV - notoriously poor filtering in RF stages squashed into small space. Similar problem with sensitive microphones used by radio/TV companies. But really only a problem when the phone is very close. Also, if I remember, the phone answers an incomming call at full power, then reduces once connection is established (this, of course, may be rubbish!).

I understand the need for caution at refineries or depots (ask any resident of Hemel Hempstead - Bruntsfield depot fire), but risk at petrol forecourt is probably non-existent.

 

[Aries]

Was motoring from Portsmouth to Brighton last summer (!!!) with autohelm on as no wind that day. Was doing delivery trip with new owner of the boat. Every now and then the boat would veer off course. Got back on course, and a while later it happened again.

Once in Brighton we left autohelm on and watched what happened. When the new owner moved close to the autohelm, over went the tiller. After lots of thinking of reasons, he found he had his mobile in his jacket packet and when he sat close the autohelm, .....

We tried it with my mobile (different make) close the the autohelm and the same thing happened. It also happens on my new boat with a different make autohelm.

On both our boats the rules are no mobiles in jacket pockets (if we remember)!

 

[davidpbo]

Mobile phones can interfere with equipment. The chirping is certainly heard on domestic stereos, we regularly hear it on the communication ring for events although rarely on the main sound system. Much hospital monitoring equipment is extremely sensitive and therefore lightly to be susceptible to to interference.

I could well image a mobile phone on full power (Which the burst would be if it could not find a mast) next to a data cable in an aircraft causing sufficient interference to corrupt the data.

Remembering the Madrid bombings (triggered remotely by phone I believe) I think allowing their use on aircraft (As is being proposed) is a bad idea.

 

[lw395]

One reason for the forecourt ban was the tendency for a powerful ham radio or cb rig to interfere with certain petrol pumps' ability to count. Some mobile rigs would be much more powerful than a phone, with bigger aerials, hence much more field strength.
Also you don't want a busy forecourt cluttered up by people yapping into their phones while you queue behind them!

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Mobile phones regularly cause my autopilot to have a fit. When a text message or call is about to arrive, often the autopilot will go into standby mode. It's often the first indication that a call or message is incoming - display shows standby selected, a second later the phone rings or beeps.

When I'm flying, I don't allow phones to be on. It's pointless in a jellycopter anyway, far too noisy to use them.

 

[st599]

According to an RF safety course I went on, you have to imagine the pump, pipework, car, earthing strips etc. as a large loop antenna with an induced current.

You then break the current, which induces a large voltage as you extract the nozzle.


Remain to be fully convinced /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Andrew_Trayfoot]

About 12 or 13 years ago I got a fairly large spark from a mobile to my head. The phone was plugged into the cigarette lighter socket on a lead whilst I was standing outside the car. It happened as I brushed against the car body.

So it can happen...

 

[MarkJohnson12345]

I understood that a mobile phone in the air could contact several mobile masts asthe signal strength may be very similar,

Thus causing chaos with the mobile phone system.

But I know nothing about these things............................

 

[brianrunyard]

Even if there's only one, I don't want to risk it being me in the middle of it!!!

 

[whiteoaks7]

As a PPL this is my understanding also - it's not that the phone wil interfere with the electronics (despite what the stews tell you), which will be superbly well shielded in an aircraft, it's more a question of saturating the network since any particular phone will reach several (hundred?) access points.