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Using mobiles in an aeroplane... NOT dangerous after all! (apparently)



 
 
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  #11  
Old October 15th, 2004, 06:13 PM
michael turner
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On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 16:58:26 +0100, Tristán White wrote:

Furthermore, will this see the price of onboard phones come down
dramatically (it took me a while to come back from the shock when I
got my credit card bill back after calling my wife from the Virgin
phone in my seat when flying London to Jo'burg in 2001!)


Well you should have known the charges before you placed that call on your
seats *sat-phone* handset. It's clearly advertized in the in-flight
brochures.... Something like $9(US)/min on Virgin..

--
Michael Turner
Email (ROT13)

  #12  
Old October 15th, 2004, 06:20 PM
Clueless2
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"Tristán White" wrote in message
...
I've been reading about this in various places, that they have found
out that private cellular mobile phones do NOT affect flight controls,
that this information is erroneous. Some report has come out.


Really? Care to post the URL to some of these reports? This is a very broad
statement to say the mobiles never interfers with *ANY* aircrafts! Can
provide information as to who tested with what aircrafts?

ISTR that it may be safe to use your mobile phones on some Boeing/Air Bus
planes provided a pico-cell is fitted so that all mobiles are commanded to
transmit at their very lowest power setting (a few milliwatts). Without the
pico-cell on board the mobiles will attempt to register with the cells on
the ground at a much higher (and probably max) transmit power.

This is bad (especially if you have a few hundred mobiles on board the plane
which is left on) and could intefere with the navigation system and possibly
the fly-by-wire controls. Also assuming the mobiles can "see" a cell on the
ground, its transmission can interfere with other mobiles on the gournd due
to the frequency reuse in cell planning. Futhermore the GSM system was never
design to handoff calls at speeds greater than about 150kph so your call
will almost certainly be dropped with in a few seconds!

Furthermore, I have also been told that the flight companies have
always known it's not dangerous, but that they have PRETENDED that
it's dangerous so that people don't use the expensive onboard phones
that you get on long-haul flights (International Roaming is cheaper
than these rip-off phones).


Airliners generally only know what the aircraft manufacturers tells them.

Furthermore, will this see the price of onboard phones come down
dramatically (it took me a while to come back from the shock when I
got my credit card bill back after calling my wife from the Virgin
phone in my seat when flying London to Jo'burg in 2001!)


You must be very stupid (or very rich or on company expense) to use the
on-board Virigin phone at US$9 per minute!!!


  #13  
Old October 15th, 2004, 06:47 PM
Steve
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I think we ought to put Tristian on a plane set to auto pilot with 5
mobiles, one from each UK network. See IF he can make a call on each and how
long it lasts IF he can even initiate the call.

Hopefully IT will interfere with the controls and the plane will ditch into
the Atlantic!!

Steve


  #14  
Old October 15th, 2004, 06:47 PM
Steve
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I think we ought to put Tristian on a plane set to auto pilot with 5
mobiles, one from each UK network. See IF he can make a call on each and how
long it lasts IF he can even initiate the call.

Hopefully IT will interfere with the controls and the plane will ditch into
the Atlantic!!

Steve


  #15  
Old October 15th, 2004, 07:15 PM
Ivor Jones
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"ServiceTech" wrote in message
...

[snip]

Some pilots still disagree. They claim interferance with certain
equipment. As long as they disagree, I don't think they'll lift the
ban.


*No* pilot I know would allow a phone to be used whilst in flight. If I'm
correct, the captain of the aircraft *always* has the final say, and that
in my opinion is how it should be.

From personal experience, all flights I've been on in the last few years
allow phones to be used while the aircraft is on the ground and at the
gate with the doors open. Once the doors close and the plane starts
taxying, all electronic equipment, including phones, have to go (and stay)
off. Once airborne and at cruise altitude, items like laptops are allowed,
but *not* phones.

Ivor


  #16  
Old October 15th, 2004, 07:15 PM
Ivor Jones
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"ServiceTech" wrote in message
...

[snip]

Some pilots still disagree. They claim interferance with certain
equipment. As long as they disagree, I don't think they'll lift the
ban.


*No* pilot I know would allow a phone to be used whilst in flight. If I'm
correct, the captain of the aircraft *always* has the final say, and that
in my opinion is how it should be.

From personal experience, all flights I've been on in the last few years
allow phones to be used while the aircraft is on the ground and at the
gate with the doors open. Once the doors close and the plane starts
taxying, all electronic equipment, including phones, have to go (and stay)
off. Once airborne and at cruise altitude, items like laptops are allowed,
but *not* phones.

Ivor


  #17  
Old October 15th, 2004, 07:16 PM
Doug
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"Tristán White" wrote in message
...
I've been reading about this in various places, that they have found
out that private cellular mobile phones do NOT affect flight controls,
that this information is erroneous. Some report has come out.

Furthermore, I have also been told that the flight companies have
always known it's not dangerous, but that they have PRETENDED that
it's dangerous so that people don't use the expensive onboard phones
that you get on long-haul flights (International Roaming is cheaper
than these rip-off phones).


err how long did you spend thinking about this exactly?????

These 'rip off phones' work at 35,000 feet. A Mobile does not.



  #18  
Old October 15th, 2004, 07:16 PM
Doug
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"Tristán White" wrote in message
...
I've been reading about this in various places, that they have found
out that private cellular mobile phones do NOT affect flight controls,
that this information is erroneous. Some report has come out.

Furthermore, I have also been told that the flight companies have
always known it's not dangerous, but that they have PRETENDED that
it's dangerous so that people don't use the expensive onboard phones
that you get on long-haul flights (International Roaming is cheaper
than these rip-off phones).


err how long did you spend thinking about this exactly?????

These 'rip off phones' work at 35,000 feet. A Mobile does not.



  #19  
Old October 15th, 2004, 07:26 PM
Clueless2
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"Doug" wrote in message
...
err how long did you spend thinking about this exactly?????

These 'rip off phones' work at 35,000 feet. A Mobile does not.


GSM phones are designed to work up to a distance of 35km (double this
distance if only every other time-slot is used) so working at 35,000 feet
isn't the issue. OTOH, GSM was designed to hand handoffs up to about 150kph
and most commercial airliners fly at a much higher speed than this limit.


  #20  
Old October 15th, 2004, 07:26 PM
Clueless2
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"Doug" wrote in message
...
err how long did you spend thinking about this exactly?????

These 'rip off phones' work at 35,000 feet. A Mobile does not.


GSM phones are designed to work up to a distance of 35km (double this
distance if only every other time-slot is used) so working at 35,000 feet
isn't the issue. OTOH, GSM was designed to hand handoffs up to about 150kph
and most commercial airliners fly at a much higher speed than this limit.


 




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