Planes & Cell phones

On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 20:14:23 -0500, FUji wrote:

"Greg Copeland" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 16:35:03 -0500, FUji wrote:

Huh? Maximum output of most handheld cell phones is 0.6 watts with the
old
in-car and bag phones going up to 3 watts. It can't output more than
it's
maximum no matter how far you are away from the tower. The radius of
interference from 0.6 watt phones transmitting from inside an aluminum
can
would be rather small. And it's a little hard to imagine a plane full
of
people with bag phones.

I thought I might just toss this out there. I quickly looked. I did not
have any trouble finding modern, handheld phones, with 2-watts output.
So, I think it's safe to say that we know for sure it's at least 2-watts.


0.7 watts is the maximum that is considered "safe" for handheld use by
medical experts. Any more than that gets your brain frying, so they say.
;-)

I've had cell phones for fifteen years (novatel, motorola, mitsubishi, etc.)
and all the handhelds except the ericssons were 0.6 watts. The ericssons
were only 0.5 watts! Way back then I remember if you complained about bad
reception with a handheld they'd tell you to "upgrade" to a transportable.

Any links or names of the ones you found?

http://www.hazardousareadirect.com/P...EX-HANDY04.htm
http://www.phonemerchants.com/poda3wadubac.html

All I did was a quick google and this was the first one that popped up.
It says, 2 watts, 1 watts, and 1 watts for it's maximum output for the
three supports networks. It is a tri-band phone.

The second link is a power amplifier which cranks output up to 3-watts.
Keep in mind, just bacause a phone may output less than maximum power,
doesn't have to mean they are not allowed to output higher. Perhaps we're
playing with semantics here. Perhaps the maximum allowed is 5-watts? And
most phones output less? I dunno. At any rate, right off the bat, I
didn't have any trouble finding a phone that has a maximum output of
2-watts.

Greg Copeland wrote:

I thought I might just toss this out there. I quickly looked. I did not
have any trouble finding modern, handheld phones, with 2-watts output.

They almost certainly are not cell phones. Probably PCS.

George Patterson
This marriage is off to a shaky start. The groom just asked the band to
play "Your cheatin' heart", and the bride just requested "Don't come home
a'drinkin' with lovin' on your mind".

On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 01:45:25 +0000, G.R. Patterson III wrote:



Greg Copeland wrote:

I thought I might just toss this out there. I quickly looked. I did not
have any trouble finding modern, handheld phones, with 2-watts output.

They almost certainly are not cell phones. Probably PCS.

I'm using layman's terminology, which would cover PCM, GSM, etc, etc, etc...

Greg Copeland writes:

They almost certainly are not cell phones. Probably PCS.

I'm using layman's terminology, which would cover PCM, GSM, etc, etc, etc...

Oh, surely not! NOBODY (except me) calls those "cell phones".
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e... earthlink.net

Good thing we still have George around to explain this to us. I think we've
lost the brilliant educator Jerry Bransford.
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm...&output=gplain

--kyler

FUji wrote:

The switching is done in a fraction of a second. The most that would happen
is a dropped call.

Not true. If you are a few thousand feet up, using one of the phones that uses the
old 800 MhZ bands, you will hit multiple cells which use the same radio frequency
set. The problem is not switching so much as it is interference with other calls. If
the ground equipment has the capability of detecting this interference (Motorola used
to do this), then you've blocked that frequency pair at every cell within range and
reduced their capacity by one call. If it can't detect and correct the problem, your
conversation may "step on" someone else's call.

If you are on the ground, you will only be able to reach one cell that uses the
frequency set you're using and there is no problem.

Now, if you have one of those "personal communication systems" (AKA "PCS phones"),
you will not have this problem in the air. These phones use frequency sets in the 900
MhZ range, use different technology, and are legal to use in the air. Of course,
non-professionals call them "cell phones", so you get all sorts of confusion there.
Some of them also use the old system for backup when they can't complete a call using
the PCS network, so you really have to check your manual.

This topic has been extensively discussed here for over 15 years that I know of. Back
when it mattered a lot more than it does now.

George Patterson
This marriage is off to a shaky start. The groom just asked the band to
play "Your cheatin' heart", and the bride just requested "Don't come home
a'drinkin' with lovin' on your mind".

x-no-archive: yes
"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:


Now, if you have one of those "personal communication systems" (AKA "PCS phones"),
you will not have this problem in the air. These phones use frequency sets in the 900
MhZ range, use different technology, and are legal to use in the air.

Not 900 Mhz in the US. Perhaps you meant to say 1900 Mhz range.

Tim Baron wrote:

Not 900 Mhz in the US. Perhaps you meant to say 1900 Mhz range.

You're correct, of course. The 900 MhZ band is for pagers and such.

George Patterson
This marriage is off to a shaky start. The groom just asked the band to
play "Your cheatin' heart", and the bride just requested "Don't come home
a'drinkin' with lovin' on your mind".

In article , Tim Baron wrote:
x-no-archive: yes
"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:


Now, if you have one of those "personal communication systems"
(AKA "PCS phones"),

Not 900 Mhz in the US. Perhaps you meant to say 1900 Mhz range.

What is PCS? Is it just marketdroid speak for GSM? (IIRC, the US uses
1900MHz for GSM)

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

Dylan Smith wrote:
In article , Tim Baron wrote:

x-no-archive: yes
"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:


Now, if you have one of those "personal communication systems"

(AKA "PCS phones"),


Not 900 Mhz in the US. Perhaps you meant to say 1900 Mhz range.


What is PCS? Is it just marketdroid speak for GSM? (IIRC, the US uses
1900MHz for GSM)

No, it's just the term used to distinguish the newer 1900 MHz frequency
band from the older 800 MHz cellular band. The FCC auctioned off the
1900 MHz frequencies to allow more carriers to offer 'cellular-type'
services in each region and to make some money for the government.
GSM is one technology used by some of those carriers in this band, but
CDMA and TDMA technologies are also used.

G.R. Patterson III wrote:
snip
Now, if you have one of those "personal communication systems" (AKA "PCS phones"),
you will not have this problem in the air. These phones use frequency sets in the 900
MhZ range, use different technology, and are legal to use in the air. Of course,

Are you sure PCS phones are legal in the air? As I understand it, this
is a hotly debated topic.

I'm in the process of turning my old cell phone back on. I have a
Qualcomm dual-mode phone that as I understand it is illegal to use in
the air. If a Sprint PCS phone is legal to use I would consider
changing phones. (Thought about an Iridium sat phone, but the $1.25/min
charges changed my mind!)