Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: Thu, 09 May 91 15:48:15 EDT From: "Steven S. Brack" Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Cellular Phone Use in Aircraft Message-ID: Organization: Blue Moon BBS ((614) 868-998[0][2][4]) Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 369, Message 2 of 10 Lines: 34 reb@ingres.com (Phydeaux) writes: > Hi! During a recent flight, I had my phone turned on and noticed the > 'roam' light was on. I tried to place a call but it didn't go > through. We were at about 39,000 feet, and I didn't expect it to. It > would stay on 'roam' for a few seconds and then go to 'NoSvc'. But, > when we were down to about 15,000 feet I noticed the 'roam' light was > on continuously. I tried to dial again and it worked like a charm. I > was using a .6 watt Motorola "Ultra Classic" portable with the small > (1/8 wave?) antenna, and I wasn't even in a window seat! When you activate a cellular phone that high above the ground, its transmission power is so high over such as great surface area, that you end up blanking cells over large (> 2-3 states) land areas. This can result in interruption of service. It is taken **very** seriously by the FCC and the FAA, and probably the carrier who lost revenue due to your "experiment." Pilots can lose their liscenses for allowing these devices to be used on their aircraft. > [Moderator's Note: You should have tried a few more tests of things > you're 'not supposed to do', such as *711 to ask what carrier it was, > and 0 for the operator to find out what place was getting your call. PAT] The footprint of the cellular signalcould have stretched over several states. Presumably, he could get responses from several cellular systems simultaneously, depending on the complexity of his phone. (Some automatically lock on to one signal, others are more "open." Steven S. Brack | I don't speak for OSU. InterNet: Steven.S.Brack@osu.edu | (Bill Miller just can't BitNet: Steven.S.Brack%osu.edu@ohstvmsa.bitnet| understand that.)