by Jakemaster » Thu Mar 16, 2006 9:45 am
LAST NIGHT ON MYTHBUSTERS THEY TESTED THE CELL PHONES ON AIRPLANES MYTH!
The myth was that the only reason airlines dont allow cell phone use is to make you use the more expensive onboard phones. They couldnt test in the air (federal law), but in a controlled environment on the ground (in a farrohay box or whatever its called) using ground diagnostic equipment, transmitting on a normal cell phone frequency threw off the VOR needle. However, testing at the airport on the ground in a Hawker 800XP executive Jet, the instruments and radio comm was not affected because the wiring is protected. MYTH BUSTED however because the reason its more expensive to use the onboard phones is not because they want money but because the phone use a special network that involves sending the phone signal to a transmitter on the plane that relays it to a ground station when over land, or when over sea relays it to a sattelite which in turn relays to a ground station. Also, because the FAA would have to test every new cell phone (one comes out every month), it would be millions of dollars of testing, so they pull the 'better safe than sorry' with cell phones.
