This Christmas I got a cheap pair of computer speakers for one of my many computers. I guess these less expensive speakers are not very well shielded and thus pick up interference from my cell phone.
What I was surprised to learn was that even when my cell phone is not in use it will broadcast on average every 15 minutes for about 2-3 seconds. I know this because when my cell phone is near the cheap speakers it will cause interference, thus making a short blast of squelches thru the speakers that almost sounds like a high speed Morriscode. Now I can understand this being normal while using the cell phone to make a call, but for it to broadcast every 15 minutes is somewhat bothersome. Sometimes it does it more frequently and for longer periods of time!
I have purposely been monitoring the frequency and it is somewhat bothering me that every 15 minutes my cell phone is communicating even though I am not using it. To make things worse I even turned my cell phone to "Airplane Mode" which is supposed to cut all incoming and outgoing broadcast only to find that every 30 minutes it will cause the same kind of interference but only about half as loud!
I don't know, since I have an iPhone I can't seem to just yank the battery, and I am thinking about powering it off to see if it will still communicate. The fact that my phone is being accessed every 15 minutes makes me want to consider getting a land line and ditching the cell phone except for emergencies.
Anyone else have any information about this? Or has anyone else noticed this kind of behavior from their cell phone? I don't want to seem paranoid, but at the same time I don't want to be paying $80 a month for some fucker to be spying on me keeping tabs of where I am at and what I am saying.
Any information or web links someone can provide about this would be greatly appreciated. I have already done some google searching on my own but every article I read starts out with some idiot like me asking "Why does my cell phone cause interference". I am more or less looking for some information or links from a guy who KNOWS why the hell this happens, rather than some dude just repeating the stuff he read off the top 10 returned searches from google.
Thanks in advance!
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
Last night I was at a friends house and he was showing me a new case for the iPhone that allowed you to play music. It was pretty cool and the speakers were pretty loud. Best part is it worked off two AA batteries.
Anyway the unit was not well shielded and picked up interference from my phone like I was talking about earlier in this thread.
We timed the interference and it will broadcast every 5 minutes for about 2-3 seconds. Short burst like a Morris code can be heard over the speakers.
Anyway, doing the math I figured that 5 minutes of recording could be transferred in 2-3 seconds at 100 Megs per second. So even if the phone pings off the tower every 5 minutes for the purpose of staying synced to the tower, it's entirely possible that in that sync, there could be data transfer. I am not saying this is what happens, just that mathematically it's possible if you consider all voice calls are converted to a digital signal then sent over the air where it is re-assembled on the other end.
It sparked out curiosity so we tried my sim card in an older 3GS iphone my friend was no longer using and it did not have this problem, then I realised that on my iPhone I have the 3G service manually turned off as to avoid location services from being utilized on my phone. In addition this allows me to take advantage of the HUGE "Edge" network that AT&T has, which is much more reliable in my eyes and has a much greater coverage area.
So we manually switched off the 3G on his iPhone to find that it would do the same thing as mine, which is cause interference to speakers every 5 minutes with my sim card. So obviously it wasn't just my phone, but the question still remained if it had something to do with my sim card.
To finalize the test we took his brand new Iphone 4G with HIS sim card and turned off the 3G. Same thing happened, interference with speakers every 5 minutes but his was much worse, it would broadcast for longer and a much more aggressive interference. So I guess they are watching him more than me! LOL
Anyway, the bottom line here is folks that 3G service operates under a different frequency that does not seem to interfere with speakers, while the "Edge" service which is I think a TDMIA (May be off) operates on a frequency that does cause interference on non-shielded speakers.
One thing is FOR SURE... Your cell phone is broadcasting when not in use. In the case of AT&T it's doing this every 5 minutes on the dot. What is being sent is unknown, and it could very well be a means of keeping the phone on it's network. Still, myself personally I would prefer it to only do this when I am making a call out, then again to receive calls I guess it would require that your phone be synced with the tower, but every 5 minutes?
Just thought I would clear all that up.
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
I really don't ever spend more than 15 minutes on a regular phone call. What does piss me off is the fact that every time I have spent more than 15 minutes on the phone 99% of the time I was talking to AT&T customer care trying to work out billing errors. In light of this new study it makes me even more angry that I have to deal with these idiots at a risk to my health. I know that sometimes I have been given the run around for HOURS with these cell companies! In most all cases there were credits and such in the $100's of dollars. Having to argue with idiots for two hours over $200 you got overcharged is a complete waste of time, but what are you going to do? Pay the $200 and work for almost three hours for free?
I see the Federal Government is cracking down on Tobacco companies to advertise the risks of their products... Seems to me the next big thing is cell phone radiation. There should really be some kind of warning with regards to spending long periods of time on the cell phones, and wireless companies should be fined every time they keep a person on the phone for longer than 15 minutes. If there is a significant health risk to talking on a cell phone for long periods of times and these phone and manufacturers knew about it they should be facing murder charges. I know some people that will spend HOURS A DAY talking on their cell phones!
Is this the next tobacco battle? Where as 10-15 years ago everyone knew smoking was bad for you, but the tobacco companies were permitted to omit the dangers.
Just the other day I spent over an hour on the phone over a $5.00 payment fee with AT&T. I mean get this! Utility companies have been able to get away with charging a convenience fee of anywhere from $5.00-$10.00 for simply processing your payment! Given the fact most of them are regulated monopolies they can get away with it. Now it's starting to catch on with everyone else! My Internet bill is $19.99 and if I call in to pay it the system automatically transfers you to a live representative who wants to charge $5.00 for processing a payment. You have to literally argue with these idiots for an hour just to get transferred to the automated payment system! All this to avoid a $5.00 fee for making a payment!
Now days I use headphones with a built in mic for long calls. I have found that using a cell phone for over 15 minutes causes the temple above the ear to twitch. I am not kidding. Back in my younger years I can recall being put on hold over billing disputes for long periods of times where as the phone would get hot and I would litterally get the phone wet with perspiration! Back in 1999 and the early 2000's I was using Sprint PCS, since 2001 I have been with AT&T. By far the WORSE customer service I can remember was Sprint, but AT&T also isn't a saint when it comes to long customer service calls, however they do seem to at least make right an error, but given this new health risk; at what cost?
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
I am thinking oversight is better than regulation.
Since this test shows cell phone radiation has an effect then it's up to the government to apply pressure to companies to research it. An independent study should also be performed by the government to ferret out any down play by corporate funded research. Compare the results and make people aware.
Set new standards for radiation, and set up a fund to remove the tumors the early generation users may develop. Best to hit em' up now before they pump and dump the company and leave the medical cost to the tax payers.
Right now we need SOLID research and information. You would think in the amount of time cell phones have been around this issue would have already have studies going on.
I have to think much like the smokers of 20 years ago that putting a cell phone up to your head is not helping, but unlike the masses back then I will refrain from long periods of use without headphones. It will allow me the ability to light my cigarette a little easier while I wait on hold with my telco company.
Then again you have to think about the 2nd hand radiation too! All these cell towers are cooking me from the inside out. Mini-Township-Microwaves on towers if you will.
LOL
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
There is a device called a "spectrum analyzer"... it, basically, measures the activity across a range of the radio frequency "spectrum" .... I think you might be surprised at what it might reveal.
All around us we are bathed in all manner and frequencies of electronic waves... Got a microwave? Cordless phone? Garage door opener? Any number of modern conveniences...
How about your radio or TV? Old days, these would have a BFO... Beat Frequency Oscillator - today we see Phase Locked Loop generators... but the result is the same... radio frequency emanations from what we see as a benign device...
Does your cell phone "phone home"? Yes... it has to know which tower(s) to watch if you expect to receive your phone calls.
How about that computer you are sitting beside? Think that it isn't emitting radio frequency shit?
What do you think that goofy looking bluetooth gizmo you wear on your ear is doing ALL THE TIME?
I was in the bank the other day topping off my RRSP for tax time... In the queue waiting to see tellers, more than half the people were busy texting or talking.... In the parking lot, it was easy to spot those talking on cell phones....
It isn't "are cell phones bad"? It IS what the fuck is so important that it can't wait?
OTOH, if you like high taxes, let's get your government and my government together so they can form megadollar committees to oversee the horse shit people demand...
There is a device called a "spectrum analyzer"... it, basically, measures the activity across a range of the radio frequency "spectrum" .... I think you might be surprised at what it might reveal.
Yes I am aware there are these things called spectrum analyzers, however I have never had the opportunity to play with one. Maybe you could loan me yours?
All around us we are bathed in all manner and frequencies of electronic waves... Got a microwave? Cordless phone? Garage door opener? Any number of modern conveniences...
Yes I get hungry and cook stuff in the microwave. No I don't have a cordless phone unless you count my cell phone. I think my garage door opener was lost by the previous owner but I am sure my unit has the ability. I often wonder myself.
How about your radio or TV? Old days, these would have a BFO... Beat Frequency Oscillator - today we see Phase Locked Loop generators... but the result is the same... radio frequency emanations from what we see as a benign device...
Yes! Now we are talking! Glad I am not the only one to think it.
Does your cell phone "phone home"? Yes... it has to know which tower(s) to watch if you expect to receive your phone calls.
True...True... But the question still remains.
How about that computer you are sitting beside? Think that it isn't emitting radio frequency shit?
I have always hated the high pitch noise that computers make. I have built a many computer and often times I ponder the endless possibilities these things could have for eavesdropping and other such malicious psycho influences. I know it's emitting radio frequency shit.
I think Alec Baldwen said it best when he said
What do you think that goofy looking bluetooth gizmo you wear on your ear is doing ALL THE TIME?
Sorry but I don't buy them goofy looking bluetooth gizmo's... I stick with the old school headphones with built in mic.
I was in the bank the other day topping off my RRSP for tax time... In the queue waiting to see tellers, more than half the people were busy texting or talking.... In the parking lot, it was easy to spot those talking on cell phones....
.....
It isn't "are cell phones bad"? It IS what the fuck is so important that it can't wait?
Well here in the city things move a little faster Pogo, not to mention you have blatantly overlooked the emergency benefit.
OTOH, if you like high taxes, let's get your government and my government together so they can form megadollar committees to oversee the horse shit people demand...
^^ This is true...
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
If you read that link above you can see what may have been happening. In my case where I keep my location services turned off Apple claims that the phone continually trying to ping the tower is a "Bug" and that the iPhone storing location data for up to a year is also a "Bug". I don't know how much I believe that, but here is a quote from the article above,
7. When I turn off Location Services, why does my iPhone sometimes continue updating its Wi-Fi and cell tower data from Apples crowd-sourced database? It shouldnt. This is a bug, which we plan to fix shortly (see Software Update section below).
So there you have it... All us iPhone users have been "Bugged", literally.
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
NIH study links cell phone radiation to cancer in male rats
New studies from the National Institutes of Health specifically the National Toxicology Program find that cell phone radiation is potentially linked with certain forms of cancer, but they're far from conclusive. The results are complex and the studies have yet to be peer reviewed, but some of the findings are clearly important enough to warrant public discussion.
An early, partial version of this study teasing these effects appeared in 2016 (in fact, I wrote about it), but these are the full (draft) reports complete with data.
Both papers note that "studies published to date have not demonstrated consistently increased incidences of tumors at any site associate with exposure to cell phone RFR [radio frequency radiation] in rats or mice." But the researchers felt that "based on the designs of the existing studies, it is difficult to definitively conclude that these negative results clearly indicate that cell phone RFR is not carcinogenic."
In other words, no one has taken it far enough, or simulated the radio-immersion environment in which we now live, enough to draw conclusions on the cancer front. So this study takes things up a notch, with longer and stronger exposures.
The studies exposed mice and rats to both 900 MHz and 1900Mhz wavelength radio waves (each frequency being its own experiment) for about 9 hours per day, at various strengths ranging from 1 to 10 watts per kilogram. For comparison, the general limit the FCC imposes for exposure is 0.08 W/kg; the absolute maximum allowed, for the extremities of people with occupational exposures, is 20 W/kg for no longer than 6 minutes. So they were really blasting these mice.
"The levels and duration of exposure to RFR were much greater than what people experience with even the highest level of cell phone use, and exposed the rodents' whole bodies. So, these findings should not be directly extrapolated to human cell phone usage," explained NTP senior scientist John Bucher in a news releaseaccompanying the papers. "We note, however, that the tumors we saw in these studies are similar to tumors previously reported in some studies of frequent cell phone users."
The rodents were examined for various health effects after various durations, from 28 days to 2 years.
Before I state the conclusions, a note on terminology. "Equivocal evidence" is just above "no evidence" on the official scale, meaning "showing a marginal increase of neoplasms that may be test agent related." In other words, something statistically significant but ultimately still somewhat mysterious. "Some evidence" is above that, meaning a more measurable response, followed by the also self-explanatory "clear evidence." Note that this
At 900 MHz:
Some evidence linking RFR with malignant schwannoma in the hearts of male rats, no evidence for same in female rats. Equivocal evidence linking exposure to malignant brain glioma in females. Other tumors of various types in both sexes "may have been related to cell phone RFR exposure," meaning the link is unclear or numbers aren't conclusive. Less serious "nonneoplastic lesions" were more frequent in exposed males and females.
At 1900 MHz:
Equivocal evidence of carcinogenicity in lung, liver, and other organ tissues in both male and female mice.
Although I would hesitate to draw any major conclusions from these studies, it seems demonstrated that there is some link here, though the level of radiation was orders of magnitude beyond what a person would ever experience in day to day life. As the researchers point out, however, relatively short term studies like this one do little to illuminate the potential for harm in long-term exposure, such as babies who have never not been bathed in RF radiation.
An interesting side note is that the radiation-exposed rodents of both types lived significantly longer than their control peers: 28 percent of the original control group survived the full 2 years, while about twice that amount (48-68 percent) survived in the exposed group.
Two explanations are proffered for this strange results: either the radiation somehow suppressed the "chronic progressive nephropathy" that these mice tend to suffer from as they age, or possibly reduced feed intake related to the radiation might have done it. Either way, no one is suggesting that the radiation is somehow salutary to the rodents' constitutions.
The reports and data run to hundreds of pages, so this is only a quick look by a non-expert. You can look over the full reports and supplemental materials here, but as this is a major study you can also expect replication, analysis and criticism from all quarters soon, including a scheduled external expert review organized by the NTP in March.