[BC] (Fwd) cell phone interference?

[markc]

---------- Original Message -----------
From: "Barry Rueger" <rueger at community-media.com>

> Form another list.  Comments anyone?
> 
> Barry
> 
> ------- Forwarded message follows -------
> To:             	AIRDAILY at packard38.webcrossing.com
> Subject:        	cell phone interference?
> 
> Am I crazy, or is it possible for the signals that cause cell 
> phones to ring or vibrate also cause electronic noise or 
> interference in field recordings onto mini disc or flash cards?  
> 
> I remember hearing some weird fuzzyness, almost like a beeping or 
> little electronic revilee that I thought was a short in my machine,
>  but then my interviewee reached for his phone, the ringer of 
> which was switched off. It was only when listening to the 
> recording later that I made the potential connection. Now, the 
> same noise has shown up on a recording one of our reporters made 
> on a Marantz PMD 660 -  
> 
> Should I start asking interviewees to switch their phones 
> completely off while I record, or am I just nuts.  

I see nothing crazy about this. My old TDMA phone used to make a funny
thumping noise in my car stereo whenever it was about to ring. I would guess
there were some bursts of data being shared between the site and the phone
to figure out if the call really was for me. I never had a spectrum analyzer
to watch what was happening, though. 

It was very predictable when I put the phone on its "usual" hanger on the dash.

Mark
MN