04-22-2005, 08:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Does Your Pocket PC Phone Drive Nearby Electronics To Buzz?
http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/000622.html
"I've written here before about my (still fairly) new Treo 650 phone, and how much I like it. I've almost forgotten what life was like without it. But it's developing a lousy reputation around the PC World offices for a reason I never would have anticipated. The problem is this: When the Treo is doing data--which it often does in the background, since it's set to grab e-mail for me on the fly--it causes any monitor or speakerphone in close proximity to make a weird intermittent buzzing noise. It kind of sounds like Morse Code, circa 2005, and it's both mysterious and annoying. "
Well, it isn't just the Treo. My PDA2K does it as well, but only when it is actually transmitting data over GPRS. Just having the GPRS indicator on doesn't do it nor does a GSM phone call or SMS message. But as soon as data starts moving back and forth over the GPRS radio, nearby speakers begin this strange electronic hum/buzz combo, and the pitch changes with the amount of data being transmitted. I can put it next to my speaker and tell when an email attachment is coming down versus just headers being pulled or NewsBreak is syncing my RSS feeds. It isn't Cingular as the article suggests either. I have T-Mobile and I am not roaming. Have you noticed this?
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04-22-2005, 08:04 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,768
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Almost all phones will do this from the RF that speakers will pick up. The most audible seem to be the Nextel iDen based phones. Makes you wonder - if the RF on phones could do this to speakers, what could it do to other sensitive equipment?
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Jonathan (JonnoB)
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." -Edmund Burke
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04-22-2005, 08:08 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 740
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Its really just GSM/GPRS devices that do this. My i700 NEVER exhibited this behavior. Its just my PDA2k that does this, and its on Cingular. I know other GSM cellphone owners who have this problem too; so its not just PPC-PE's either.
Its also not just GPRS. Its GSM, too. I can always tell when a call is going to come in a second or two before the device actually rings with a call if its sitting in its cradle on my desk at the office.
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Kind Regards,
Christopher Spera
Gear Diary Review Team
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04-22-2005, 08:12 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 601
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As Microsoft would say, "It's not a bug, it's a feature." 
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04-22-2005, 08:24 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 143
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Lex
As Microsoft would say, "It's not a bug, it's a feature." |
My Blackberry 7290 and Nokia N-Gage QD both did this with several electronic items in my life. I'll get this Morse Code thing right before a voice call comes in on my in-car XM and on my wired phone headset at the office -- a nice warning that a call is coming. I also get the interference on my home stereo if the phones are too close to the receiver.
I've just learned to live with it and like it in some respects, but I can see how it would annoy other people.
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04-22-2005, 08:40 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 270
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I think it also has something to do with the speakers. I have noticed in rental cars a buzz through the stereo just before a phone call, but for some reason it does not happen in my car.
Also just a bit off topic:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Chris Spera
Its just my PDA2k that does this, and its on Cingular.
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I have a 6315 on Tmobile and I was wondering if Cingular offers a similar push email system for your PDA2K. I have read their website about their xpress mail, but it does not offer a lot of info. Tmobile system only requires you to register on their website, pay an extra $20, and bam push email from my Lotus Notes address.
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04-22-2005, 08:41 PM
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Executive Editor, Android Thoughts
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,233
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Yea, I don't find it too annoying, but as Mike Said, it does give a nice warning when a call is about to come in. Since you're the only one who notices it usually, you can seem psychic if someone is around
"I bet someone is going to call me right about now" <ring> <ring>
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Dr. Jon Westfall, MCSE, MS-MVP
Executive Editor - Android Thoughts
News Editor - Windows Phone Thoughts
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04-22-2005, 08:45 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 21
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I've noticed this too with other GSM devices. about 1 second before a call or SMS comes through my speakers will go crazy and my CRT will start quivering like I just turned it on. If I'm on my landline, it will emit the same sound as the computer speakers. I've also noticed that the volume will not change if I adjust the speaker volume, but it does stop if I turn off the speakers.
This has happened with both my GSM phones and GAIT phones, but I've never seen it happen on CDMA or TDMA.
I've noticed that it gets VERY loud when I am in an area with a weak signal each time the phone strains to search for the antenna. Sometimes I'll even still hear it when up until the phone is removed 10 feet from any speaker.
The loudest I have ever seen it though, one time I was at the gym watching TV after a workout (they have a plasma screen in the lobby). I was sitting a good 10 feet from the screen (using in-unit speakers), and surfing the net. Everyone in the room kept complaining about the noise, but they had no idea what the intereference was. I had a good signal, so maybe the speakers had the perfect size coil to react with the frequency.
Maybe those pens and batteries that light up and flash when you have an incoming call put the interference to creative use.
I guess it's like what they say... "This device must accept any interference"
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04-22-2005, 08:46 PM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,389
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I can't believe some people have just noticed this. :lol: Every mobile phone i've had for the past 5 years has done this (and i've had alot). Some more so than others, like Nextel.
:mrgreen:
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04-22-2005, 09:04 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 38
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When I was using the iPAQ 6315 (with T-Mo service) I would have to turn my car radio down whenever I received a call because the interference was so loud and annoying over my car stereo speakers.
P.S. Switching back to a regular cell phone and buying a LOOX 720 was one of the smartest decisions of my life.
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