Compact disc players on planes?

[Stitchfans]

Please help with a disagreement I have with DH. Oldest DD wants to bring her cd player with her own music to listen to on the plane. He says they are not allowed cause it will interfer with the radio for the pilots. I told him it would be ok just not before take off and when we were landing. Who is right?

Sorry if this is a stupid question.

 

[bradk]

you are. short of takeoff and landing (and you will be told when), you are able to use most any electronics that do not actively transmit.

so laptops are okay, as long as WiFi is disabled. blackberries and cell phones are even okay as long as wireless is disabled / 'plane mode' is activated.

and no issues with CD players, mp3 players, personal dvd players, etc.

 

[CleveRocks]

Yes, what bradk said!

 

[bradk]

actually, for the benefit of your husband (and PLEASE, not to spark debate!)

he's right in that all electronics do generate noise (although there are very strict requirements in just how much they can generate in order to be approved by the FCC for home/consumer use).

however, as fan of Discovery's MythBusters, I recall an episode where they went further to see if cell phones for example do impact the instruments on the cockpit, and if not, what it took to interfere with them (they never did any of this during a real flight).

bottom line, they weren't very successful, but it was introduced as a point that new cell phones and new plane technology comes into play and there is no way for the FAA to be able to test each new innovention against thousands of individual plane elements, so it's really a blanket policy to insure everything will be fine.

so all that said, obey what the airlines tell you.

i'm only mentioning this in the interest of his curiosity. a nice synopsis of the episode is here

http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2006/04/episode_49_cellphones_on_plane.html

 

[DebbieB]

I think the real reason why electronics are not allowed below 10,000 feet is not interference but the fact that they want your full attention during takeoff and landing in case of an evacuation.

 

[fishermouse]

actually, for the benefit of your husband (and PLEASE, not to spark debate!)

he's right in that all electronics do generate noise (although there are very strict requirements in just how much they can generate in order to be approved by the FCC for home/consumer use).

however, as fan of Discovery's MythBusters, I recall an episode where they went further to see if cell phones for example do impact the instruments on the cockpit, and if not, what it took to interfere with them (they never did any of this during a real flight).

bottom line, they weren't very successful, but it was introduced as a point that new cell phones and new plane technology comes into play and there is no way for the FAA to be able to test each new innovention against thousands of individual plane elements, so it's really a blanket policy to insure everything will be fine.

so all that said, obey what the airlines tell you.

i'm only mentioning this in the interest of his curiosity. a nice synopsis of the episode is here

http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2006/04/episode_49_cellphones_on_plane.html

Sorry to dispute mythbusters but I was recently on a plane when the stewardess announced that " the tower has informed us that someone has their cell phone activated" Everyone was aksed to check their phones and supprisingly the guy that complained the most had his phone on.
For a living I repair Xray equipment and know for a fact that a cell phone can shut down a Cath-Lab.

 

[bradk]

now of course, that's possible, but was it interfering with the instruments is the question?

blackberries create a lot of noise. if you have a blackberry by the phone while it transmits data, you'll hear it. it's really quite obnoxious. so it may have been detectable in that sense.

but planes have taken off with cell phones and blackberries on, no doubt. there was one case not too long where a flight was turned around because in mid-flight, someone's blackberry started ringing and nobody claimed it. so at least in that case, they weren't able to tell there was one turned on.

 

[Evil Princess]

Sorry to dispute mythbusters but I was recently on a plane when the stewardess announced that " the tower has informed us that someone has their cell phone activated" Everyone was aksed to check their phones and supprisingly the guy that complained the most had his phone on.
For a living I repair Xray equipment and know for a fact that a cell phone can shut down a Cath-Lab.

That's interesting, I fly almost weekly and there have been times where I just forgot to shut mine off, or, many times that I listen to my ipod during takeoff and landing and nothing ever happened, nor did anyone ever come over to me.

The only time that people tend to come over is if they see you visibly listening to it.

 

[Stitchfans]

Thank you everyone for all the information. I got more than I asked for!

 

[Disneyjosh229]

I think the real reason why electronics are not allowed below 10,000 feet is not interference but the fact that they want your full attention during takeoff and landing in case of an evacuation.

I agree. Think about the kinds of radio systems todays aircraft have, they can talk to controllers who are 300 miles away and 30,000 feet below them, I can't believe the common cell phone could overpower a signal like that...

 

[DebbieB]

I agree. Think about the kinds of radio systems todays aircraft have, they can talk to controllers who are 300 miles away and 30,000 feet below them, I can't believe the common cell phone could overpower a signal like that...

I wasn't thinking about cell phones in my post, I was thinking of IPODS and CD Players, which they make you turn off. As far as I know, they don't emit a signal.

One time before they allowed you to turn on your cellphone after landing, a pilot came on while taxiing and said "please keep your cellphone off until we reach the gate". So he knew someone turned one on.

 

[bradk]

well, just to clarify, most electronic devices do emit noise/signals. those that do, have to be rated by the FCC, so somewhere on the device itself or in the manuals, you should see a reference to FCC Class B which are devices tested and rated safe enough to be used in the home by consumers. Class A is reserved for more commercial applications.

not enough noise to likely interfere with anything mind you, but nontheless. sometimes devices do conflict with eachother in this respect.

here's what one source says on it (edited for brevity)

The FCC Rules and Regulations, Title 47, Part 15, Subpart B regulates "unintentional radio-frequency devices". ... This includes almost every product that employs a microprocessor including workstations, personal computers, point-of-sale terminals, printers, modems, and many electronic games. ...
Class B devices are those that are marketed for use in the home. Class B limits are more stringent than Class A limits and the Class B certification process is administratively more rigorous than the Class A verification process. ... Currently there are no FCC regulations pertaining to product immunity to electromagnetic fields.

the entire text that came from is at http://www.emclab.umr.edu/emcproc.html

as for the pilot (or whomever) mentioning not using cell phones while taxi'ing, i'd say that's probably something he does as a precautionary measure on a regular basis since some people seem to think once you're on the ground, it's over with. or maybe he was tipped off. or just a coincidence.

(or maybe it was generating excessive noise like the blackberry by a phone)

 

[Evil Princess]

I wasn't thinking about cell phones in my post, I was thinking of IPODS and CD Players, which they make you turn off. As far as I know, they don't emit a signal.

One time before they allowed you to turn on your cellphone after landing, a pilot came on while taxiing and said "please keep your cellphone off until we reach the gate". So he knew someone turned one on.

They still do let you turn them on before the gate...or at least, they have on the 20+ times I've flown in the last year.

 

[CarolA]

The reason cell phones had better NEVER be allowed is that there will be an uprising when all the rest of us have to hear "the JerK" make his "BIG BUSINESS DEAL" LOL!

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Sorry to dispute this... but the tower has NO WAY of knowing if there's a cell phone on in the plane! I'm sorry, but the flight attendants were yanking your plane, and Mr Bigmouth got caught.

I can tell you for a fact that cell phones do not interfere with the communications, otherwise most captains and f/os wouldn't call their significant others sometime between pushing back from the gate and being #1 for take-off to let them know exactly when they'll be landing... <cough> not that *I* know anyone who does this...

Sorry to dispute mythbusters but I was recently on a plane when the stewardess announced that " the tower has informed us that someone has their cell phone activated" Everyone was aksed to check their phones and supprisingly the guy that complained the most had his phone on.
For a living I repair Xray equipment and know for a fact that a cell phone can shut down a Cath-Lab.

 

[DebbieB]

They still do let you turn them on before the gate...or at least, they have on the 20+ times I've flown in the last year.

This incident happened before they allowed them to be used during taxi after landing, maybe 2 or 3 years ago. The pilot came on and made a hurried announcement that they were not to be used until we reached the gate. It didn't sound routine, it was in a scolding tone. Could it possibly be that they can pickup the conversation on their radio?

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

This incident happened before they allowed them to be used during taxi after landing, maybe 2 or 3 years ago. The pilot came on and made a hurried announcement that they were not to be used until we reached the gate. It didn't sound routine, it was in a scolding tone. Could it possibly be that they can pickup the conversation on their radio?

The captain was just a very good actor...

 

[bavaria]

or the purser or FA was on the phone with the cockpit and happened to mention someone was on their cel phone.

And in other countries, one often cannot use a cel phone until the plane is at the gate, FYI. (which frankly is much more pleasant than 100 people whipping out their phone all at the same time to say 'yeah, I just landed' with 100 corresponding beeps and bleeps sounding.....)

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

or the purser or FA was on the phone with the cockpit and happened to mention someone was on their cel phone.

And in other countries, one often cannot use a cel phone until the plane is at the gate, FYI. (which frankly is much more pleasant than 100 people whipping out their phone all at the same time to say 'yeah, I just landed' with 100 corresponding beeps and bleeps sounding.....)

And human nature being what it is... they know people can't keep their seatbelts buckled until they come to a stop why should the cell phone be any different?

 

[bavaria]

And human nature being what it is... they know people can't keep their seatbelts buckled until they come to a stop why should the cell phone be any different?

'cause in Canada the FAs really YELL at people who whip out their cel phones too early.... it can get very scary