Cellphone use

"N2310D" wrote in news:%XEbh.17633$Uz.2268@trnddc05:

I did see it. First, you have MUST keep in mind that the
experiment, while planned and controlled, was NOT realistic and the
results were inconclusive.
With that said, the receivers were cobbled together from
off-the-shelf from used avionics components. The system, under
"normal" operation, with a "normal" cell-phone did nothing to the
glide slope or OBS. It was only when the cobbled-up ILS was
subjected to boosted energy on the cell-phone frequency that some
deviation occurred.
Note that the experiment ended up with a BUSTED! conclusion and
caveats from Jamie that the Mythbusters proved nothing.

Like I said, I hadn't seen the details.

I will say this - I used to have a Nextel phone with the walkie-talkie.
That thing interfered with everything from Computer Monitors to Doctor's
Office PA Systems. I have a Verizon phone now that is pretty benign, but I
never left that Nextel on when I was IFR - it wasn't worth the risk...

At the same time, the Nextel interfered with stuff that was at most 3'
away from me. In the pilot's seat, I could see a potential risk. I can't
imagine if I was sitting in the 1st row of a 737, let alone the 17th row,
anything I'm carrying will interfere with the GPS in the cockpit past the
galley, the toilet, the entry doors, and the piece of cardboard with the
metal bar they call a cabin door... I'm still pretty convinced that this
is at best a case of overprotection by the FAA to prevent risk from an
unknown (who knows what frequencies the phone companies will start
offerring service on?) and more likely a case of maintaining an outdated
rule because it allows Flight Attendents to do their briefing without
having to talk over a plane full of people on their cell phones...

Not much different than the "Seatbacks Upright" thing. Do you really think
it is a critical safety hazard that if the crew needs to evacuate the
passengers, the average person won't be able to navigate their way past
the 2" tilt of the seat in front of them. It rights itself when you push
it up...