General Travel Tips and Advice Have you traveled before?- Please share your tips and advice with fellow Tpunks! |
|
03-14-2008, 09:16 AM
|
#1
|
TPunk Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
Posts: 2,829
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
article: unravelling common travel myths
Found this article on Yahoo News and thought everyone might find it interesting. It discusses the facts behind certain travel myths like "will using a cell phone on a plane cause it to crash?" and shit.
Check it out!
__________________
SO FAR: USA, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Kuwait, Qatar, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan
UP NEXT: Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Grand Cayman Islands - Feb 2012
tpunk gallery * twitter
|
|
|
03-14-2008, 12:45 PM
|
#2
|
TPunk Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: USA
Posts: 2,298
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by pinknic38
"will using a cell phone on a plane cause it to crash?" and shit.
|
Yea, that one is annoying because so many people with zero technical background believe it.
I had an old granny lecture me once on why I should turn my cell off on the plane or it might "interfere" with the plane's electronics. Obviously, she was just repeating an urban legend.
But I just turned it off rather than have to argue with a granny...
|
|
|
03-14-2008, 10:05 PM
|
#3
|
Mod
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,200
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
aww man now I feel dumb for believing the cell phone thing. I guess I had too much faith in flight attendants
|
|
|
03-15-2008, 07:58 AM
|
#4
|
Certified Wise
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,488
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
I've gotten dirty looks for chatting on my mobile at both petrol stations and hospitals. Obviously I'm going to turn off someones life support/explode a car by chatting to a mate. If that was the case the Terrorists would be running around with mobiles 24/7.
__________________
One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die -HST
|
|
|
03-15-2008, 09:18 AM
|
#5
|
Rabidly Xenophilic
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Austin Texas, but originally from Ann Arbor!
Posts: 1,223
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
The gas station cell phone thing always made me laugh...there's no way the electronics in a cell phone can cause a spark so they couldn't cause a fire. I actually saw there's a Mythbusters episode on this topic the other day.
And I always keep my phone on when I'm on planes...I admit it! Not to make calls, but because I don't wear a watch so I use it to figure out how much time is left on my flight
|
|
|
03-15-2008, 09:25 AM
|
#6
|
Tpunk Senior Moderators
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Columbia, MD
Posts: 1,872
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
They had a thing on MythBusters about it, but said they couldn't truly test it wrong on an airplane because it's against federal law to do so. Guess someone will have to email this to them. Wouldn't someone with a private jet be able to test this, then?
__________________
Reminiscing about: Brazil, Canada, Greece, Turkey, Mexico, England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Portugal, The Netherlands, USA
Living In: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Next up!
Poland (February!)
|
|
|
03-15-2008, 12:05 PM
|
#7
|
Rabidly Xenophilic
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Austin Texas, but originally from Ann Arbor!
Posts: 1,223
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
I found this page on the FAA's website: http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/...fm?newsId=6275
Quote:
Since 1991, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has banned the inflight use of 800 MHz cell phones because of potential interference with ground networks. This ban requires that in addition to the testing the FAA requires to show non-interference to the airplane systems, an airline would also need to apply for an exemption to the FCC rule before it could allow cell phone use inflight.
Today, airlines may let passengers use newer-model cell phones in what's called "airplane" mode, which essentially disables the transmission function so they can't make calls. This mode lets users do other things, such as play a game, check an address or look at the phone's calendar.
In February 2005, the FCC issued a proposal to lift the restriction on 800 MHz cell phone calls while airborne if such phones are operating under control of equipment installed in the airplane (e.g., "pico cell" technology) that acts as an antenna for onboard callers and controls the power level of the phones themselves.
Even if the FCC rescinds its ban, FAA regulations would still apply. Any installed equipment would be subject to FAA certification, just like any other piece of hardware. The air carrier would have to show that the use of a particular model phone won't interfere with the navigation and communications systems of the particular type of aircraft on which it will be used.
|
So I'd say the article is wrong and they are banned, and even if they weren't banned the airlines would have to prove to the FAA that every single model of phone is safe on every type of aircraft before it could be used. That sounds really expensive, and then the flight attendants would have to know how to recognize every model of phone to tell if they were allowed or not.
I am such a research nerd
|
|
|
03-15-2008, 04:28 PM
|
#8
|
Certified Wise
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,488
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by maracle
So I'd say the article is wrong and they are banned, and even if they weren't banned the airlines would have to prove to the FAA that every single model of phone is safe on every type of aircraft before it could be used. That sounds really expensive, and then the flight attendants would have to know how to recognize every model of phone to tell if they were allowed or not.
|
Which is a good thing because it would suck sitting in front of a person constantly making phone calls for 10 hours.
__________________
One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die -HST
|
|
|
03-16-2008, 12:56 AM
|
#9
|
Mod
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,200
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
can you even use a phone to call someone from a plane? I didn't think that would work...
|
|
|
03-16-2008, 03:04 AM
|
#10
|
TPunk Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Columbus, Ohio USA
Posts: 3,390
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Yep...they will work. Remember the 9/11 phone calls..
I am MORE than happy they remain banned on flights. People can be so obnoxious on their cell phones. Like raoulduke says, can you imagine sitting next to some self-absorbed celljerk on a transPacific flight...?
Let us keep the peace...
worldwidemike
__________________
Check out my travel web page at:
Worldwidemike.com
"Life is not measured in the number of breaths we take, but by the places that take our breath away..."
|
|
|
03-16-2008, 03:36 AM
|
#11
|
Mod
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,200
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
ohh yeah... but how would they work on long haul flights? surely there's no mobile reception in the middle of the ocean?
|
|
|
03-16-2008, 09:31 AM
|
#12
|
Tpunk Senior Moderators
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Columbia, MD
Posts: 1,872
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
I would assume satellites. Though that'd be some huge ass roaming bill.
__________________
Reminiscing about: Brazil, Canada, Greece, Turkey, Mexico, England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Portugal, The Netherlands, USA
Living In: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Next up!
Poland (February!)
|
|
|
03-17-2008, 03:10 PM
|
#13
|
TPunk Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: USA
Posts: 2,298
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by worldwidemike
Yep...they will work. Remember the 9/11 phone calls..
|
Well, that's another can of worms...
Do those alleged calls really prove that cellphones could work on airplanes at altitude then, or did they prove something else?
I dunno, I turned my phone on once when we were in descent to landing, just to see if I could get a signal...and I couldn't.
Well, you fly alot - why don't you do a little covert experiment for us?
Turn your celly on a few times at altitude and see if you can make any calls?
|
|
|
03-18-2008, 01:11 PM
|
#14
|
TPunk Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Columbus, Ohio USA
Posts: 3,390
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Well, if you'd have posted that a couple weeks ago, I'd have answered that I don't OWN a cell phone. However, much to the unsettling of the world, the total disruption of feng shui, the reversal of the True Path and scrambling of the letters in the secret name of Rome, I have a cell phone now.
I know. Run screaming for the hills, for the End is surely near.
That said, unlikely that I'll attempt that little experiment as the possibility of their use is fairly proven. The wisdom of surrendering that last blessed bit of space free from cell phone blather is what's in doubt...!
So, all Tpunkers who want me to have their cell numbers, feel free to PM me and I'll reply back with mine...
worldwidemike
__________________
Check out my travel web page at:
Worldwidemike.com
"Life is not measured in the number of breaths we take, but by the places that take our breath away..."
|
|
|
03-18-2008, 02:22 PM
|
#15
|
Hiked the Inca Trail
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Columbus, OH USA
Posts: 864
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by worldwidemike
However, much to the unsettling of the world, the total disruption of feng shui, the reversal of the True Path and scrambling of the letters in the secret name of Rome, I have a cell phone now.
worldwidemike
|
Believe me...NOBODY is more amazed than me! When he said he was going to get a cell phone I just about fell off my chair. We've got a couple of friends I'll probably never hear from again just because they called me wondering if Mike was around.
I'm with Mike though...let's leave this ONE place where I don't have to be bothered with someone else's LOUD conversation so they can feel important. Disconnect for a little while folks...it won't kill you - I promise. (end rant)
__________________
"Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you." ~ Aldous Huxley
Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer (an ad in the Smithsonian)
Travel is the enemy of bigotry.
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 10:41 AM.
|