|
Cell Phone Jammers: Good, Wholesome Fun |
|
|
|
Dr. Samuel Says -
Rants
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Thursday, 27 September 2007 |
|
For many years, I was radically opposed to the use of cell phones. Not for any profound sociological reasons, really -- I just don't particularly like getting phone calls. This is a familiar lament, but I imagine most people are trying to dodge calls from telemarketers and creditors. In my case, I have to worry about rogue Interpol agents and corporate-sponsored assassins.
 At any rate, I've come to accept that cell phones are here to stay --
for others, if not for me. Still, there are still many instances in
which their intrusion is unwelcome -- cinemas and public transportation
to name two. So I've been keeping an eye on this little corner of the
market: mobile cell phone jammers . The idea is to arm yourself with a
small, concealable electronic device that disrupts cell phone signals
within a local area. So when that knucklehead at the movies starts
talking, you can shut him down quickly and quietly.
There are several ways to jam a cell phone signal, of course. This has
been a military and commercial concern for years. If privacy or
security is a priority, you can lock down entire buildings. (Many
European and Asian countries even allow for building-wide jamming in
theaters and schools). The idea of a personal cell phone jammer is,
naturally, more problematic. If everyone were going around jamming one
another surreptitiously, we'd be back at square one. In fact, it is
expressly illegal to own, operate, manufacture, or import mobile
jammers in the U.S., and in most other countries. Nevertheless, consumer models do
exist, and are for sale .
They typically work like this: Jammers send out radio signals to flood
the frequencies most commonly used by cell phones. This can be
tower-to-phone, phone-to-tower, or both. Smaller units might work out
to 30 feet or so, blocking a range of typical cell phone bands (800 MHz
to 1900 MHz, say.) The really advanced models can block all frequencies
and systems for several miles, but tend to be suitcase-sized, at least.
Lord knows it's tempting. Reminds me of the still-percolating debate
about developing micro-EMPs to blow out offending boom boxes and stereo
systems. (Used even more ambitiously in Ocean's Eleven .) Of course,
there are many simpler options for solving all of these problems,
available in a wide range of calibers. But that's a whole other set of
complications…
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
