Akim711

Whenever I use my phone, or there's an incoming call, I start hearing fuzzy noises coming from the radio. Whether, its in CD, FM, i hear the noises. Sometimes I can even tell when the phone is about to ring because i hear the noises from the speakers, and 2 seconds later, the phone will ring.

I in SoCal and have Cingular Wireless... and had both an Ericsson T28 as well as a Nokia 3390. Both phones do it. I used to have Verizon, and that never did anything like this.

Anyone else get this?

Cee eL eS

yep...i have Verizon and a star-tac...i only noticed when the car was off but the radio was on...the radio or head unit seems to pick up static...so ur not the only one...

tel1sps

It's the evil RF interference!!!

Edub-TL

Know problem on CLs and TLs

turn the radio all the way down or move the phone further away from the HU..

jdl75

Lots of people. It isn't confined to the Acura either. Buick, Toyota, Olds and Ford owners where I work have the same problem. My Accord and girlfriends Civic suffer as well. Something in the head unit circuitry resonates at digital cell phone frequencies. It's the same problem hospitals have, and why you can't use phones in there either.

russianDude

yes, I get the same exact thing.
I used to get the same thing on older car, and I have ATT. It has nothing to do with your phone or provider of service.
It happens to all car stereos, they are poorly sheilded against electormagnetic frequences around the stereo.
If you keep your phone like 3 feet from stereo, it should be big enough distance

tel1sps

Keep it at least 3 feet from your head also.... Your brain is poorly sheilded.

HellaWhat

Guys, it's normal.... Cellphone have an acceptable interference with other pieces of electronic equipment. That's why they classify these devices as Class B's! Anyone ever use their cell next to computer speakers? When u use your phone you're generating a field of reception the speakers can pick up. THis is not the fault of the head unit or the cellphone, it just means that the wired connecting to the speakers are unshielded and that makes them act as a giant antennaes.

[ 07-18-2001: Message edited by: HellaWhat ]

xenon7

Before Cell/ Digital phones became real popular in cars most people had CB and mobil radio rigs to communicate. The 11 meter RF frequency (27mhz range) would blead over most stereos and TV's using the legal 5W. If powerful enough (thus upping the power, say 100w or so, you could really disrupt things.
It had its time and place.

gto2050

Talk on your cell phone next to your computer some time. Then you will hear interference!

Dacat

So that's it! I always thought I installed the V1 incorrectly or something. Whew, for a minute there I was going insane.

kensteele

Here's an explanation for the layperson because I'm not technical enough to explain it any other way.

Your digital phone is always listing to the network whenever it is powered on. There is a constant signal between the phone and the radio tower. But to save battery life, your phone goes to sleep and powers down really low, but just high enough to still stay in contact with the tower.

Every once in awhile, it raises power and says "here I am, my phone number is..., my location is..., my phone's serial number is...". Then it goes back to sleep. This rate is determined by the phone's slot cycle index and is measured in seconds.

On TDMA phones from AT&T, this is very significant and tends to intefere with nearby electronics especially computers and radios. On CDMA phones, like Verizon and Sprint PCS, this is much less pronounced.

Your phone is on standby using the sync channel. You get the time and date and phone info and minimum power drain from phone to tower and vice versa. Every once in a while, the phone will check the paging channel to see if there are incoming calls, text messages, etc. The phone raises power to check the paging channel, then powers back down low to the sync channel. This is the interference you hear sometimes. Going back and forth like this is what you hear. If there is an incoming phone call, the phone cannot respond until it raises power again and checks the paging channel as I mentioned earlier. When it powers up to check the paging channel, you might get this interference when it says "Yes there is an incoming call." The phone will then switch over to the traffic channel and make the connection to a voice call. This is where you hear all of this activity (in your radio) before an incoming call is connected. This is the slight interference that external devices such as flashing antennas and buzzing pagers and other remote devices pick up on to alert you of an incoming call. This happens slowly in a few seconds, not in micro or milliseconds. So it is quite noticeable.

It doesn't happen in CDMA (Verizon, Alltel, Sprint) as much as in TDMA (ATT, Cingular) and GSM (Voicestream, Powertel, etc). As for Sprint and Verizon, it may or may not happen in all cities because Sprint and Verizon have different tower and base station equipment in each city. Motorola and Lucent equipment may be more pronounced than Samsung and Nortel equipment.

JRock

"I hear fuzziness two seconds before the phone will ring."

Psychic Stereo?

-J

BBsAcuraRacing

This is more common with a digital phone on PCS. Was your verizon tri-mode.
If you really want to see something freaky. Put your phone under your monitor and call it...

Tight-S

That's nothing. My horn in my Mazda 626 makes my Escort's laser warning go off. I know it does it but I still freak out and slam on my brakes everytime I honk my horn.

langjae

More like cancer causing cell phone!!

chizad1980

Hey Kensteele,
That's pretty cool that you know about cellular stuff. I work for Lucent integrating and troubleshooting cell sites. Where did you learn this stuff from?

russianDude

You are a loser.

BLOWN 331

The same reason why the flight attendant announces that all electronic devices must be turned off as to not interfere with any of the airplane's gauges. Does not matter any way because the airplane's electronics are all shielded.

gto2050

That's what he does for a living. He's a cool guy. Met him at the Park Avenue Meet. He came all the way from Kansas!

Scorpius

Nextel does the same thing. It won't cause damage. Out nextel phones interfere in our Dodge Caravans we use here and with the system in the CL. Its normal. If you use a callphone next to a PC monitor it'll cause interferrence there too.

Tuboz

another reason to get SPRINT PCS


j/k

have the same problem...not so much in the CL but noticed it a lot more in my old accord

kensteele

Yep, this is what I do everyday for a living. PCS phones, cellphone towers, testing the services, Wireless Web, PDA devices, etc. I've been doing it for 2 years and it's probably the best job I've ever had.

Plus I go out into the field to see all of this equipment working and to meet customers and clients. It's all part of my job to make more money for Sprint and Sprint PCS. Oh and to ensure the customer gets the best equipment and service, too.

RedS

i have Sprint service and I don't notice it at all, however, when I had Nextel service I noticed it big time. it even interfered with the tv.

Fabvsix

Interesting. I make a living on the phone ! I just bought a Kyocera Smartphone and don't hear any of the above mentioned. My service provider for the past 6 years has been Verizon (formally GTE) and never hear any static, even in my Accord with my previous StarTac Motorolla !!! I do live in California and perhaps that is why ? Towers/California ?

fastdriver

Mmm...I have Cingular wireless here in CT for my Nokia 6161 phone and I don't get any buzzing in the car. Usually I keep it in the door pull handle. Sometimes I keep it in the cupholder if I don't have Dunkin Donuts coffee. The other cupholder has my Dunkin Donuts cup ashtray in it!

Now, next to my computer, I know when the phone is going to ring because my speakers will buzz a few seconds before the phone rings. The speaker wire in the car isn't shielded? I would think it would be will all the electronics we have.