Greedy Air NZ to allow calls, texts on new plane

Forums › Travel (planes, train, cruise) › Greedy Air NZ to allow calls, texts on new plane

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Talkiet

4819 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3935

Trusted

#436833 8-Feb-2011 14:52

TinyTim: Also it leads to the question, what is 'off'?

Further supports my point... MANY current phones will wake themselves up from some 'off' states to sound an alarm for example....

The fact that this happens with such regularity and Airlines still don't crack down on it seems to show that the words (For gods sake don't turn on your phone!!!) and the actions (We don't check phones) of the airlines are inconsistent.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

bazzer

3438 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 267

Trusted

#436836 8-Feb-2011 14:55

Talkiet:
TinyTim: Also it leads to the question, what is 'off'?

Further supports my point... MANY current phones will wake themselves up from some 'off' states to sound an alarm for example....

The fact that this happens with such regularity and Airlines still don't crack down on it seems to show that the words (For gods sake don't turn on your phone!!!) and the actions (We don't check phones) of the airlines are inconsistent.

Cheers - N

Or they're simply trying to minimise risk by asking people to turn off their phones and other devices. Chances are they aren't a problem, but if they are and 99% of people turn off their devices and they don't turn them back on until after landing, isn't that better than everyone leaving them on all the time?

nakedmolerat

4631 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 874

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#436891 8-Feb-2011 17:10

Talkiet:

Yes I know many GPS units hav e Bluetooth, and I'm sure with the advent of phones, you could claim all sorts of things, but with the wording above, it sounds like a basic hand held GPS (They would have said phone if it was a smartphone)

GPS IS PASSIVE!!!!! .....

occasionaly i turn on the GPS in my phone to check for altitude, location and speed. i believe air new zealand approve the use of GPS inflight http://gpsinformation.net/airgps/airgps.htm

knoydart

904 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 154

Trusted

#436961 8-Feb-2011 19:54

nakedmolerat:

occasionaly i turn on the GPS in my phone to check for altitude, location and speed. i believe air new zealand approve the use of GPS inflight http://gpsinformation.net/airgps/airgps.htm

They do, but pays to ask the crew before you do. I used mine on a flight to LHR last October, and the crew member I spoke to was extremely interested, he checked with the captain first as they have the final say.
Back in June 2010, I was denined on a NPL - AKL flight by the captain so ask first...

Technofreak

6659 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3480

Trusted

#437016 8-Feb-2011 21:25

knoydart:
nakedmolerat:

occasionaly i turn on the GPS in my phone to check for altitude, location and speed. i believe air new zealand approve the use of GPS inflight http://gpsinformation.net/airgps/airgps.htm

They do, but pays to ask the crew before you do. I used mine on a flight to LHR last October, and the crew member I spoke to was extremely interested, he checked with the captain first as they have the final say.
Back in June 2010, I was denined on a NPL - AKL flight by the captain so ask first...

Yes, the Captain has the final say, no matter what you may think regarding whether item will cause interference or not.

As some posters have pointed out aviation errs on the side of caution, therefore if there is the slightest doubt then it doesn't get a run. In that case of cell phones without an external aerial (external to the aircraft that is) there is doubt and even then units with an external aerial must be switched off for take off and landing.

I agree the risk is probably small, which is probably why cell phones don't get confiscated prior to boarding an aircraft, but have 99% of the phones off is a whole lot better than having none off at all.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

nova

260 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 143

Trusted

#438038 10-Feb-2011 22:43

Beccara:
jjnz1:
richms: Is the cargo area outside coverage of the onboard signal? Do they carry mail on planes nationally at all? Would be annoyed if I was sending something with a GPS tracker in it and it clocked up lots of data when it was in flight on the plane. Then again last time I tried a GPS tracker in a parcel it ran flat before it even left auckland.

I thought most consumer grade GPS devices will not work above a certain height and speed as they are unable to recalculate satellite signals based on variances over 7 degrees.

I am also sure there exists some international regulations regarding this to help prevent home made missiles etc.

Not sure about that, I've had an accurate GPS lock at 23,000 ft on a Motorola Milestone before. You might be thinking of the Civie/Mill accuracy difference that were switched over last decade

GPS works fine in flights, provided you're next to a window. jjnz1 was probably thinking of the COCOM limits which are in GPS receivers, but commercial airliners done fly fast enough or high enough to trigger these limits. This is different to Selective Availability, which was indeed turned off 10 years ago. COCOM is still in place, but most people wont be affected by it. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoCom which describes the limits:

In GPS technology, the phrasing "COCOM Limits" is also used to refer to a limit placed to GPS tracking devices that should disable tracking when the device realizes to be moving faster than 1,000 knots (approximately 1,151 mph or 1,852 km/h) at an altitude higher than 60,000 ft (approximately 18,000 m). This was intended to avoid the use of GPS in ICBM-like applications.

Some manufacturers apply this limit literally (disable when both limits are reached), other manufacturers disable tracking when a single limit is reached.

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

6297a1679f9

371 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 29
Inactive user

#438086 11-Feb-2011 02:49

freitasm: Allowing in flight voice calls *IS* the worst idea ever, regardless of cost.

Agreed

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6