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TLD

TLD

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#165781 20-Feb-2015 14:06
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Who polices radio frequencies in NZ?  Out about 30 minutes ago drove through an area of constant audible interference from my Vodafone cell phone.  It was the sound your phone makes occasionally when (I assume) the nearest tower is saying 'hello, where are you?'. No big deal, but it went on for >20 minutes, and covered an area at least half a kilometer across.  Probably more, but that's the area I drove through.

The were occasional undertones, that might have been Morse, but only brief snatches.  It was mostly fairly constant.  So it may have been Amateur  Radio with a dirty amp, or maybe a mucky arc welder perhaps radiating through a steel frame.  This was exactly near the 2, Rose street, Blenheim discussed in the GPS thread last week, so close to construction in the Bunnings, Pak & Save, and the still being built PGG buildings.

When engine management was first being developed, we had instances where an engine would stall if close to a radio transmission from something like a Taxi.  So to test efforts to harden the engine management electronics, the relevant section built a spark generator.  It was able to completely fill the spectrum analyzer display from 20 feet.  

Also reminds of when white asbestos was discovered in the main workshop adjacent to our section, and specialist were brought in to deal with it.  They seemed like cowboys to us, but they were annoying the heck out of us with a cheap transistor radio just the other side of the wall, and when we shouted through the wall they just swore at us.  So we rigged a small frequency generator close to the radio on our side of the wall, and set it to beat with the tranny's IF.  When they came to investigate we turned of the FG, and turned it back on again when they walked away.  They soon gave up. :-)

Anyway, sorry about the tangent.  If the interference is ongoing, who could I report it to?




Trevor Dennis
Rapaura (near Blenheim)

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LennonNZ
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  #1243069 20-Feb-2015 14:15
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InstallerUFB
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  #1243110 20-Feb-2015 15:14
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In the first instance report the problem to your provider - they need to have logs of the issuses - They investigate the issue (or should I say a radio tech from their contractors does) and they try to resolve the issue with what or whom is causeing the interferance

If your provider, that owns the licence for the spectrum as its not a 'pubic' spectrum, cant resolve the interferance then they contact RSM for resolution.

old3eyes
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  #1243253 20-Feb-2015 19:18
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Maybe 3G was down and you were hunting for GSM..




Regards,

Old3eyes




richms
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  #1243265 20-Feb-2015 19:34
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If your phone is interfering with your other stuff, then you dont call anyone.

Constant GSM chatter is the norm when the phone falls back to 2g, if you dont want that, you should be able to turn it off on the phone, but some dumb ones like my note 3 only let me choose UMTS only, not UMTS and LTE only.

If someone elses phone is interfering with your stuff, then you can look furthur into it, but without even knowing what was being interfered with its anyones guess what the problem is.

Large areas of only getting 2g are common on vodafone if you have a phone without 900MHz UMTS on it, as the 2100 isnt really there in rural locations.




Richard rich.ms

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  #1243270 20-Feb-2015 19:48
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Contact VF. Give the date and time of the issue. They can run reports on the sites you where connected to at the time and see if anything can be seen, and if so contact the right people




Anything I suggest or say is my own thoughts and not provided by anyone else unless stated

mudguard
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  #1243285 20-Feb-2015 20:27
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Bluetooth connection in a car?

TLD

TLD

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  #1243335 20-Feb-2015 22:07
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mudguard: Bluetooth connection in a car?

No it continued after I got out and was walking around Pak & Save.  Still going on when I left, but stopped soon after.  I won't chase it up unless it happens again in case it is a one off.  It did seem odd that it was so constant for such a long time though.

Thanks for the heads up.  I'll drive by tomorrow and see what's happening.




Trevor Dennis
Rapaura (near Blenheim)

 
 
 

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richms
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  #1243351 20-Feb-2015 22:51
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So what we getting interfered with? You were on a call and we're hearing gsm like noise? That's usually a handset problem but I did have a case with metal in it which caused it sometimes.




Richard rich.ms

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