"To jam or not to jam "

jamming cell phone freq's might not work !!

i get no signal in walmart's,my cell phone has a direct talk like a ht feature on it so i dont need a signal from cell tower to talk to my wife somewhere in the store and it has a long range too,so if someone wanted to cause trouble,they would use this feature and use the alert function to get an detonate function,.......or they may use 49mhz ht's or old cb's ht's or gmrs,so as we try to get complicated in finding a solution for cells to be jammed--etc.the opposition may k.i.s.s.=keep it simple stupid ..so what do you think is the solution????

 

K5CO,

You are too nice in your suggestion. Making them swallow it would be easier and more effective, with a great excuse based on claiming that one tripped into the act by some ill placed object. This would also prevent them from phoning 911.

Keep thos great suggestion coming forth, I like your style.

 

fun topic, I am totally against this.

1 reason. I am in the security field and jamming is a popular topic. but if its allowed anywhere it will be out of hand everywhere.

who is to say it will stay with government officials? what happens when the bad guy can get one cheap because of supply and demand (not just order it from EU where you might get ripped off) we can argue that its likely that the TLA agencies already have and use this regardless of FCC and the military as well.

So if Im a bad guy (or a good guy) I have the ability to block any cell including the first responders and others calling 911 to give aid because they are in trouble etc. If I am a corporation for a movie i have the ability to choose to block cell??? WTF what happens when i have a hear attack and someone cant call 911? who is to govern or regulate that the device sold to the movie place will allow 911 and who is to say that the device wont find a way out of the movie theater and block cell in the store next door?

I understand the right for the powers that protect to have better then the bad guys, but that will just never happen. What happens when the jammer is haywire and blocks other things?

What happens when the jammer is also blocking old cell technology on 800mhz and blocks first responder trunking radios

radio jamming is a very VERY serious security risk, you can take it very far if you have the cash and a small bit of knowlage. lets get fun, jam a satellite by directing a ton of RF into it good bye cable tv for a bit.


Once you open the flood gates of allowing corporate america to have a jammer you then see tricks on instructables on how to further make a mess of the world. even if you limit to government agencies only dont tell me that that will protect anyone... how many of you have a "unblocked scanner" from after the ban on watching 800cell. and how many of you have a automatic weapon made in the last 20 years? goverment only restriction means nothing to anyone.

how about something that hits home more, what happens when a savvy neighbor gets sick of your transmissions and just jams up your 40m band? sure there is law to yell at him but its your cash to fight it.


if your willing to risk your life with a IED telling me that a jammer wont also make a mess, do you know how easy it would also be to just fix the IED to watch for a mass RF bomb and go off anyway? and who is to say that you wont just spring for the global phone with a sat link that isnt even on cell range? or if there was crazy wide spread use of jammers just flip to a different cheap radio system like FRS or 2m when your going to blow up a building i dont think another 40-100 bucks is going to break the bank.

 

Jamming Cell Phones What Fun

Myself don't own a cell phone, but I do a two-way radio and I wound'nt want someone to jam my communications
during a conversation, because it is rude. ke7mbl

 

We're being jammed! What is it? Strawberry...

(from SpaceBalls)

In the Yahoo Groups' Private Wireless Forum there's been long discussion of this sort. Not long ago, someone there made the point that the bi-directional amplifiers being sold (often illegally) to users of 800 MHz cellphones and radios can also jam law enforcement trunked radio systems.

Hmm.

Why not LET the cons have cellphones, but get warrants to tap all the calls they place. Seems to me there'd be some law enforcement value in that.



Cortland
KA5S23458vnawe049tn bq3t33t 444444........

 

Because its easier, and more profitable to have them use the landline payphones installed in that jail for that purpose, plus those are already tapped, without the need for a warrant.

 

English

A ham in Girliemanlandia (that's CA to you living in caves) said: "basic spelling and basic word construction is very important specially if you are"

I believe he meant "basic spelling and basic word construction ARE very important, especially ..........'

He gets no points for his remarks.

 

good piont . I too beleav that cell jammers should be aloud on the sides of roads and freeways to protect us from "just got my drivers licens and I CAN text too" teenagers

 

All this discussion about cell phones being used to detonate IED's begs the questions to be asked,

Besides for sensationalized yet imaginary scenarios depicted in film and TV, Over the last 15 years exactly how many times in the continental United States have IED’s been detonated using cell phones and how many people have been killed as a result ?

 

I find it truly amazing that amateurs are actually in support of jamming cell phones. Some because they find it annoying that someone talks loud at a restaurant or in a move theater. I find this happening WITHOUT cell phones. Many times I've had to put up with sub 10 year olds cranky and crying in restaurants and theaters after 10PM at night. Or how about loud people in general or possibly crying babies? Should we start duct taping their mouths shut? Others want to jam cell phones out of some sort or patriotic duty to fight terrorists. I'm not sure where this idea came from.

Let's explore these possibilities closer to home. For instance, say your next door neighbor does not like the RFI generated by your amateur station. Maybe you are coming in over their cheap clock radio. Possibly they think all those antennas and the signals coming from them are harmful to them and their kids. Should they be allowed to get a device that creates noise across the HF bands and possibly VHF/UHF so you receive a S9+ hash no matter where you tune? If you can't receive other amateurs it would take you off the air. You'd then have to shut down and get rid of your equipment.

How about the suggestion by {CALLSIGN REDACTED} of removing a cell phone from the user's lips with an ordinary baseball bat? That makes real good sense. If someone decides that the RF from your station is causing them grief should they have the right to stop your transmitter by removing your microphone in a similar manner? Or how about removing that unsightly tower or those lousy antennas from you home by tying them to a bumper of a car and driving off? You'd watch as your radio, yanked by its coax, sailed across the shack and smashed into a million pieces when it hit the wall. Or worse go THROUGH the wall leaving a large hole.

Should local officials also be allowed to jam satellite receivers (Dish Network DirecTV)? Maybe they want you to subscribe to Cable TV so they can collect local taxes or possibly get kickbacks from the cable carrier that they don't get from the DSS carriers. Would that be fair?

As far as cell phones in hospitals. This is mostly bunk that has been passed down for years with little research. I work in a hospital with multiple clinics. When I started working there in the late 1990s cell phones were banned with a "Ghostbuster" sign through a cell phone. You would find this sticker at every entrance. This was true in the hospital and all clinics. Our Biomedical Engineering department researched this and found no real problems caused by cell phones. This ban at our sites was lifted. In fact we extended cell phone repeaters into our basement floors to extend coverage. Most medical facilities that keep this ban do so only because "this is company policy". Meanwhile most medical device vendors are bringing in WiFi enabled medical devices, Bluetooth linked barcode scanners, and so on. Do realize people with implanted medical devices visit other locations that have cell phone users and don't drop dead because of it.

Cell phones are banned on airplanes not so much because of interference to navigational aids but because cell phones would bring up hundreds if not thousands of cell towers at once. Plus that Airphone in the seat in front of you would not get used and airlines would lose money. (Ever have a 2M radio in an airplane? I have. You can bring up many repeaters at only a few thousand feet. Same principle with a cell phone.)

Jamming cell phones to prevent IED? Right. This yahoo wanting jammers to prevent IED remote triggers simply hates cell phones and is making an excuse to jam them. Can someone please show me statistics of how many explosions have taken place in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Great Britian, France, Japan, Australia, and so on using cellular remote detonation? I'd venture to say very few. (I believe the number is ZERO but someone please show FBI, CIA, or SS statistics to prove otherwise.)

Now let's say all cell phones are either jammed or banned to prevent remote detonation of IED. The bad guys then only needs to get simple 2M or even HF radios. Add a simple tone squelch circuit or tone decoder to a proper receiver and you are set. Tune to the local repeater and transmit the proper tone and now we must jam all 2M amateur communications. So the IEDs are now moved to the HF bands and can be picked up by a simple SW radio. Now we must jam all HF frequencies world wide.

The entire set of ham bands is now S9+ of static, cell phones (and maybe pagers) are silent, what next? How about banning toy remote controls, garage door openers, or any other device able to emit or receive RF.

The short sighted cell industry put out analog cell phones with no scrambling or security. To "secure" them they had laws made to strip out entire segments in the 800MHz receivers; both in amateur radios and scanners. Now analog cell phones are a thing of the past yet we have blocked scanners. (If I understand correctly cell phones do not even operate in the 800MHz spectrum anymore.) Think this useless law/rule will be repealed? Right.

To allow jamming of cell phones puts us on a path to where other systems not liked by certain zealots can be harmed. Sort of like listening to so called "moral" people and banning alcoholic beverages. Tried that experiment and it failed miserably.

 

To Jam it or Not to Jam it, That is the Question!

I don't believe in illegal jamming of anything!

It may be frustrating at times to be interrupted by cell phone conversations in restaurants in theaters, but let's leave it to the restaurants and theaters to enforce the "signs" that say "please turn off your cell phones!"

I worked as an Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) now Electronic Attack (EA) electronic design engineer for many years mostly to engage radar and communication systems and must admit that it is fairly easy to implement devices to counter some of the older systems but not the newer digital and spread spectrum systems.

I really don't believe it is worth risking losing your amateur radio license if caught using an illegal jamming device. I believe the FCC has the power to revoke your license if you are caught jamming illegally. Is it really worth it?
I personally don't believe so!
de, K2OC

 

Hmm, not an exact match, but realize the technology at the time... But remember Rudolf? Atlanta? The Clinic? He just timed the second explosion. IF the cell phone technology was as widespread then as it is now, I wouldn't be surprised to find out it was used.

Actually, we have been very lucky these last 7+ years in this regard since 9-11...

 

A planned demo yesterday of a system to jam cell phones smuggled into prisons was canceled after CTIA intervened. The FCC had even issued an STA allowing it.

LINK:
http://urgentcomm.com/policy_and_law/news/cell-jamming-demonstration-cancelled-0108/


Cortland
KA5S