Forums » Off-Topic Discussions

Cell phone ESP?

    • 5130 posts
    January 9, 2010 9:02 AM PST
    So, I'm sitting here listening to a CD on my retro boombox, which is obviously set to Function>CD.  My cell phone is across the room, but I've been getting texts from a friend all morning, and every time, without fail, a good five to ten seconds before I actually get the text alert on my phone, my boombox emits static over the CD music.  How is the CD picking up my cell phone frequency when it isnt even set to be picking up radio signals?

    ???
    • 336 posts
    January 9, 2010 1:49 PM PST
    Your speakers are picking up the electromagnetic waves????

    Okay - A couple of weeks ago I taught a lesson on Electromagnetic Energy and the visible spectrum - and I told the kids I have 2 points: 1) Energy comes from the sun and moves in waves and; 2) the visible spectrum is just a very small sliver of the energy waves that we can see.

    Oh - and that the smaller the wavelength the more dangerous (I don't know if that's the right term) the energy.  And the length of a sound wave can be a football field . . . . . . . . . and that we were all learning together  . . . . .

    and your guess isn't just as good mine, it's probably better! ;D

    • 903 posts
    January 9, 2010 4:07 PM PST
    maijinjc is right with her guess, electromagnetic interference is the demon behind this menace.
    • Moderator
    • 1534 posts
    January 9, 2010 4:31 PM PST
    Looks like foil hats are in order. Remember shiney side out.  :D
    • 5130 posts
    January 9, 2010 4:47 PM PST
    ZeroG said:
    Looks like foil hats are in order. Remember shiney side out.  :D
    I'm going with the foil hat! :)
    • 336 posts
    January 9, 2010 5:47 PM PST
    Mus. said:
    maijinjc is right with her guess, electromagnetic interference is the demon behind this menace.
    Wow!! Really??  Could I have a testimonial to show my husband and kids . . . . Go with the heavyduty foil!!! ;D
    • 5130 posts
    January 9, 2010 5:50 PM PST
    Shiny side out...shiny side out...shiny side out... (that's actually hard to say in rapid succession, but its probably all part of their plan)


    I'm laughing now, but it actually was sorta freaky when it was happening.  :D
    • Moderator
    • 7059 posts
    January 9, 2010 6:27 PM PST
    I think its sort of freaky too!
    • 3727 posts
    January 9, 2010 11:27 PM PST
    Our computer speakers do that here too. It also does it whenever we're singing karaoke. Right in the middle of a song we'll hear some static and then a few seconds later someone's cell phone rings.

    ;D
    • 903 posts
    January 11, 2010 11:32 AM PST
    I like it, it makes me feel rather omniscient, being able to predict phone calls.
    • 86 posts
    January 12, 2010 5:41 AM PST
    I used to deal with this problem frequently when I worked in the concert sound industry.  It was especially a problem when someone had a wireless mic and a cellphone in their pocket.

    It is caused when phones that use GSM technology meet unbalanced audio cables.