cazh1: on Business, Information, and Technology

Dave Taylor made a comment on my previous post ...

... One negative that's really bugging me ... is that the Pearl puts out a LOT of RF interference. Enough that I'm really surprised it got an FCC approval to be sold, actually. Try it: have your phone near any sort of speaker system and after a minute or two you'll hear buzzing and other random noise. It's so bad that I can't have my Pearl on my desk because my external computer speakers just emit loud buzzes and are darn distracting. Haven't figured out the range, but it's at least 3-4 feet but less than 10 feet or so.

Yes, I've absolutely experienced it - for the past 18 months, as we've been rolling out Blackberries where I work, it's been a recurring thing - interrupts meetings when the speakerphone console starts chirping, and everybody reaches to move their 'berries away.

I've become used to it - it's not just Blackberries, even my iPod will throw out some RF intereference at night. Plus, when I need to keep close to my phone / email, I like to keep it next to my bed - and that becomes a tad problematic when the speakers go off at all hours.

However ... now that you mention it, Dave, I believe this might be a relatively recent phenomenon. At my previous employer, on-call 24x7 was pretty much expected of all in IT, and I slept with the Blackberry on the nightstand every night - and I don't ever remember this much RF noise!

[hmmm ... googling ensues ...]

Found the answer - see here , here , and here ... and a short explanation (attributed to RIM) ...

Unfortunately, this "buzzing" is a characteristic that is unavoidable on any mobile phone that operates in the GSM 850/1900 MHz range (not just BlackBerry, but all other phones also).

Essentially, whenever the phone transmits or receives on the 850/1900 MHz band any nearby speakers are "excited" and there is an audible buzzing.

The only suggestion I have to reduce the annoying buzz, is to keep the BlackBerry handset away from any speakers (or any wires leading to speakers). So when you set it down on your desk, try putting it as far away from the speaker as needed (or you can turn off the speakers when they aren't needed).

This is a trait of the GSM design and not specific to BlackBerry.

Labels: blackberry

posted by James P. MacLennan at 7:38 PM | Permalink | 0 Comments