A portable line of site signal jammer that blocks cellphone signals. Ideal for when stuck on a train opposite someone discussing their love life in gross detail and at deafening volume.-- bod, Apr 26 2000 (?) Israeli phone jammer http://www.techweb....ry/TWB19980422S0006Military technology put to good use. Can't wait for the consumer version. [koz, Apr 26 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004] Jabra http://www.jabra.comInfo on combined earphone / mics for phones (I've got one and they're cool, if a tad expensive) [MrTheRich, Apr 26 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004] i-bomb baby http://www.eiu.org/experiments/i-bomb/KILL 'EM ALL! (let dog sort'em out) [wrenchndmachine, Apr 26 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004] DeGauss Gun http://www.halfbake.../idea/Degauss_20gunI wonder if this would do the trick? [nick_n_uit, Apr 26 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004] Wave-Shield Cellular Phone Jammer http://www.sesp.co.uk/21.htmfully baked portable cell-phone disrupter. [macm, Apr 26 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004] BBC News Story http://news.bbc.co....1692000/1692059.stmBaked. [hippo, Dec 05 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004] Magnetic wood - the new mobile phone squelcher http://www.theregis...ntent/59/25937.html [bod, Jun 28 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] Remote Car Stereo Scrambler http://www.halfbake...0stereo_20scramblerSimilar idea by [mrthingy] for similarly annoying folks. [krelnik, Oct 06 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] Ideo: Social Mobiles http://www.ideo.com...l_mobiles/menu.htmlFive cell phone designs that modify their user's behavior to make it [them] less disruptive. [bristolz, Sep 02 2005] I hear some movie theaters and such have RF blockers installed. They're probably not portable, though.-- egnor, Apr 26 2000 We would like to be able to permanently fry any cellphone witin l.o.s. End the chatter and do some real damage....-- dontthink, Apr 30 2000 Well, build yourself a highly directional radio antenna, charge up a briefcase full of electrolytic capacitors, point the antenna at the poor slob, and discharge. Effect: noise on all bands. Might induce enough current to melt small wires (IC traces etc) and at any rate would probably make the phone lose connection with the tower. I've often wanted to do this.-- eritain, Jun 13 2000 The whole point of mobiles is that you can use them when you are out in public. Otherwise, what's the point? "I've got a mobile but can only use it at home.." Yeah, clever. If poeple using their mobiles were more considerate things might be better. If I'm on my mobile in a public place (train or whatever) I talk as quietly as possible so as not to annoy others. It's unfair to lump all mobile owners under one umbrella and in doing so make us all out to be inconsiderate toss-peices who don't give a monkeys about others. The fact that mobiles can save lives and give vulnerable people (such as women stuck in a broken down car at night) a way of communicating with someone who can help them has obviously been overlooked. End of rant.-- MrTheRich, Jun 29 2000 People talk loudly on cell phones because the audio quality is poor (especially with background noise); if you don't talk loudly, you have to constantly repeat yourself.
The answer to that is probably improved microphones, not cell phone zappers. Those newfangled ear mikes are pretty good, for example.-- egnor, Jun 29 2000 In the UK they tried to use some cheap russian jammers in theatres and restaurants, the government decided it was illegal although we are now getting No-Phone carriages on trains where your cellphone won't work... interesting.-- Jack, Jun 29 2000 So have an 'emergency' button on the phone that will get through the jammer if it's really necessary.
I'm all for handheld cellphone jammers being required equipment in cars. Hang up and drive!-- StarChaser, Jun 29 2000 I've got one of the ear mikes (see link) and they are really good. I've often chatted to friends on it and they had no idea I was using a hands free kit. I've yet to see a mobile free train carriage here in the UK (I don't know where you're based Jack but the London trains don't have them) but I have seen pubs which ban phones. I think what should be banned is people going through all their ring tones in public. Now THAT is annoying!-- MrTheRich, Jun 30 2000 It strikes me that the people who are moaning about mobiles probably don't own a mobile themselves and either a) don't realise just how useful they are, or b) are jealous of people with mobiles. I had a housemate who whinged on for two years about how crap mobiles were, but now he's got one he uses it all the time...
I know I'd be lost without mine. How else are you going to phone a mate and get hold of him / her wherever they are and tell them to get their arses down the pub pronto?-- MrTheRich, Jun 30 2000 The problem with mobiles is that people have them just to prove how cool they are. I totally sympathise with using them for emergencies though, so my solution is big soundproof bubbles, like cartoon space helmets, that you have to wear when you use a mobile phone. They should look totally ridiculous thereby ensuring that people only use their mobiles when it's absolutely necessary.-- DrBob, Jun 30 2000 For the people who go through their love lives in annoying detail on public railcars, how about a "National Enquirer" hat and a tape recorder? Simply siddle up next to the person, turn on the recorder, and watch them clam up real quick.-- supercat, Jun 30 2000 I think it wholly unfair to claim that everyone with a mobile has it simply to look cool. I will concede there are a large number of people who do use phones simply as a fashion statement, but personally I don't. I actually tend to get embarassed if my phone rings on a train, and certainly don't crave the attention of a hundred tired and annoyed commuters.
I love the idea of the national enquirer hat, although in England we would have to make it a "The Sun" hat instead...-- MrTheRich, Jun 30 2000 Maybe a more lo-tech approach is called for: http://www.phonebashing.com - I like it, illegal as it looks. I think the mobile/cell phone is a great innovation, but people must use them responsibly. Yacking in a Mall or in public is BAD MANNERS. Yacking while driving should lose you your drivers license for six months (first offense). Until there are consequences, both social and legal, people will behave like pigs with these phones.-- jetckalz, Oct 03 2000 The tragically connected, who just have to make sure that everybody knows they have a cellphone and a beeper and so on...people whose lives are so empty that this is the only way they can make themselves feel good...-- StarChaser, Oct 05 2000 Many recent studies connect heavy cell phone use to brain cancer. It is my belief that the inverse is closer to the truth. People with brain defects heavily use cell phones. All that said, I have one ... um, what was I talking about?-- Grimrock, Oct 06 2000 Nothing wrong with owning one, it's just that people use them CONSTANTLY and rudely. Talking in a movie is bad manners, a loud conversation in a quiet restaraunt <Bellowing because the other person is also on a cellphone and the connection sucks>, endangering lives because they just HAVE to talk to someone while they're driving, etc.
Scariest thing I ever saw...some monkey talking on the phone with the left hand, and making notes on the newspaper draped over his steering wheel with the right...at 80MPH on the interstate. He kept weaving back and forth across the lanes, and flipped me the bird when I blew my horn to let him know he was about to crash into a bridge. In retrospect, I should have let him...-- StarChaser, Oct 07 2000 ok, i added a link. now if i can just find the plans for such a device.......(laughs, while rubbing hands together)-- wrenchndmachine, Oct 07 2000 Oh, I like this one! This is just as good as the device I saw for sale in New York City a dozen years ago that introduces static into the line when you point it at the phone when you're on the line with a bill collector or your mother.-- Furthur, Dec 16 2000 You know what's annoying? When people use the word mobile over and over again. StarChaser, "MrTheRich" seems like someone who would call you up and become your doofus of the unspecified time period, hehehe-- djhotsauce, Dec 16 2000 I will be selling in 30 days cell-phone jammers you can hide under your shirt. $Under $200.
"Experimental use only"...
http://www.beckjord.com/nocellphoneshere-- beckjord, Aug 02 2001 I will be hoping someone else writes ad copy for your firm.-- thumbwax, Aug 02 2001 Hey MrTheRich, London trains do have "mobile free" carriages. Check out Midland Mainline services from St Pancras and Anglia trains from Liverpool St
Also, would a "News of the World reporter" disguise work even better than "the Sun"? I can see the headline now - Big, busty Brenda phones her lovechild/ex-husband/father and admits love at first sight.-- Mayfly, Aug 02 2001 It's about software stupid!!! Rather than BLOCKING the signal in public places like lecture halls, libraries, and concert halls, mobile and wireless networks must install intelligent systems in every phone which detect a given frequency signal from a ringer override transmitter in the public place that turns off the ringer only and switches all phones in the vicinity of the device to vibrate only. That way you don't have to turn your phone off, you can still get signals for text messaging and messages, and you can always be contacted. Once you leave the area, the signal disappears and the ringer automatically switches on again.-- johnchaughey, Nov 22 2001 So to get revenge on annoying mobile phone usage, you take the offending person's phone, dismantle it, reprogram the phone's firmware, and give them the phone back? I'd say you'd be stupid if you didn't stop after the dismantling.-- pottedstu, Nov 22 2001 All of the whining about mobile phones strikes me as being quite similar to those folks who railed about the evils of cars back when they were introduced. I suggest getting over it as it is not going away. Hopefully the systems will improve so that people don't have to talk so loud. Location-based cell systems could, someday soon, allow the phone behavior to change (ringer muted, calls auto-forwarded to messaging, et cetera) depending on where they are. Things will get better, but jammers and banning probably will not work.-- bristolz, Nov 22 2001 A major problem for me is people using mobile phones while driving. I ride a motorbike and they are lethal. Few use hands-free and believe me very few can dial/talk and drive safely. I intend to get a jammer to see if I can jam drivers nearby. Problem is this may make them drive even worse as they try to figure out why they've lost their signal. Thta's if it works at all in the open air, opinions differ. Anyway it'll be great when I have to use public transport- no more "I'm on the train".-- ubiq, Feb 20 2002 " I ride a motorbike and they are lethal."
Damn straight, they are.-- bristolz, Feb 20 2002 i do not own a cell phone, but i have to say this is a bad idea. don't look to technology to answer your "rude person" problems. if they're rude with a cell phone in their hands, they're not going to turn into polite people if you jam their signal. besides, it's their telephone and what gives you the right to jam it?-- efarns, Feb 21 2002 I think that cell phone jammers are EVIL (aren't they illegal under FCC laws?). I also figured out how to get around one of them. They work by transmitting a weak signal over the cell tower's controll channel (think: you (the phone) are trying to listen to a person talking at the other end of a large room (the cell tower) while some person (the jammer) talks jibberish right next to your ear). Cell phones have omnidirectional antennas on them, so they will receive signals from every angle around them. Now you still could connect if you had a diretional antenna which would only transmit and recieve in one direction. So you just align it so that it is facing a cell tower (there will usually be several in range) and not pointing at the jammer. I would use a yagi antenna. but they are a few feet long and n eed to be aimed...but yould get great reception even in very bad areas. And you can also use it to beat the crap out of people who let their phones ring just to listen to their ringtones-- dr_photon, Mar 14 2002 Maybe it *is* unfair to cell phone users, but if I had a jammer, I'd use it every day. It's difficult to walk down the street without someone yelling, "Hello?! This f'n phone!" in my ear. Evil as it is, there is a rewarding psychological payoff when their phones start to cut out. How wonderful it would be to expedite that imminent lost connection. Jam on.-- tharsaile, Jun 19 2002 Hi all, we supply mobile phone jamming technology globally. These units range from simple wall mount devices with a 20 metre range to networked outdoor devices with up to 250 metre range. This is a highly cost effective solution for prisons, hospitals, governmental institutions, theatres etc. Please check our website for further details. http://www.cibamall.com-- cibamall, Feb 14 2003 Oh dear.Advertising.-- sufc, Feb 14 2003 can we jam your signal, cibamall?-- sambwiches, Feb 14 2003 Since Apr 26 2000 people were wandering about it.... Hah-- mobdir, May 06 2007 random, halfbakery