[nobbie]

So, my company issued me a new 7290 with Cingular/ATT service. Data only. Everything is working fine. But I started noticing my work computer speakers would buzz every few minutes. I was wondering why it started to do that. Then at home, my computer speakers there would buzz intermittently. Back at work and I'm standing in a co-worker's cubicle with my 7290 in my jeans pocket. Her computer speakers started buzzing! Then in another co-worker's office, her boombox, which was turned off, started buzzing? What the hey!?

I understand there's some sort of GPRS transmission causing this. But it's really annoying. My IT person said she can exchange it. Should I try that? Is there some fix I can do? I've searched this forum, but haven't found anything.

Thanks!

Nobbie

[teskew]

Shhhh...that's big brother...they can read your thoughts...be very very quiet!

just teasing! mine does the same thing!

[finch]

It's the cellular radio waves crossing over, same thing happens if your on a LAN line phone, this happens more so with Blackberry as the network is always pushing to the device.

[d123456]

welcome to the GSM mosquito. It is normal.



.

[dyzs]

Wirelessly posted (Nokia 6310i: Nokia6310i/1.0 (7.00) Profile/MIDP-1.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.0)

This usually only happens with unshielded speakers such as phones, clock and car radios, and cheap (computer) speakers.

[takeshi]

It's definitely much more pronouced on a 7290 with Cingular. I have a Cingular-branded 7290 with a T-Mobile SIM and it isn't anywhere near as bad as the same device with a Cingular SIM in it. I'm guessing it's probably the 850MHz transmissions since T-Mobile doesn't use that band.

[Jason_AB]

I get the same thing with my 7520, i know everytime BBToday refreshes because of it, Also it does the same thing in my car.

[Talldog]

FYI, here's what I got from my RIM engineer last October, regarding this issue:

This is a known issue and actually is common on many GPRS devices. This will be fixed in 2005. See below for details:

RIM currently has Engineering resources in the audio, RF and certification groups that are working toward meeting new FCC requirements applicable to mobile phones under the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988 that come into effect in mid 2005. One element of this effort is to reduce the RF interference on all of our products, which works toward alleviating the user experience described in this letter.

[Dawg]

It does it on my 7520 and every other nextel device I have ever owned. I have begun watching it closely I can tell when its gonna ring or when its a email or when its just refreshing. My kids think I am magic because I say my phone is fixing to ring and then it rings.

[stonent]

Very useful while driving. I usually listen to an AM talk station on the way home from work and I have a 3 second lead on all phone calls.

[d123456]

Originally Posted by stonent

Very useful while driving. I usually listen to an AM talk station on the way home from work and I have a 3 second lead on all phone calls.

gotta love that, being able to tell when you phone is going to ring before it actually rings!




.

[DoomBringer]

If the thing is powerful enough to cause speakers to buzz, just imagine what it is doing when its in your pocket... right next to...
As engineers call it, FLK: Funny Lookin' Kids.

[stonent]

I'd worry more about 1.8Ghz and 1.9GHz GSM phones. Microwave ovens operate in the gigahertz range. Though with a lot more watts.

[jetspeedz]

same thing with my 7290 and like others said from the way it causes the disturbance in my speakers i can tell if im going to get an email or if its just a refresh... a little annoying but i got used to it.. having verizon cdma phones i never had this problem in the past but all my nextel buddies have the same issue as my BB

[dulcamara]

My 7100g does it too. It's worse than my previous GSM devices, but not by much.

[snehne]

I have a 7280 on cingular and have this problem as well. Actually it is pretty serious -- I have a under-the-cabinet CD player/radio in my kitchen, and the buzzing would come out of that thing pretty loud as long as I am in the kitchen (6 feet away). I tried to make a call near the unit (6 inches) and the noise became thunderous.

I used to have an old b/w Blackberry with t-modile and did not notice this interference issue at all. Also with my other t-mobile phone, I'll have to put the phone right next to the radio speaker to get any interference (which is faint). So this one (7280 and/or Cingular) is definitely a lot more powerful !

I have a few related questions:

[1] Do you people who have the problem have it as seriously (i.e. causing buzzing even several feet away from the speaker)? I want to know if mine is worse than normal (in which case I might want a replacement).

[2] Is the buzzing noise coming out of the affected speaker *amplified* or not? I would assume so (otherwise this is REALLY powerful and carrying it on the belt seems dangerous), but what about the boombox that is off, and the computer speakers?

[3] How do I know the frequency the BB is using for communication?

Thanks,

snehne

[nobbie]

Well, my company's IT person in charge of Blackberries was told by RIM that it should do that. Hah! They replaced it and now the new one is doing the exact same thing. Oh well. Hopefully, there'll be a fix this year as previously mentioned. Ugh.

[nobbie]

Hey, I noticed that if I place my hand between the 7290 and my speakers, the buzzing stops! Hmmm...This while still receiving signals. I met a guy on the plane that had a Treo 600. His does the same thing and he places it in the bag that it was shipped in. He says it works great. Just looks ugly.

So, my question is: Is there a nice case out there that cuts this buzzing out? Something slim that doesn't add a lot of bulk and perhaps protects the screen from my keys in my pocket?

[Jase88]

The newer GSM berries are PC4---that's up to 2 watts of RF power at 800MHz. Ouch! More than double the RF output of CDMA...

[takeshi]

Originally Posted by snehne

I have a 7280 on cingular and have this problem as well. Actually it is pretty serious -- I have a under-the-cabinet CD player/radio in my kitchen, and the buzzing would come out of that thing pretty loud as long as I am in the kitchen (6 feet away). I tried to make a call near the unit (6 inches) and the noise became thunderous.

I used to have an old b/w Blackberry with t-modile and did not notice this interference issue at all. Also with my other t-mobile phone, I'll have to put the phone right next to the radio speaker to get any interference (which is faint). So this one (7280 and/or Cingular) is definitely a lot more powerful !

This is definitely normal for the Cingular 7290's. Possibly other models but we only have 7290's from Cingular. Ours cause interference with computer speakers, phones, radios, and the audio systems in our conference rooms. The latter is a real issue as mostly our executives have the Cingular 7290's. It really doesn't matter if a speaker is powered or not and the interference is easily caused at distances of six feet and more.

As I said, the same Cingular 7290's when equipped with T-Mobile SIM's do not cause interference until the device is right next to a speaker. None of our T-Mobile 6230's or 7230's cause interference until placed inches away from a speaker. We have some Nextel Blackberries as well but they are only used in our eastern division as Nextel provides better coverage out there but I have no first hand experience with them.

Yes, all GSM phones cause interference but not all to the same degree. Your carrier -- or, more accurately, the frequencies used by your carrier since T-Mo doesn't use 850MHz -- can make a difference as to how bad the interference is as well.