U.S.-made baby monitors cut into Japanese emergency frequency

[unhappycamper]

U.S.-made baby monitors cut into Japanese emergency frequency
By Allison Batdorff, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, November 15, 2007

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The culprit this time was an American-made baby monitor.

The 900-megahertz cordless device interrupted a Japanese emergency frequency and prompted a call this month to Yokosuka Naval Base after Japanese officials pinpointed the monitor’s location at the Negishi Housing area.

The base catches static every so often as new military families move to Japan and switch on cordless devices they brought from home, said Yokosuka chief staff officer Cmdr. Jon Lundquist.

The problem is that 900-megahertz devices — commonly used stateside for cordless phones, baby monitors and walkie talkies — break into a frequency reserved in Japan for cellular phone communication and disaster prevention.

“We’ve received several calls reporting the interference on the emergency management frequency,” Lundquist said. “It’s a civilian frequency in CONUS, but here, it’s a much bigger issue.”

Even remote-controlled model aircraft, boats and cars brought from home can be problematic, said base safety director Lucky Hawkins, adding that a new instruction was written this past spring outlining where they can be used and at what frequencies.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50259