Joho the Blog
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June 16, 2005
I've occasionally noticed static playing over speakers in roughly the same rhythm: a quarter note and three triplets. Deeeeet dit-dit-dit dit-dit-dit dit-dit-dit. At first I thought it was something wrong with my PC speakers or sound card. But I've also heard it over the headphones while waiting to go live at a professional radio station. And I heard it over the speakers in the back of a London cab yesterday. Deeeeet dit-dit-dit dit-dit-dit dit-dit-dit. Deeeeet dit-dit-dit dit-dit-dit dit-dit-dit. Is this some predictable electrical noise, like a 60-cycle hum? Or is it a coded message from our equipment? Posted
by D. Weinberger at June 16, 2005 01:38 PM
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Comments
Do you have a GPRS capable cell phone around you, like a Treo or Blackberry. I believe that's what you might be hearing. Happens to me a lot.
Posted by: Mark Fletcher | June 16, 2005 02:30 PM
Put your cell phone next to your speakers. Call your cell phone. Listen to your speakers just before your cell rings. Is that it?
Posted by: John Pederson | June 16, 2005 02:31 PM
Maybe "they" are monitoring you. I find a tinfoil hat reduces this kind of signal almost 100%. It's even better than noise cancelling headphones, and more stylish.
Posted by: fp | June 16, 2005 02:49 PM
Well, everyone else answered the question already: GSM cellphones. My Motorola i2000 (Nextel) and Samsung R225m (T-Mobile) do the same to my computer and my Cisco VOIP phone.
smp
Posted by: Stephen Pierzchala | June 16, 2005 03:11 PM
Thank goodness! As Clouseau would say, "another mystery solv-ed!"
Posted by: Tom Guarriello | June 17, 2005 04:57 PM
Tom, except that it seems to have nothing to do with my phone. Sigh. It happens even when my phone is off.
Posted by: David Weinberger | June 17, 2005 05:24 PM
Someone else's phone?
The loudest I've heard this static is when a conference presenter's phone is too close to the mic...
Posted by: Wendy Seltzer | June 17, 2005 08:45 PM
My phone does something similar: dah dit dit dah dit dit dah dit dit (pause) dah dah dah.
Might you have some other radio-like device doing it, perhaps something that, when powered "off" actually leaves some low-power-consuming aspect of itself on in a sort of standby mode?
Posted by: Joseph Zitt | June 17, 2005 11:09 PM
Okay. I'm thinking a nearby Morris dancer is channeling the beat to Betty Windsor through your phone. Or Postman's Knock.
http://www.kickback.btinternet.co.uk/Adderbury.Morris/Tunes/Postmans.Knock.html
Posted by: fp | June 18, 2005 12:23 PM
Can you post an audio sample of it?
Posted by: Travis | June 19, 2005 04:22 AM
Good idea, Travis, but it's way too intermittent.
Posted by: David Weinberger | June 19, 2005 11:09 AM