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Conference moira::parenting_v3

Title:Parenting
Notice:READ 1.27 BEFORE WRITING
Moderator:CSC32::DUBOIS
Created:Wed May 30 1990
Last Modified:Tue May 27 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1364
Total number of notes:23848

1077.0. "Intercom dialing 911???" by FSHQA1::EFINIZIO () Wed Aug 07 1991 18:00

	Well, the strangest thing happened to us on Sunday.  Let me
	first give you a little upfront info.  Matthew sleeps on the
	2nd floor, we sleep on the first.  We have to rely on a monitor
	in our room to let us know when he wakes up.  Well, I've been
	though them all.  We had the PlaySkool, the Fisher Price, the
	Gerry and the Sony.  This time we had the Fisher Price.

	Well, on Sunday, Matthew wasn't feeling very good.  I had
	him up in his crib to go to sleep, and he was crying.  I was
	downstairs...and kept hearing a ding (not your regular ring)
	in my phone.  My husband picked the phone up and started a 
	conversation with someone on the other end.  He was giving
	his name, address, etc.  He ended the call, and the next thing
	I new, we had two polic cruisers pull up in our driveway....

	What had happened is some way, some how, our phone rang 911 without
	us dialing it. When the police picked it up all they heard was 
	Matthew screaming..and they put a trace on it.  Then my husband 	
	picked it up, that's when they started asking all the questions.  
	Oh yeah, when Bob my husband picked up the phone, he could hear
	Matthew screaming through it.  

	So, some way, the intercomm got through to 911...We do have a
	cordless phone, but barely use it because of the interferance
	with the intercomm system.

	Well, I hated the Fisher Price model, so I brought it back and
	got the one I liked the best...the Playskool one.

	My question is...has anyone had any similiar occurances like
	this.  The police did call back later, after speaking to the
	phone company.  The phone company said there have been strange
	occurances with some intercomm systems...but never one dialing
	911!

	Kinda ironic....if I kept the system...everytime Matthew didn't
	want to sleep, he'd call 911...

	Ellen
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1077.1Change the channelMARX::FLEURYWed Aug 07 1991 18:4318
   Sounds like your baby monitor and your telephone are using the same
    "channel".  Although I have never heard of a baby monitor actually
   "dialing" the phone, we did have problems with our cordless phone 
   after using the baby monitor.  I thought it was a defect in our phone
   so I called up the manufacturer.

   It turned out that both the baby monitor and the cordless phone were 
   in perfect condition, they just happened to be monitoring the same 
   frequency.  Fortunately our cordless phone had two channels and the 
   capability to set the channel manually.  Once we changed the channel 
   for the cordless phone, there were no problems.

   So - if either your baby monitor or your cordless phone have multiple 
   channels, try switching the channel.  There should be instructions in 
   the user's manual, or you could call the manufacturer for assistance.  
   If they are both single channel (I think most baby monitors have only
   a single channel), you will probably have to disconnect one or the other.
1077.2programmed?KAOFS::M_FETTalias Mrs.BarneyWed Aug 07 1991 19:2612
    Is it possible that one of your phones had the 911 number
    programmed into it? That would help explain the oddity. I've
    had many of those: My old TV (in my room when I was a teenager) used
    to pick up the mike that the neighbor wore to communicate with the
    hearing-aids of her deaf children; I had an old electronic organ at
    home (the 2 keyboard 13 pedal type) which used to catch the police and
    taxi bands when you put the volume up to maximum.......
    
    Its just a weird electronic world out there.....
    
    Monica
    
1077.3MILPND::PIMENTELWed Aug 07 1991 19:456
    Perhaps it's possible someone around your neighborhood was dialing 911
    and the lines got crossed with the frequency on your monitor and phone. 
    It's probably something you may never find an answer to but it was
    weird.
    
    
1077.4SCAACT::DICKEYKathyWed Aug 07 1991 20:476
    I also saw on either 20/20 or Primtime Live (don't remember which),
    that some home monitors can be picked up by a CB or ham radio.
    
    I think .2 sounds possible.
    
    
1077.5QUARK::LIONELFree advice is worth every centThu Aug 08 1991 00:0416
    I've read that it's all too common for cordless phones to dial
    911, especially when their batteries are low.  I read one story
    where supposedly a rotting tomato was dripping juice into the
    handset of a cordless phone and it dialed 911.  Sounds very
    strange, but it seems to be true.
    
    The intercom may be on the same or similar frequency to the
    cordless phones; the cordless intercoms share the same set
    of radio frequencies.
    
    Re: .4
    
    Cordless home monitors can easily be picked up by any receiver
    tuned to the frequency.  Ham radios can do it and so can scanners.
    
    					Steve
1077.6More Strangeness Thru ElectronicsCECV01::PONDThu Aug 08 1991 12:428
    Our phone (*not* a cordless) picks up an AM radio station when it's
    idle...that is, we hear the station as a connection is being made and
    when we're dialing.  We gave up our cordless phone for the above
    reason; the only sounds we could hear on the cordless was the radio.  
    
    Weird electronic happenings...
    LZP
    
1077.7exCIMNET::JACOBSENMarcelle DTN 291-7032Thu Aug 08 1991 20:1313
    RE. 1077.6 
    
    We have a radio station by our home and have the same problem with
    hearing the music very loudly at times.  My husband and others have
    complained both to the station and the phone company and have tried
    attachments to the phone lines to cut out the interference.  We finally
    found one that seems to work pretty well.  If you're interested send me
    mail and I'll find out from my hubby what kind it is.  Unfortunately you
    have to attach one to each phone in the house.  Some phones I have
    attached two because the interferrence is so loud.  
    
    Marcelle
      
1077.8usually an easy fixOS2PS2::taberDesperately seekingFri Aug 09 1991 11:2116
Re: 6

It's not that weird -- there's a sound physical reason why it
happens.  The problem is the phone -- not the radio station 
and not the phone company. You need to place the blame with the
company that manufactured your phone. It can be disconcerting because
even very expensive phones are subject to interference of
this sort, and most people don't want to accept that their
equipment is at fault.  The good news is that it can usually
be cleared up with a simple filter.  Sometimes it takes more,
but usually not.  The phone store sells a filter that is designed
to attenuate broadcast band (commercial radio stations) interference
that just hooks on at the modular plug.  If you're only hearing
the radio station on one phone, then that's probably all you need.

>>>==>PStJTT
1077.9NAVIER::SAISIFri Aug 09 1991 13:444
    We used to get our neighbors phone conversations on one of our TV
    channels.  It was really weird.  I always thought it was because
    he was in military intelligence and had alot of electronic equipment.
    	Linda
1077.10All the Sets Receive the SignalSYSTMX::PONDFri Aug 09 1991 14:4221
    RE: .8
    
    We hear the radio on every phone in the house; we have 4, all of
    differing brands (AT&T included).  I really don't think it's the phone
    sets.  
    
    Someone can hear the radio only when the line is idle (or I'm on my
    system at home the "data" button on the modem is popped out).  
    
    The radio doesn't interfere with telephone conversations; once a
    "connection" is made the radio sounds disappear.  Hence, it's more a
    source of conversation than a problem.  
    
    I have avoided a cordless phone, however, as we had continuous radio
    signals on the cordless set.  
    
    Our nursery monitor works with no problem.  
    
    O well...
    LZP
    
1077.11PSTJTT::TABERNOTES: The Electronic Watercooler.Fri Aug 09 1991 17:1621
Re: .10

If you hear it on all the phones, then the it's a slightly different problem.
There's a small chance that you'll be able to pin it back to the phone company:
if you have modern phone wiring, then there'll be a "network interface" box
near where the phone line enters the house.  This has a modular plug that looks
like the plugs on the phones.  If you unplug it, you've isolated the house
from the incoming phone line. 

Unplug the network interface.  If you can still hear the radio on the phones, 
it's a problem with the wiring in the house.  There are a couple of ways it can
be treated, but it CAN usually be treated.  If the radio sound goes away when 
you unplug the network interface, then it's the phone company's problem and they
are required to fix it.

Sometimes it's as simple as cleaning and tightening the wires, somtimes you
have to install a filter on the line.

OK, OK, it's not parenting.  I'll let it drop.

>>>==>PStJTT