Mounties Always Get Their, er, DVD Player

Canadian Federal authorities say they suspect some DVD players may be causing havoc for emergency radios on military aircraft. Ron Houston recently got a visit from Mounties and representatives of Industry Canada, which regulates radio communication, at his home in Cold Lake, 290 km northeast of Edmonton.

"(Industry Canada) said they were picking up higher than normal radio frequencies from (my) house," Houston said yesterday.

After some testing, Houston said Industry Canada focused on his 16-year-old daughter's DVD player.

"He said it was the same frequency that was causing interference on the jets (from Cold Lake)," Houston said.

"He said, 'We'll let Ottawa know.' "

Gord Wychopen, a friend of Houston's in Cold Lake, said he got a similar visit from Industry Canada.

"They seemed to focus on a DVD player we had," said Wychopen. "All he said is it could be the DVD player emitting the signals."

Capt. Richard Langlois, a 4 Wing Cold Lake spokesman, said the military called Industry Canada in to look into what's been causing interference on their aircraft emergency radios, known as emergency locator transmitters or ELTs.

The ELTs send a beacon signal if the plane crashes. They can also be used for emergency voice communications.

Industry Canada has said it suspects pirated cards in black-market satellite TV receivers have been causing the static.

On at least one occasion, the interfering signals have also led search and rescue personnel in Canada to falsely believe an aircraft has crashed, federal officials have said.

Rae Bradford, an Edmonton-based Industry Canada spokesman, said she's aware of at least one case in Cold Lake where a DVD player "appeared" to be causing the interference.

"We're still looking into that," said Bradford. "I don't think we've drawn any conclusions."

Story source: canoe.ca.