Sound bytes on 123.450 right now

[k5kvn]

Heads up Midwest U.S. - I'm currently hearing some funny sound bytes being played on 123.450. Includes Charlie Sheen snippets and fart noises. I'm processing a video of it now... will be ready in a few minutes. Anyone else hearing it? What could it be?

EDIT: Here's a link to the video I captured while this was happening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82B8wQYPnEc (Apologies for it be sideways - I'm new to the Iphone4 and didn't orient it correctly.)

 

[CalebATC]

Not sure if your aware, but that's the Pilot A2A freq. Just wanted to make sure you knew!

That's weird though, must be from a base station.

PS- In the USA, it's an official frequency by the FAA along with 131.8.

 

[majoco]

123.45 has for a long time been a 'fun chat' frequency used by 'over the ocean' long haul flights to relieve the boredom. Prior to the new ELB's that the satellite now picks up, all over water flights were supposed to listen to 121.50, the distress frequency - but now they have a redundant radio on the flight deck to play with. You can talk an awful long way with 25watts from 35,000+ feet.

 

[autovon]

There are a number of headsets out there that can be hooked to an ipod or smartphone.

 

[k5kvn]

Yes, was aware it is a talkaround freq. It's always in my scan but I've never heard anything crazy like this.

Autovon - it does seem like the sound bytes could be generated from one of those sound byte apps on the iPhone or other smartphone, then patched into a headset for transmit.

 

[wildbillx]

I also was listening to this freq. around 6pm yesterday. I was hearing multiple pilots talking about March Maddness games, whos the best..... and talking about whos having the bbq next month. Heard one state direct to San Antonio, and another talking about Florida and whos paying for the hotel. This lasted approx. 1.5 hours. I was listening using my pro 97 with a ducky antenna.

 

[poltergeisty]

Boredom. :lol: Kinda like CB talk BS.

I think they should play snippets of this vid. HAHA. YouTube - Matrix Fart

 

[majoco]

Autovon said:
Quote "There are a number of headsets out there that can be hooked to an ipod or smartphone." Unquote

If anyone got caught connecting their iPhone or MP3 player into the aircraft Comms systems, they would likely be looking for a new job and a citation from the FAA.

 

[FoeHammer]

I think I caught some of those antics the other day , when I heard , sound like burping alot so I just kept
scanning , but ya the air to air freqs are fairly active & can have some weird stuff

 

[Gator596]

Heard some wacky singing here (Niagara) this morning at 0915hrs local on this freq.

 

[immelmen]

If anyone got caught connecting their iPhone or MP3 player into the aircraft Comms systems, they would likely be looking for a new job and a citation from the FAA.

If every pilot who plugged their ipod into their headset got fired, you'd be taking Amtrak on your next vacation. Your kidding yourself if you don't think this happens every single day. It beats falling asleep...

 

[FoeHammer]

When I was younger many years ago I did aircraft maintenance for a small company
We had a customer who was well off & had all the best gear in his piper mohave at the time
He had an integrated com/intercom system , a fancy digital audio checklist & a multi cd changer
When we would go for test flights , this system was pretty impressive for its time ( early 80's)
through the headsets, you could talk over the intercom of course ,...then if the radio received a transmission
it would cut over the intercom , meanwhile in the background he could have cd playing , & could also access an audio menu for different checklists ,..I'm not sure if you could have transmitted what the cd player was playing ,..but with today's technology Im pretty sure it would be fairly easy to do so,...

 

[CalebATC]

If every pilot who plugged their ipod into their headset got fired, you'd be taking Amtrak on your next vacation. Your kidding yourself if you don't think this happens every single day. It beats falling asleep...

Well, most headsets that are over $200 do have IPOD and cell phone jacks that connect right to the headset and require no running through the aircrafts comm system.

He's talking about people feeding it through the mic port and purposely playing it on the A2A frequency. All of the headsets with IPOD and cell phone inputs don't run through the mic system or the aircraft comm system, they are fed directly to the headset only.

 

[ab3a]

Music for the left seat

Autovon said:
If anyone got caught connecting their iPhone or MP3 player into the aircraft Comms systems, they would likely be looking for a new job and a citation from the FAA.

I don't know how things are in your part of the world, but here in the US, we actually have aircraft intercoms with music features built in to them. I also have plugged my cell phone in to the intercom system so that I could obtain my IFR clearance on the ground. I shut my cell phone off before takeoff. Copying a full IFR clearance from my cell phone while the engine is running is no fun if I have to take my headset off and crank the volume of my phone as high as it will go.

Once you get to cruising altitude, most of the trip gets rather quiet and boring --even if you're on an IFR flight plan. If anything useful does break the squelch of the radio, the intercom will reduce the volume of the music and you'll hear the radio traffic just fine.

Been there. Done it.

 

[majoco]

Fine - if the aircraft has been fitted with certified equipment and the installation passes inspection - no worries. The original poster inferred that someone was transmitting music over the comm frequency - I don't think that any responsible pilot would be that stupid. Mind you, having sat in the navigator's (remember them?) seat for quite a few years, you do hear some weird things even on normal ATC frequencies.

 

[immelmen]

Well, most headsets that are over $200 do have IPOD and cell phone jacks that connect right to the headset and require no running through the aircrafts comm system.

He's talking about people feeding it through the mic port and purposely playing it on the A2A frequency. All of the headsets with IPOD and cell phone inputs don't run through the mic system or the aircraft comm system, they are fed directly to the headset only.

While I have seen some guys with headsets that have such jacks, most use the light weight tube type rigs and where plugging it in between the aircraft and the headset with 10 bucks worth of adapters from radio shack is the only option. But if your on the Airbus, or a 757 its quiet enough up front to ditch the headset altogether and just go with the ipod. but yeah, not usually playing it over the air... there is just no entertainment value in that.

 

[CalebATC]

While I have seen some guys with headsets that have such jacks, most use the light weight tube type rigs and where plugging it in between the aircraft and the headset with 10 bucks worth of adapters from radio shack is the only option. But if your on the Airbus, or a 757 its quiet enough up front to ditch the headset altogether and just go with the ipod. but yeah, not usually playing it over the air... there is just no entertainment value in that.

True- I would think in any jet aircraft the captain or first officer would have no problem taking of the whole headset, and just listening with a normal headset, or one of the nice Bose ones that a lot of the extreme travelers have.

As for what Martin said, I'd agree. 95% of pilots would be mature enough to not do that, and I don't understand why someone would do it anyways. And if you are in a GA aircraft, your hands are probably tied up with talking to your passengers, or on the controls, or scanning outside the aircraft. I'd say it's an idiot on the ground or just some immature pilot on a cross country who decided to rig his Ipod cord up to a microphone jack and piss some people off who need the frequency. I doubt it could be accidental, either.

 

[poltergeisty]

immelmen, I have a question for you. Do you listen to an MP3 player or Ipod up there?