Well, here's a brief update on the GameBoy-in-the-airplane situation.
I talked to a friend of mine who is an airplane accident investigator; he
said that there are limits on the electronic noise that a laptop is allowed
to put out, but that there are no limits on things like GameBoys, making them
a kind of wild card. They might in fact be OK (possibly depending on the game
being played), but they might also cause interference; they have not been
checked, as far as he knew. I asked if there were particular frequencies that
were problematic; he said it was just general electronic "noise" that was a
problem (but I still think there must be some frequency bands that are worse
than others).
So, I guess before we fly again I'll have to find out what the latest
rules are, and see if I can find something that will occupy him without
causing interference (or potential interference); unfortunately my laptop is
very old, and its batteries die quickly, so that's probably not a good
solution (and no, I can't afford a new one!). CD players are also verboten,
but cassette players may be OK; I'll have to see what else will do.
Sigh.
Sue Willis
Suzanne Willis, Professor, Physics Department
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115 USA http://niuhep.physics.niu.edu/~willis/ swillis@niu.edu
phone: 815-753-0667 fax: 815-753-8565