Heat wave brings down Cingular cell phones By DERRILL HOLLY Associated Press WASHINGTON - A power outage that led to failure of backup systems disrupted cellular telephone service to thousands of Cingular Wireless customers early yesterday. ``Wireline to wireless, wireless to wireline and voice mail are all down,'' said Kate O'Shaughnessy, a company spokeswoman. The outages affected virtually all Cingular customers with service registered to the 301 or 202 area codes. Those areas include the District of Columbia and Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland. The problem began when electrical service was disrupted to the company's main regional switching station in Greenbelt, Wednesday evening. The initial problem was related to high temperatures that have gripped the Washington area for nearly a week. Although Cingular uses backup batteries and generators designed to operate for an extended period, the automatic system suffered a major disruption. ``A generator went down around 4 a.m.,'' said O'Shaughnessy, adding that backup batteries eventually also failed. Technicians were hopeful service could be restored by midday. ``It's a single switch we're having a problem with,'' she said. According to O'Shaugnessy, the system is designed to operate without outside power for up to a month, but the switch failed as the automated system tried to transfer from battery to generator power. A Potomac Electrical Power Company spokesman said a technician found a transformer near the site working properly but Cingular's fenced facility was locked up and deserted. ``We couldn't break in,'' said spokesman Bob Dobkin. Cingular officials made a second call to Pepco for service just after 8:30 a.m. Dobkin said, noting that the Cingular outage was the only problem reported in the area. Although Cingular is the nation's second-largest provider of wireless telephone service with more than 21 million customers, the company does not provide numbers on its local subscriber _base_. ===================================== http://cold.jrnl.com/cfdocs/new/stories/mcfp0810200122.htm

in fans instead to save on electric bills...last temp reading  was 140 degrees in the room!     So? It gets over that in my car (after baking in the sun) and my radio still works.  So does all the underhood electronics, which are exposed to much higher temperatures. -Matt

Nemesis Enforcer < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it wrote in message in fans instead to save on electric bills...last temp reading  was 140 degrees in the room!     So? It gets over that in my car (after baking in the sun) and my radio still works.  So does all the underhood electronics, which are exposed to much higher temperatures. Auto electronics are designed to work over temperature extremes. Communications equipment is tightly packed and produces a lot of heat that must be removed, for it to function properly.  When planning the installation of that equipment, cooling is often a consideration.

Auto electronics are designed to work over temperature extremes. Communications equipment is tightly packed and produces a lot of heat that must be removed, for it to function properly.  When planning the installation of that equipment, cooling is often a consideration.     One would think the same for comm equipment, which is placed outside in such extremes.  Same with my camera - it comtains a small CPU for things like focus and such.  Has no problem operating at low and high temperatures. Or, even, say, a laptop.  Designed to function in the 100+ heat or 0 defree cold.... -Matt