Flat-screen TV emits international distress signal

[Gregg Lengling]

Search and rescue operation leads to apartment
Monday, October 18, 2004 Posted: 7:15 PM EDT (2315 GMT)
EUGENE, Oregon (Reuters) -- TV hardly gets much better than this.

An Oregon man discovered earlier this month that his year-old Toshiba Corporation flat-screen TV was emitting an international distress signal picked up by a satellite, leading a search and rescue operation to his apartment in Corvallis, Oregon, 70 miles south of Portland.

The signal from Chris van Rossmann's TV was routed by satellite to the Air Force Rescue Center at Langley Air Base in Virginia.

On October 2, the 20 year-old college student was visited at his apartment in the small university town by a contingent of local police, civil air patrol and search and rescue personnel.

"They'd never seen signal come that strong from a home appliance," said van Rossmann. "They were quite surprised. I think we all were."

Authorities had expected to find a boat or small plane with a malfunctioning transponder, the usual culprit in such incidents, emitting the 121.5 MHz frequency of the distress signal used internationally.

Van Rossmann said he was told to keep his TV off to avoid paying a $10,000 fine for "willingly broadcasting a false distress signal."

Toshiba contacted Rossmann and offered to provide him with a replacement set for free, he said.

[Joseph S]

Amazing. Sounds like something out of a movie. Did they have comandos going through the windows?

Great story selection.

[StarvingForHDTV]

Originally posted by Joseph S
Great story selection.

I agree.

[Talos4]

The first thing that popped into my mind...

The siege of city hall in the Blues Brothers.

500 SWAT guy's pointing guns at this poor guy

[tazman]

Ya know BIG BROTHER realy is watching us!!!:eek:   They slipped this time and gave us a glimps as how their doing it.

[Mark Strube]

Wow tazman... you really take the equipment list signature to the next level. :p