Fwd: [AT] Waaay OT

[Phil Auten]

Larry,
It is plausible. The copper would act like a shield around the room.
When I was working for Texas Instruments in their defense business.
we had "screen rooms" to work on some electronic equipment.
These were literally rooms framed in wood and covered with screen,
which I remember as being brass. Brass is an alloy of copper and tin
or zinc (or maybe both). These rooms prevented outside radio frequency
interference from affecting the equipment we were working on as well
as preventing anything we were working on from interfering with anything
else in the vicinity. Seemed to work quite well.
As far as the copper paint goes, the walls would have to be tied to ground.
Easy enough to do. The paint would have to contain a very large amount
of copper in order for it to work. It would seem to me that this could be
accomplished in much the same way as our "screen rooms" were built.
Simply put the screen behind the wallboard. I don't think the copper
paint would work quite as well, but perhaps I'm wrong. Never have seen
it done, so what do I know?

Phil

>From: "Larry D. Goss" <rlgoss at evansville.net>
>To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>Subject: [AT] Waaay OT
>Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006

>I know just enough about this subject to be REALLY dangerous.  Have any
>of you heard anything about this?  Or is this simply someone's wishful
>thinking?
>
>SUPPOSEDLY, some "farmer" somewhere discovered that he didn't have cell
>phone reception when he was in his barn.  He then discovered that the
>lack of reception was associated with a bar of cold hardened copper he
>was using as a door stop (or some similar mundane use).  He has
>discovered a way of putting the cold hardened copper into paint so it
>can be applied to ordinary walls in office buildings, schools, churches,
>theaters, funeral parlors...  Think of the possibilities! -- to
>automatically keep cell phones from disturbing meetings or events held
>in certain locations simply by covering the walls with a special paint.
>
>Is there any truth to this?  I'm well aware that the ordinary way of
>hardening copper is to cold work it, so what's with the "cold hardened"
>emphasis in the story?  And what's the hardening of copper got to do
>with it blocking cell phone signals -- but not pagers?  And why copper
>instead of lead?  Or is the whole thing a shaggy dog story?
>
>FWIW, I heard this story from a saxophone player.  Under normal
>conditions, he's a rational human being, but he is (after all) a
>musician!  Now before any of you jump my case about "musician bashing",
>keep in mind that I'm married to a musician.  And she plays saxophone.
>
>Larry