U.S., Toshiba Seek Answer to Why Combo Sent False ‘SOS’ Alert

Toshiba confirmed Tues. it was replacing and investigating an LCD/DVD/VCR combo that authorities claim beamed an emergency “May Day” signal received by a U.S. Air Force satellite Oct. 2 -- and subsequently was traced to the dorm room of a U. of Ore. student in Corvallis.

Officials including Air Force personnel, local police and other first-responders for search-and-rescue missions merged on the dorm of 20-year-old Chris van Rossman shortly after an Air Force satellite detected a “May Day” on the 121.5 MHz frequency distress signal used internationally. The SOS had been picked up by first satellite then relayed to the Air Force Rescue Center at Langley Air Base, Va.

The authorities apparently were flummoxed when the false “SOS” brought them to a student dorm. They said they expected the false-alarm to have emanated from a faulty distress-beacon -- commonly called EPIRBs (an acronym for “emergency position indicator radio beacons, and now in use on commercial and amateur aircraft and boats). Those sometimes malfunction on land or in dock, and send out false May Day signal, authorities said.

Whatever the case, the “SOS” from a TV in a student dorm was the first for all concerned -- including Toshiba. Authorities told van Rossman to shut-down the combo and keep it shut -- or face a $10,000 fine for “willingly broadcasting a false distress signal.”

Toshiba responded in step with the first-responders. At our Tues. deadline, a replacement combo had been sent to the customers, and FedEx personnel were loading the questionable combo into a special, RF-proof container for examination at the company’s labs in the U.S., a spokesman told us. The combo in question was a one-year-old model that’s no longer in Toshiba’s line, a spokesman told us late Tues. He also reiterated that Toshiba has never encountered such a problem with its combos -- a category where the company has an “undisputed No. 1 market share.” The spokesman’s claim couldn’t be confirmed at deadline, but does seem consistent with sell-through statistics published by leading research firms.

In a statement, Toshiba said: “Toshiba America Consumer Products has no recollection of any issues related to distress signal transmissions from any of its products. Toshiba stringently follows all FCC requirements for the development and testing of its products. We have taken all the steps necessary to replace the product in question and we look forward to receiving the product from the consumer so that we can do some further testing to determine if it was an issue with the TV or otherwise.” The model in question, MW20FN1, was sold a year ago by Toshiba and is now out of the company’s line, Toshiba’s spokesman told us. It’s replaced by another 20” combo, the MW20FP1, which has no reported problems, he said.

The issue of CE products broadcasting on emergency frequencies isn’t the first. As we've reported previously, Sony was demonstrating the prototype of the first all-digital amplifier in the mid 1980s at a trade show in NYC. Mere minutes into the demo -- witnessed by current Consumer Electronics Daily staffers at the time -- an armada of N.Y.C. police and others burst into the demo room in response to an apparent emergency signal. When the source of the transmission was discovered -- a prototype all-digital amp whose high-frequency emissions weren’t properly shielded -- Sony shut down its demo for the night.