The airport scanner fried my mp3 player!

[Chris Desjardin]

I listened to my Creative Zen mp3 player in the airport, then put it in my bag to be scanned. I listened to it again waiting to board the plane, and had some minor skipping problems (that I never had before). When we got on the plane, my daughter said her Discman didn't work. It powered up but didn't read the disc. I tried my wife's discman and it didn't work, either. Then I tried my mp3 player (20 gig hard drive, $300), and it, too was dead. Do these airport scanners damage things like this? Anyone have any suggestions on what happened, and how to fix it? I'm hoping there's a simple fix.

[Sckott]

High voltage magnetic disturbance. Your stuff might be toast, permanently.

You should go back to the airport and have a chat with someone there in security. The magnetic pickups of your CD player (and the bushings on the HD) are possibly magnetized, and sometimes that IS death.

Lately, all kinds of scanners used at the airport lately have taken out film, magnetic discs (floppies, magneto discs too like MiniDiscs) like never before.

It's like the security terminals have everything on set to "kill".

:( Sucks. Let us know what else happens.....

[Chris Desjardin]

Thanks for the reply, Scott. Unfortunately, that was not the news I wanted.:sigh:

The funny thing was, they had signs all over the place telling us to put all electronics in our bags. I guess I had no way around it - I forgot to remove my cell phone from my belt and they scanned it alone. Damn! I had a lot of hours into encoding my tunes into variable bit rate lame mp3's (about 18 gig worth!). Now, gone for good, as is the player, I bet. And I just bought new B & O earphones and a remote for it, too. I got to use both of them for about 15 minutes, total.:realmad:

[MagicAlex]

Sorry to hear that Chris...I'd complain.

Wow, it would really suck if someone were carrying a set of master tapes and they got the ole magnetic ZAPPP!!! :eek:

[Sckott]

Wonder if they're making people sterile as well. That's a lot of powah they're using, for crying out loud. People with metal plates in their heads might forget where they're traveling after security degausses them! :eek:

Seriously, Chris, I'd call em. You lost $300 at least in 10 seconds because they had to suspect you were a danerous criminal. :(

[Gary]

Complain to airport security in this day and age? You guys are braver than I am, that's for sure! :eek:

Just be careful how you phrase things, huh?

[Dave]

Chris, you'd get a much quicker response if you were to file in small claims court. Homestly, save your breath from a possible argument with some putz who just represents the airport security in question and can't really do a thing for you.

[Parkertown]

What Dave said. A Summons & Complaint work wonders...I know...I research court records!

Oh but wait! I think you may have to make a demand first. This is best handled in writing, by mail, instead of in person at their offices.

[Gary]

Registered mail?

[-=Rudy=-]

Get a person's name. Send it registered mail, restricted deliver so the recipient has to sign it in person. And request a receipt.

[ratskrad]

I wonder if Tom Ridge and or John Ashcroft would accept a piece of registered mail in this instance.

[StyxCollector]

Which airport and terminal?

[Sckott]

Good idea. Registered mail, try and contact, see what happens.

I wonder if signing anything you did to get tickets resolves them of damaged property. Read the terms of agreement, because it's possible they have that loophole sealed up tight....

[Chris Desjardin]

Originally posted by StyxCollector
Which airport and terminal?

Bradley Airport in Hartford. The US Airways terminal.

The funny thing is, it seems to be back to life. Even though the battery was fully charged and had only about 15 minutes of listening on it, the battery was dead. Regular charging didn't help at first (I tried it in my hotel room), but after a few days it seems to be back a bit. I'm charging the battery as I write this. The funny thing is, the 2 Sony CD Discmen we brought both had new duracell batteries in them, and the batteries dies from the scanner. Weird! I put new batteries in them, and they work.

[Sckott]

Wow. Great news.