Old Peters company has a legend. It has been passed down through generations of programmers and staff through an oral tradition. Oh, from time to time, someone would be inspired to record the tale for posterity, but inevitably, the hard copy was recycled, the digital copy was lost.

It was 1982, and the German tech industry was booming. Old Peters company manufactured a line of 8-bit computers that were targeted towards businesses. Their targets were generally larger companies and government organizations- like Frequenzhof Busgesellschaft.

Frequenzhof Busgesellschaft - the bus company of Frequenzhof - served a bustling metropolis in the heart of Germany. They had a growing ridership and a growing need to automate their accounting processes. They bought one cabinet-sized 8-bit microcomputer and if they liked it, planned to buy another. With the addition of tape drives and other accessories, the Busgesellschaft was going to be a very valuable client.

So when the director of the bus company called support, people jumped to solve their problem. Unfortunately, it was easier said than done:

When we use your computer to run our weekly batch process, all of our radios stop working. We cannot communicate with our drivers! This is unacceptable!

The technician tried to clarify the problem. Im sorry, but… if you run an accounting job, the radios stop working? Our computer doesnt have anything to do with your radios!

And yet, when we turn on your computer, the radios stop working! We think it must be interference.

That… that really cant be. A computer, of course, does throw off some electromagnetic fields- anything using electrical current did. But to kill a voice radio network? That seemed implausible.

The technician gathered more details, and then escalated. Management didnt want to lose future sales, and got defensive about their system. It relatively well shielded, and the frequencies it generated- all harmonics of the 1MHz chip running in the system, or of the 50Hz mains power- were nowhere near common voice frequencies.

Over the next few months, a series of radio and electronics technicians examined the situation. They tested a computer right as it came off the assembly line, proving that it didnt radiate any significant EM noise, especially not at the bands the radios used (

http://thedailywtf.com/articles/the-legend