The Battle Of The Illuminators, An Investigators Opinion About Which One Wins Out And Why.

First the introduction of the top 3 illuminators. The IR illuminator, the IR/UV illuminator and the Full Spectrum illuminator. These seem to be the top illuminators and there are many varieties of each one. Below I am going to give MY opinion about the illuminator I prefer when investigating and the research I have found.

I investigate both during the day and during the night. When I investigate I solely use Full Spectrum cameras, for the simple reason they record pictures and video from the entire spectrum of light. From the UV side to the IR side and everything in between. This is also important to my investigating because if I were to use an IR camera, I would only record the IR side of the spectrum, the same for using an IR camera with a UV illuminator.

So with that said and out of the way, let's get right into the illuminators. I have had a lot of people ask me "if I have an IR camera do I need an IR illuminator"? Or "if I have a Full Spectrum camera do I need a Full Spectrum illuminator"? My answer :NO, it all depends on what you want to record. If you want to record in the IR side of the light spectrum then use a IR illuminator, A IR illuminator will work for either an IR camera or a Full Spectrum camera. The camera is the one that actually does the recording, the illuminator just provides illumination.

As I said above, I do both daytime and night investigations and only use cameras that record the full spectrum of light. We have now come to the point of the blog that I offer MY OPINION, this MY OPINION only and I'm sure everyone has there own opinion and that's great in this field, I don't think people in this field should follow the opinion of one person. Anyway I use IR/UV lights with my cameras during night investigations. During daytime investigations, obviously no illumination is needed as the ambient light provides plenty of Full Spectrum illumination. The reason I use UV/IR illumination is because of the research I have found by reading, watching and trial and error. I have found that IR illumination amplifies the IR end of the light spectrum as it should. Using strictly UV illumination amplifies the UV end of the light spectrum as it should. Full Spectrum illumination uses red, blue, green, IR and UV light for illumination. The red, blue and green light emitted from the light is a lot brighter than the IR or UV light, therefore it drowns out those spectrum's of light and amplifies the visible area of the light spectrum.

In my investigations I use the Full Spectrum cameras as it covers the full spectrum of light. Therefore I don't want the IR, UV or visable part of the light spectrum amplified, I want a smooth spectrum of light all the way across the light spectrum.

Do People Do Research Before Purchasing Paranormal Investigation Equipment?

I can't speak for everyone, but it seems that there are people out there doing paranormal investigations that buy equipment just because it was seen on tv, the newest thing out or its something they think may help them on investigations. There are a lot of companies out there that mis-advertise things, say its one thing when just doing some research will show that it's clearly not, re-brand an item and sell it for more because its "for paranormal investigating" oh and by the way, its illegal to re-brand something that's already re-branded or slap the word ghost in front of it and claim its for paranormal investigating.

Yes I own an online paranormal equipment company, but I am not writing this so people will buy from me and not the other guys. I am writing this as a paranormal investigator myself and am tired of seeing people get ripped off. To many paranormal equipment companies are using the tv ghost hunting shows to sell there items. It doesn't matter if there's a better item, or less expensive item just like it out there, if the "pro ghost hunters on tv" use it, it must be good, or if the word ghost is put in front of the item, hell it must be something special and will attract spirits, lol.

99% of paranormal investigators don't charge to investigate a home, piece of property or building, so why wouldn't they do a little research on the equipment they are interested in and not just buy something caused they saw it on tv or there is the word ghost in front of the name?

I don't know maybe its just me, but before spending $100's of my hard earned money, I want to do as much research on the equipment I'm looking into. And actually purchase something that will be useful.  I understand that we know nothing about the paranormal and yes it may be a tool made for something besides paranormal investigating that catches the best evidence yet. All I'm saying is, just know a little about what your purchasing first, I mean you wouldn't purchase a tv without doing some research on brands, different things it can do or accessories, all I'm saying is treat your paranormal equipment purchase the same way.

How to Stop Cell Phones From Interfering With Audio Equipment

Yesterday I stated that blackberry buzz, or GSM buzz, doesn’t happen much anymore. Apparently, it does. Thanks to those who emailed.

GSM buzz is an audible interaction between some cellphones and audio equipment. Dusting off my onomatopoeia skills, GSM sounds something like blip blip blip bzzzzzzz.

Whether it is a form of intentional or unintentional interference probably doesn’t matter to you. It is still interference and must be controlled.

I’m going to approach this in reverse order. First, let’s discuss how to get rid of it. Then, for those still interested, where it comes from.

How to Prevent Cell Phones From Interfering With Audio Equipment

Turn off cell phones

DUH, right? Well, it’s still the first line of defence against GSM buzz, which can’t happen if the cellphone’s transmitter is powered down.

Keep phones away from audio gear

Stages are carpeted in audio gear. The farther mobile phones are away from this equipment AND (very important) their cabling, the less likely they are to interfere. Most good engineers seem to impose an effective but draconian policy on talent: absolutely no cell phones anywhere on stage or off stage. All personal electronics are to be left in the green room, no exceptions, and all those in violation, famous or not, are chastised. Engineers everywhere would be wise to adopt similar policies.

Choke inputs for RFI

If you cannot power down or remove cell phones, cannot control or predict whether phones will be near audio equipment, or just want an additional layer of security, a superb way to reduce or eliminate GSM interference is to add a ferrite core before a cable input. Ferrite cores, or beads, filter RFI (radio frequency interference) collected by a cable unintentionally acting as an antenna, while allowing audio signal to pass through. Here’s what a simple one looks like, courtesy "Omegatron":

When it comes to GSM buzz, not just any ferrite core will do. You must use one that has the correct number of turns and is made from material optimized for attenuating high frequency GSM signal, which can be anywhere from 800 MHz to 1800 MHz.

For wireless audio, GSM buzz seems to be more of a problem with cell phones in close proximity to mic and intercom belt packs. In some cases it may enter these devices via the cable connecting lavalier or headset to beltpack. Ferrite cores should be placed at the audio cable input between headset and pack or lavalier and pack on wireless mic beltpack transmitters and intercom belt packs. The best chokes for pro audio are manufactured by Fair-Rite and snap around a cable. The correct size for lav cabling can be purchased from Mouser as part No. 623-0461178181 . The smallest cable outer diameter that this core will fit is 4.3 mm, so, if your lav cable is thinner than that you’ll need to roll some gaff tape or place additional insulation around the cable at the location where the core is placed to ensure a snug fit.

Cable of any kind is a likely entry point for GSM buzz, connecting many different kinds of devices. For standard XLR cables with outer diameters of about 9.5 mm, Mouser No. 623-0461167281should work, placed anywhere an XLR cable connects to mixers, amplifiers, or rack equipment.

There are other diameter snap-on chokes available but make sure whichever you choose is tuned for high frequencies. The mysteriously named Fair-Rite “Material 61” seems to be the best match for GSM buzz. Other types of ferrite chokes and XLR connectors are not optimized for high frequencies and may not provide much protection against cell phone buzz. You can read more about the theory behind ferrite core suppression and Material 61 here.

What Causes GSM buzz?

This was not an easy question to answer. The internet is in wide disagreement on the subject.

I reached out to the always knowledgable Henry Cohen, RF Design Engineer at CP Communications.

“GSM “buzz” occurs with GSM (TDMA) phones,” he said. “It is when the phone is communicating with the tower on the GSM control channel, which is not power regulated and can be as high 1 watt, depending on the phone model. It is pulsed data bursts and does not happen on the LTE side (the reason CDMA phones remain relatively quiet).”

Phones using GSM standards cause most buzzing. Phones using LTE and CDMA rarely do. GSM networks are less common than they used to be, but are still ubiquitous, and even non-GSM phones may “step down” to other networks for various reasons.

The problem is not that GSM mobile phones are using the same frequencies as wireless audio equipment. GSM networks operate hundreds of megahertz above the top of the UHF broadcast band.

The interference is caused by the rapid rate of on/off signaling between phone and base station at cellular frequencies. If these “pulsed data bursts” are able to leak into the audio signal path, they are rectified by electronic components within the device, often by the first amplifier they encounter, which introduces false voltages at audio frequencies into the signal and, down the line, into audible interference when the signal is converted into audio by a speaker.

If GSM pulsed data bursts do not have an opportunity to enter the signal path, they will not be falsely detected as audio by any of the device’s components. That’s why ferrite cores are effective: they filter out GSM frequencies, and the on/off bursts never make it to the non-linear stages where their patterns are unintentionally converted to audio.

These bursts exist in the form of electromagnetic waves in close-proximity (what we call the "near-field") to the phone. They enter wherever wires or metals offer them the chance to do so. The most common entry points are lengths of unshielded cable, which act as antennas (gathering radio energy), damaged shielded cable, connectors, PCB boards, or practically anything made from metal that somewhere intersects with the audio signal path.

Correctly shielded and grounded electronics, Henry asserts, are good at protecting audio from GSM buzz.

“The real issue is how audio equipment is designed to handle this radio interference. Properly designed and manufactured audio equipment that complies with AES standard 48 is quite immune to the GSM buzz.”

Cheap or poorly designed electronics are more likely to catch the buzz.

There is also a known gateway in XLR shielding called the shield current induced (SCIN) effect.