Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Cell Phone/Network and Equinox Compatibility

AirmetTango

AirmetTango

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Scattered among the various threads about the Equinox, I've seen several users mention that their cell phones interfere with the Equinox to the point that they need to hunt either with the phone in airplane mode or completely off. It comes up too often to doubt that the phenomenon is real, but I also see many Equinox users (myself included) who hunt with their phones active with absolutely no adverse effects. So I'm starting to wonder if the issue isn't related to specific phones and/or carrier networks, and thought it might be worthwhile to start a thread for Equinox users to list their experiences to get all the info in one place and see if we can find a pattern.

I have an Android Motorola Moto Z Play on the Verizon network, and see no difference whatsoever if I have it on or off during a hunt, and I keep it in a leg pocket of my swing arm side. I'm always wearing either cargo pants or carpenter style jeans, so the phone rides about halfway down my thigh in those side pockets.

I use an Equinox 800, updated to the latest software.
 
Just a copy and paste of relevant into I posted in another thread...

I have an iPhone 7 on AT&T and I don't really get any interference on my Nox. Sometimes it seems like I get minor interference if I get an incoming phone call. My TRX pinpointer drives it crazy though if my machine is too close while using the TRX.

I keep my phone in my right front pocket and swing with my right hand. If I get any interference I move my phone to my back pocket or other side of my body and it goes away.
 
Chrisco said:
I have a Galaxy S6 and get zero interferance! I do carry it in my shirt pocket which is a good 6ft away from my detector head.
Click to expand...

How tall are you? Jolly Giant!


For what it is worth.....The cell phone stays in the car. I go detecting to get away. It is there in case of emergency.
 
goodmore said:
The cell phone stays in the car. I go detecting to get away. It is there in case of emergency.
Click to expand...

I wish - that's an ideal solution! Sometimes I long for the not so long ago days that when you left the house, no one could contact you! But for me, I basically work "on call" from home. The plus side is that my schedule is often very light, which gives me lots of time to hunt on days when I don't have a flight. But during business hours during the week, I'm expected to answer the phone if work calls...so the phone's gotta be on, or I can't hunt!
 
Back on 12-11 a Forum member posted a youtube vid from a guy named Gigmaster on the General Hobby Discussion....Who showed how a live cell phone scrambled the NOX...and I commented on account of thats exactly whats been my problem...I couldnt run the durn thing over a 13 sens without it going nuts,....so the next day, out I went and put it to the test...just exactly like Gigmasters vid! As soon as I turned my phone over to airplane mode, the chattering ceased! Turned it off and here it came again!..So, whatever phone or service I have, it sure scrambles my NOX...

I've been hunting since Sept at half power thinking, "Boy, did I get screwed!":laughing: go take a look at that guys vid regarding cell phone interference..I bets its buried down on about page 11 on the General discussion Forum by now...but he had the link there...
 
I also have a Galaxy S6 and my provider is Verizon. I've never had any issues whatsoever! I haven't experienced any difference whether I've had my phone on me while detecting, where I carried it while I had it on me or if I left it in my vehicle. This leads me to believe the carrier/provider might be the cause.
 
I have an IPhone 5S and it's never bothered my Equinox 600.

I will always carry my cell phone when hunting, simply for a life-line if nothing else. "Older man" wandering all alone and focused on a coil and headphones? Just seems smart to have the phone for medical and security concerns. Anybody can get a chest pain, get snake bitten, be attacked, fall in a ditch.

Besides, if I didn't have my phone, I couldn't take the silver coin pics during the live dig ;-)

I do have a question for folks saying their phone interferes theirs. Have you actually confirmed this by turning off the phone when you get interference? Also, do you noise cancel?
 
goodmore said:
How tall are you? Jolly Giant!


For what it is worth.....The cell phone stays in the car. I go detecting to get away. It is there in case of emergency.
Click to expand...

Chris CAN be described as a Jolly Giant.. in fact, from now on I shall be calling him Jolly :laughing: j/k Chris.. we all know how nicknames can stick...

I have an Android S8 Us Cellular and no issues I keep it in my opposite back pocket.
 
Mud-puppy said:
Back on 12-11 a Forum member posted a youtube vid from a guy named Gigmaster on the General Hobby Discussion....Who showed how a live cell phone scrambled the NOX...and I commented on account of thats exactly whats been my problem...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up on that thread and vid, Mud!

Here's the link to the thread: Was hating my 800.

And here's the direct link to Gigmaster's Youtube video, which nicely demonstrates how the phone interference might present itself on the Equinox:

 
Ben, I have a Galaxy S5, Straighttalk Verizon Carry it usually upper right pocket, and swing righty, never had a problem. Once in a while when I get down to dig it does get noisy but not too often. HH Mark
 
markinswpa said:
Ben, I have a Galaxy S5, Straighttalk Verizon Carry it usually upper right pocket, and swing righty, never had a problem. Once in a while when I get down to dig it does get noisy but not too often. HH Mark
Click to expand...

The bummer is you might not know theres a problem with the phone interference...the vid shows there is, and thats exactly how my 800 was reacting to my phone! But if a guy dont know about this, and is not getting the chatter, thinking everything is fine, hunting along with a hot phone in their pocket, no chatter, that phone still might be coinblockin ya!

So shut it off just to be on the safe side! I would suppose this would also apply for every rig running wireless headphones...the transmitter is searching for the receiver signal and could get confused between your Headphones and your cell phone...I'm not a scientist...:laughing: I carry my phone on airplane mode now...and use it to take pictures in field if appropriate...
 
Once more, don't y'all noise cancel? A NC should handle the cell phone easily. I figure that ML's designers factored in a cell frequency in today's world with the recommended feature of noise cancellation.
 
Martin_V3i said:
Once more, don't y'all noise cancel? A NC should handle the cell phone easily. I figure that ML's designers factored in a cell frequency in today's world with the recommended feature of noise cancellation.
Click to expand...

I noise cancel, but I think this is sort of different as a cell phone is constantly searching for a tower, as the Rig is trying to stay in sync with the headphones...so they are essentially dueling banjos! Watch the vid all the way through......theres something to this I tell you!
 
Mud-puppy said:
Back on 12-11 a Forum member posted a youtube vid from a guy named Gigmaster on the General Hobby Discussion....Who showed how a live cell phone scrambled the NOX...and I commented on account of thats exactly whats been my problem...I couldnt run the durn thing over a 13 sens without it going nuts,....so the next day, out I went and put it to the test...just exactly like Gigmasters vid! As soon as I turned my phone over to airplane mode, the chattering ceased! Turned it off and here it came again!..So, whatever phone or service I have, it sure scrambles my NOX...

I've been hunting since Sept at half power thinking, "Boy, did I get screwed!":laughing: go take a look at that guys vid regarding cell phone interference..I bets its buried down on about page 11 on the General discussion Forum by now...but he had the link there...
Click to expand...

Yep, same happened to me in the beginning. Turn off phone or put in airplane mode. But I take phone with me, since any emergency that may happen will likely happen to me or to someone near me. Then I need the phone with me. Just ignore wife's phone calls while hunting.
 
I leave my phone in the truck! My IPhone 6 didn’t effect my Equinox....
 
iPhone 7 with t-mobile and haven't experienced any issues that I'm aware of...


HOWEVER, Mud-Puppy makes a good point...just because you're not getting audible interference, doesn't mean that it's not impacting your detector.

I'm going to try with and without the cell phone next time I hunt. Pick a small area and detect it with the phone, then see what happens if the phone is off. See if I find anything else that way
 
I've never had a problem with my phone interfering, and I've watched the video but it really doesn't make sense to me.

The Equinox operates in the 5 - 50 kHz range.
The lowest frequency cellular band in the USA is 600 MHz. Most operate between 1.8 and 2.4 GHz. In other words the frequency ranges aren't even close. The cellular carrier (Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.) doesn't matter.
If you have Bluetooth enabled on your phone that operates way up in the 2.4 GHz band as well and shouldn't make any difference.
If you have WiFi enabled that's operating at either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz.

So there are no legal frequencies transmitted by a cell phone that should interfere with the Equinox, but there's obviously a real problem with some phones. Since not all cell phones interfere with the Equinox then it must be only certain phones that are producing out of band emissions. That's very concerning for a lot of reasons.

I just tested my Google Pixel 3XL and have no issues even with the phone next to the Equinox.

So this is not a problem that has anything to do with which carrier you use, but rather the brand and model of the phone you use. I'd be very interested in knowing the specific brand and model of phones that DO interfere with the Equinox. These phones should be reported to the FCC for emitting out of band emissions and I'll be happy to do that.

Thanks,
-Joe
 
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