IPOD and BEACON ISSUES !!!!!

[Rixster]

After reading a recent post with a link to an article warning people against using your IPOD while snowmobiling because of interference with your beacon. I was a little freaked out, I ride with my ipod EVERY time I ride. I really dont like singing to myself. So I did a test. Let me list the equipment that I used. I own 2 beacons. A Pieps DSP and a BCA tracker. Both are now 3 years old. They are both great units. I have a ipod touch 2nd generation. I had my son hide my BCA tracker with the ipod right next to in PLAYING. I searched for it with my pieps. Found it with no problems at all. Went right to it. Next I had him hide the pieps with the ipod playing music next to it, and searched for it with the BCA. Again found it with no problems at all. Next I had him hide the pieps and I held the ipod, playing music in my left hand and the BCA in my right. I could not find my other beacon. The BCA freaked out, ran me around in circles, display went from 1 meter to 15 meters and everywhere in between. As soon as I turned off my ipod the BCA went back to normal and I found the hidden beacon with no problem. Swapped beacons and had the same problems with the pieps. Again as soon as I turned off the ipod it corrected its self and took me right to the hidden beacon. I did notice the if I got the ipod about 4 feet away from the searching beacon then it started to operate normally. So I guess What I found was if I was burined with my beacon on and my ipod playing People could find me. BUT if I am searching for someone I have got to turn my ipod off first. It is VERY obvious that something is interfering with the searching beacon when the ipod is next to it playing music. I am NOT telling you that your beacons will act the same and PLEASE DONT take my experience and run with it. Test your own equipment and if you are questioning it DONT ride with a ipod. Is your life worth some music? Is your friends life worth some music?
So long story short. If you are looking for someone buried TURN OFF ALL your electronic devices first !!!!

 

[sled-fiend]

Good info...

Thanx for the post!

 

[giddyup]

i have heard simlar storys with the garmin rino radios, our group now shuts the raidos off, might have to do a test like that, good info thanks

giddyup

 

[SnowBigDeal]

Great info! Good on you for taking the time to practice in different scenarios.

 

[Steve D]

While at first I was gonna say "I hope you aren't listening to music while you're searching for someone" I realized that a person might just pull ear buds out and forget about actually shutting off the Ipod.

Very good info. Can anyone else verify this?

 

[tommygii]

I played in one of the BCA beacon parks and had a playing ipod in my chest jacket pocket. If I help my beacon (pieps dsp) with extended arms, it was far enough away to work properly (still not as good as with no ipod). Any closer to my body though and it would send me in strange directions or give weird distances. My solution is that IF I do have an ipod on (only would happen if I was ski touring), first thing I do is rip the headphones out (that shuts it off), then activate my beacon.

 

[xrated]

thanks for the info....now to share the knowledge.

 

[treemagnet03]

Pleeeeeaase take care of your ears!

I appreciate you posting this information.

Kinda funny...hadn't even thought about taking an ipod with on a snowmobile. Studying? Absolute necessity. Call me a purist, but in the 'great unknown?'

Can't imagine how loud you have to have it turned up...be deaf by 40 for sure. There is some great research out that says at max/close to max volume you start to LOOSE hearing PERMANENTLY after a very short time (something like an hour...don't have the exact data on me at the moment- here is a basic info link http://www.hearinglossweb.com/Medical/Causes/nihl/mus/ipod/pad.htm). PLEASE, take care of your ears...modern medicine cannot fix them. As a short factoid...the tympanic membrance moves back and forth about the width of a hydrogen atom during normal conversation volume level. So you can imagine why if you abuse it you lose it. No surgeon is even close to that good.

And if you think this is an old fart just going off at a younger generation: wrong. This is a med student genuinely concerned about the future enjoyment of little things likes a kids first band concert...etc.-T

 

[BENDER 151]

excellent info,thanks..i donnt personally ride with one on but do have one with speakers in my pack,again thanks

 

[kidrman]

Great post Rixster. I would be curious to hear the results with the bluetooth and WIFI turned off. The music itself shouldn't produce any interference.

 

[Rixster]

Great post Rixster. I would be curious to hear the results with the bluetooth and WIFI turned off. The music itself shouldn't produce any interference.

It seams to be the music or the process of playing the music. As soon as I PAUSED the ipod the beacon went right back to normal.

 

[JedInUtah]

The interference is caused by the HARD DISK DRIVE that is used in iPods. You won't get this interference with ALL mp3 players. It is because they use a traditional Hitachi disk drive. They work by spinning a metallic disc with magnets. It causes a magnetic disturbance in close proximity. When stopped playing, the disc drive stops- Thus the interference stops.
(There's the geeky side of me coming out.) I work in computers and software for a living.

Anyway, cell phones, GPS/2-way radio can also cause issues. As was recommended. WHEN SEARCHING- shut off you electronic devices.

Great post.

If I can add one more thing to be informative.......one of the key features that BCA touts with their beacons is the "auto-revert" mode meaning that if you are searching for a victim and a second slide should occur that within 5 min. your beacon will give an audible tone in which you have to PUSH a key to keep it in search mode. If not it will revert to transmit so they can now find you.

UNFORTUNATELY- BCA did not make this a default and to use this feature you have to hold down the (SP- little yellow special search mode button) while turning on the beacon to enable it.

Another good reason to read your owners manual with whatever piece of safety equipment you are using. I did not even know the above until after owning my beacon for 2 years and one day deciding to read the manual. So I am as guilty as the next guy!

 

[kidrman]

It seams to be the music or the process of playing the music. As soon as I PAUSED the ipod the beacon went right back to normal.

Thanks Rixster.

I would have thought those things were using solid state HDD's at this point. I make my living in management of computers and software so I only know enough buzz words for people to pay attention to me.

 

[Rixster]

Thanks Rixster.

I would have thought those things were using solid state HDD's at this point. I make my living in management of computers and software so I only know enough buzz words for people to pay attention to me.

The ipod touch DOES use a soild state drive, not a moving hard drive. I think some of the issue is that a ipod is NOT a shielded device. There is nothing stopping interference from getting in or out of the ipod casing.

 

[kidrman]

The ipod touch DOES use a soild state drive, not a moving hard drive. I think some of the issue is that a ipod is NOT a shielded device. There is nothing stopping interference from getting in or out of the ipod casing.

I bet you are right!

 

[JedInUtah]

The ipod touch DOES use a soild state drive, not a moving hard drive. I think some of the issue is that a ipod is NOT a shielded device. There is nothing stopping interference from getting in or out of the ipod casing.

Have not torn into a TOUCH before, but glad to see they are SSD now. I would think that it would cause less interference than an older gen. iPod though.

Rixster- was your testing with a touch I am guessing?

 

[tommygii]

Mine was with an older generation nano (flash memory)

 

[jTrue]

This made me think of a similar post having to do with Iphone/Pieps DSP, cross posted here:

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109562

 

[Edgehead]

Nice work, Rixster. You're right that an iPod won't affect your ability to transmit a signal with your beacon. But if it's close enough, the electromagnetic noise it puts out can create "false triggers" on any searching beacon. This is why all us beacon manufacturers recommend keeping your searching beacon at least six inches away from electronic devices and to turn them off, if possible. Just this season, BCA increased this recommendation to 12 inches, as iPods and iPhones have been found to have greater noise levels than cell phones of the past.

Bruce Edgerly
Vice President
Backcountry Access, Inc. (BCA)

 

[Fireman35]

Thanks for the info on these things ill turn mine on and see if any interference when we are practicing.