Minelab CTX 3030 Detecting Forum

Can a cell phone “smart phone” cause EMI ?
I’ve always had mine with me and on when detecting and have never experimented with it being off!
Never noticed any terrible problem but maybe it could cause some minor noise?
I was reading another forum and someone mentioned a cell phone as a possible cause.
What does everyone do with your phone ON or OFF?
I guess if it’s off there would be no calls from the wife wanting you to shut the Detector off and come home
BT

I can hear calls come in when I use my wireless module but no EMI effecting my hunt. US cellar with a Samsung S7 or cheap flip phone its all the same.
Jeff

I always leave my phone in the car no matter what,and always try to eliminate any and all variables possible when hunting. If it’s a requirement to have it along then that’s a personal thing,but mine waits in the car,along with all of the silliness it normally brings...

Quote
Ben Town
Can a cell phone “smart phone” cause EMI ?
I’ve always had mine with me and on when detecting and have never experimented with it being off!
Never noticed any terrible problem but maybe it could cause some minor noise?
I was reading another forum and someone mentioned a cell phone as a possible cause.
What does everyone do with your phone ON or OFF?
I guess if it’s off there would be no calls from the wife wanting you to shut the Detector off and come home
BT

Yes.
I've seen it many times...but it's not predictable.
It depends on which 2 (duplex) frequencies the phone is using a given time, and whether or not those freqs (or a multiple) are close enough to your detectors freq to interfere.

Since a cell-phone carrier typically gets 832 radio frequencies to use in a city, you can see there's quite a wide range of possible frequencies that could be in use by one phone at a given time.
Add to that the cell phones ability to seamlessly switch frequencies, and there's no way to predict and/or respond...
(Remember the line from the old Karate Kid movie..."No can defense.")

I've had guys on their cells walk right past me...three feet away...and I didn't notice a thing.
On the opposite end of that, I've also been hunting and had my unit start to gradually go nuts while a guy was walking towards me from 25 feet away.
(And I had to simply wait until the noise subsided...when he was about 25 feet past me.)

The odds are in your favor that it won't interfere...(about 400 to 1)...but again, you can't guarantee or prepare/defend.
So I always leave my phone in my truck.

mike



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2019 04:41PM by trojdor.

Quote
Ben Town
Can a cell phone “smart phone” cause EMI ?
I’ve always had mine with me and on when detecting and have never experimented with it being off!
Never noticed any terrible problem but maybe it could cause some minor noise?
I was reading another forum and someone mentioned a cell phone as a possible cause.
What does everyone do with your phone ON or OFF?
I guess if it’s off there would be no calls from the wife wanting you to shut the Detector off and come home
BT

I always have my phone on. I phone 7 and before that galaxy, never had a problem.

It depends on which pocket my cell phone is in and where my WM10 is?

If they get too close, then yes I get EMI problems.

If you really think you need to have a phone with you when you hunt, then switch it to airplane mode and turn it back on when you need to make a call.

This way you can still snap pictures of all the gold rings and silver dollars you find.