FYI: GoPro vs Beacon Interference

[The Cascade Kid]

Cliff notes from the video below:

 

-A GoPro camera, when on, can interfere with avalanche beacons in search mode, causing false signal readings. This finding could possibly confuse and confound a search for a live burial.

 

-The range of this interference is limited and varies by beacon model, however, it is sufficiently large that a helmet or chest mounted GoPro could interfere with the beacon of the person wearing that camera.

 

-How the GoPro does or doesn't affect the transmit function is unknown.

 

[video:youtube]

[Water]

thanks for sharing. the Mammut Avy blog has a decent article about electronic interference with their Pulse beacons. I think they suggested 40cm was around the range that interference occurred, even with items like a digital camera (go pro).

 

http://www.mammutavalanchesafety.com/

[Alan Trick]

Here's a link to the specific article: http://www.mammutavalanchesafety.com/2012/10/mammut-pulse-457-send-failure.html (the above link just links to the blog and the actual article will end up several pages back eventually).

[dave schultz]

Maybe its just me ... but the article doesn't really say anything usefull. Does it interfere with sending your signal (ie you're buried and can't do anything) or does it interfere with receiving a signal (ie you're searching and can turn your phone off and relocate your digital camera)?

[The Cascade Kid]

The video seems to demonstrate with relative clarity that it will interfere with searching by generating a phantom signal with no consistent direction nor distance.

[chris]

BCA did a great job of summarizing and not-so-clear presentation from ISSW:

ISSW 2012: Avalanche Beacons and Electrical Interference

 

There's also a whole long list of entries specifically about avalanche beacon operations:

Category Archives: Avalanche Transceivers / Beacons

 

Good food for the brain.

[nordicpunk]

Also, keep in mind when using a compass, that any electrical device will create a magnetic field (eg. gopro, beacon, Mount Hood Locator, stupid metallic bracelet, etc...). If anyone liked to have GoPro mounted near your chest/beacon, perhaps they could use a bit of metal screen to make a mini Faraday cage (just wiki it) for the camera.

[The Cascade Kid]

there ya go, your million dollar idea: bags woven of thin, conductive metal mesh to cage your electronics and prevent interference.

[Jonathan_S]

Maybe its just me ... but the article doesn't really say anything usefull. Does it interfere with sending your signal (ie you're buried and can't do anything) or does it interfere with receiving a signal (ie you're searching and can turn your phone off and relocate your digital camera)?

 

Essentially the latter.

We've revised the older text here in light of the additional recent interest:

http://beaconreviews.com/transceivers/Interference.asp

... but let me know if anything is still unclear (although updates are usually on only an annual basis).