Pocket Radar and Cell phone Towers

[BrianTx01]

Anyone have problems using their pocket Radar near cell phone Towers? There is a tower at the ballpark we are at today and it constantly says 56....as soon as you press the button.

 

[BrianTx01]

Model is Ball Coach.

 

[Pocket R]

Brian,

Yes, cell phone towers emit radio waves that can interfere with the radio waves from any radar gun. Unfortunately, it seems like more and more of these are popping up on ball fields. Anytime you get ready to make a measurement with a radar you should scan the environment by holding down the button to see if you get readings when there is no ball in flight. Cell phone towers usually show up with readings of 28, 56, 84, or 112 MPH. Other things like moving fans, motors, florescent lamps and pitching machines can also cause various types of interference. This is why police officers are required to take an extensive training course before they can start writing tickets using radar because they need to be able to identify interference readings. They call them "ghost readings"

In a training situation you can sometimes set up in a different direction to avoid the source of interference. Unfortunately in a game situation this is not often possible. I am asking our engineers to investigate possible ways to filter out these types interfering signals. Perhaps sometime in the future a new product may be able to help with this issue.

If you ever have any questions about anything concerning radar operation feel free to give us a call on our toll-free support line at 888.381.2672 weekdays from 9 AM to 5 PM Pacific Time.

Thanks,

Chris Stewart / President, Pocket Radar Inc.

 

[BrianTx01]

Brian,

Yes, cell phone towers emit radio waves that can interfere with the radio waves from any radar gun. Unfortunately, it seems like more and more of these are popping up on ball fields. Anytime you get ready to make a measurement with a radar you should scan the environment by holding down the button to see if you get readings when there is no ball in flight. Cell phone towers usually show up with readings of 28, 56, 84, or 112 MPH. Other things like moving fans, motors, florescent lamps and pitching machines can also cause various types of interference. This is why police officers are required to take an extensive training course before they can start writing tickets using radar because they need to be able to identify interference readings. They call them "ghost readings"

In a training situation you can sometimes set up in a different direction to avoid the source of interference. Unfortunately in a game situation this is not often possible. I am asking our engineers to investigate possible ways to filter out these types interfering signals. Perhaps sometime in the future a new product may be able to help with this issue.

If you ever have any questions about anything concerning radar operation feel free to give us a call on our toll-free support line at 888.381.2672 weekdays from 9 AM to 5 PM Pacific Time.

Thanks,

Chris Stewart / President, Pocket Radar Inc.

Thanks for your reply. I can tell you in my situation it didn't matter which way I pointed the device. The whole area was 56 as soon as the button was pushed. It only started working once we got out of the area.

 

[Pocket R]

Brian,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, since radio waves bounce off other objects, if the cell phone tower is very close it can be a problem from any direction. We will keep looking into ways to solve the issue.

Thanks,

Chris