The Spirit Box - Rebooted!

Again we find ourselves on the cusp of the Spirit Box... whether it is the SB7, SB11, Shack-hack or other...

Date:  10th May 2020

“The Spirit Box can communicate with the dead.  It can't be just random radio chatter as real names and real responses have come through when I've used it!”

One can not just believe that the dead can talk to the living via a radio designed and/or adapted to scan through frequencies...

Frequencies

So all radios have the facility to receive radio signals... and as most radios operate on the AM and FM bands they both have different operating frequencies... measured in kilohertz (kHz), megahertz (MHz)... through to the gigahertz (GHz).

Now most, if not all, man-made 'spirit boxes' operate using the basic chassis and components that are all found in common radios.  The Radio Shack 12-469 was just a radio (FM and AM) that was 'adapted' to non-stop scan through the station of all frequencies in a blind hope that 'the other side' was listening in and would perhaps use the white noise to communicate to the living.

Same goes for both the SB7 and SB11... and also the myriad of other Radio Shack radios and any other make that someone was able to break the scanning facility to enable it to constantly scan.  These are all just FM/AM radios that receive only FM and AM signals.

So it is with these factors we can easily establish that the average operating frequencies for radio are:

Other radio wave frequencies are:

Now note the close proximity from TV channels 2 to 6 up to the 88 MHz frequency... that is putting things very close.  But FM does not go below 88 MHz to ensure no contamination of frequencies, but that is still very close.

And also we have to identify and note that the SB7 (and quite possibly the SB11) starts at 76MHz in the FM ranging of scanning... so it is very possible to have some kind of bleed-through from TV transmissions poking in during a session (76 to 88 MHz).  And to remember that TV transmissions still come through an old-fashioned aerial antenna it is safe to presume that some scattering of TV transmissions could be picked up.

So what is indicated by the '?' above?  Well it is also good to note that not only do the TV station channels 2 to 6 use up to 88MHz, the MOD (inclusive of helicopter), Civil, Railway, etc. also use these frequencies (as identified on the OfCom UK Frequency Allocation Table (UKFAT)).


So what does this tell us?  Well it clearly shows that there could be some crossover from the other bands, although it might be rare or impossible, but due to 'indirect propagation' of radio waves (from reflection, refraction, diffraction, absorption, polarization, and scattering) this might just be an answer to any spurious transmissions getting through these devices due to transmission manipulation.


Spirit Boxes

The PSB7 and PSB11 Spirit Boxes are possibly the most well-known and most productive of these radio systems.  Invented by Gary Galka (the one who invented the Mel Meter) under his DAS company.


The SB7 became hugely famous and gained recognition in the mainstream media thanks to Zak Bagans from Ghost Adventures.  He was always on screen with the SB7 connected via an external Altec Lansing speaker.  

The downside (as previously mentioned in another blog, on our facebook page video and on our website) is using an external 'wired' speaker the speaker cable itself acts like a secondary aerial antenna and will pick up transmissions... even removing the antenna off the unit.

The only way to stop radio chatter coming through is to seal the unit and speaker within a Faraday pouch (see our Facebook Video on this)


The SB11 was the upgrade and was an improvement as it included a red torch, an aerial antenna disconnection switch, an Automatic Temperature Deviation Detector (ATDD)... and a twin tuner system so it could sweep both in AM and FM at the same time.

Nothing really different (except there is no visible LCD screen) apart from a quicker 50ms sweep speed added.

After being checked the operation of this device using an external wired speaker it seems you have to ensure you have modern shielded speakers so the cable does keep out the radio transmissions... and it does seem to work in that respect.

Only downside is some people will use external speakers that are not shielded as they want more volume when using during Spirit Box sessions.

Frequency Scanning

It is a given that most if not all people know how a radio scans through frequencies and stations when you are trying to find your favourite station.  Well let's take Radio 2 (in the UK) for an example... it's range is from 88 to 91 MHz on the FM band.  This is depending upon which part of the UK you are located - have you ever driven from one place to another and you had to keep re-tuning the radio to keep the station on?

Gone are those days with RDS systems as the radio auto-tunes for you to the strongest signal to keep the station going with out too much interruption.  And as the working of a spirit box does not allow for RDS and auto-tuning, as it is a complete self-continuous scanning device as it sweeps through all channels and frequencies (as it is designed to do so), so one could see that it could pick up some transmissions through the given range of any radio station in or around these frequencies.

So back to the possibilities of receiving spurious radio chatter... remembering that Radio 2 operates between 88 and 91 MHz on the FM band.  It is possible that on the weaker signals of this range you might pick up some chatter, albeit weak in both signal and volume, but it could bleed through.


EXAMPLE: Using a P-SB7 (due to the LCD  readout) if we start at 88 MHz and then scan manually, the next frequency is 88.1, then 88.2, 88.3, etc. and as it goes up in increments of 0.1.  As in the below graph - let's say the strongest frequency for a given station is 88.7 MHz... now if one were to manually scan upwards from 88 MHz at around 88.3 MHz you would hear a shift in static as the station tries to tune in, then as we go further up it becomes more clearer until we reach the actual station of 88.7 MHz (clear broadcasting and receiving).

So then we carry on and the same thing occurs until the station can no longer be heard (in the example at 89.2 MHz).  So this can lead us to believe that on 'actual' anywhere from 88.4 MHz to 89.1 MHz the station could be received on the tuner of the SB7... with a 'potential' to be received from 88.3 MHz to 89.2 MHz.

After doing a basic stopwatch test I found that on a 300ms sweep-rate it took about 2.2 seconds to cover the 'actual' range and 2.9 seconds on the 'potential' range.  Quicken the sweep-rate and the timings are thus reduced - at a 100ms sweep-rate we have 0.7 seconds and 0.9 seconds respectively.

Now it has always been a quote from some people that say: "1 second is a very long time"... and in the case of scanning through radio frequencies in order to try and get communication with spirits it is a very long time indeed!  One could say a few words in the space of a second... and going by the favourite '150ms' sweep-rate that most opt for (possibly due to it being Zak Bagans' chosen sweep-rate) it is quite apparent that the majority of any so-called alleged spirit voices being heard are merely just radio transmissions.

Now using the SB11 might prove more difficult in claiming similar if using the 50ms sweep-rate.  As one could imagine across those actual and potential ranges it would be around 0.4 to 0.6 seconds respectively...

... so one could then think "what if" full 'clear' words came through?

Conclusion?

Using a Spirit Box on the FM band is possibly a flawed task as there are far too many variables (not to mention stations) that use it - especially around the 76 to 108 MHz frequency range.  And as mentioned before any snippet of a voice or word that comes through during a session the brain will try to make sense of what was heard and then people can and do jump to the conclusion that a spirit has just answered a question.

Audio pareidolia at its worst.

Another issue that is too far-fetched is that when being used, the Spirit Box AFTER a 'response' comes from the speaker, many people just shout out what it was they 'claim' it to be as the sweeping continues.  This is where common sense approach should be used and have someone ready to stop the sweep and then back scan manually to check if it actually was only a strong radio signal!

And for those undertaking experiments (like one person wears headphones and listens whilst the others call out - and the listener writes down responses heard and then the group check on any questions and answers, etc.) you must always ensure you have a control test - IE: have an adapter from the Spirit Box to a recorder and ensure it is recorded so if anyone claims something it can then be checked later and validated or not.


Now switching to AM instead is a possibility due to the fact AM transmissions are possibly shutting down by the end of 2027 in the UK according to Frequency Finder... and that offers huge potential for not having any radio transmission bleed-through.  Same could be said of FM by 2035.

So the underpinning thing to realise is that it has never ever been proved that spirits can communicate via a constant-scanning radio set up.  With the vast amount of modern communication mediums and equipment in the world today that use radio transmissions it is too problematic to assume that we can 'hear' any form of spirit communication.  Years ago when we only had basic radio stations and limited technology then there was a better chance of obtaining that elusive proof... but now it is too much like a drop-in-the-ocean.

Above all... if the 'voice' or 'response' you obtain from a Spirit Box is anything but clear, concise, understandable and intelligible words, then do not claim it is a spirit...

...let it be down to just radio chatter.

But we can still be open to the possibilities of "what if?".