From Sarah Estep, Maryland, USA November 1980

(In part)

About a month ago I bought a Video tape recorder in the hope that I might be able to record on film some pictures, words, letters, along the line of what was seen through my television last summer.  In the six or seven times that I have used it nothing has been received.  Those on the other side know about my purchase and have indicated they will try to come through.  Several of the messages on the enclosed tape are in relation to this.  Unfortunately the TV rarely becomes mine before eleven at night and by then I can barely keep my eyes open.  The ability to bring pictures from other dimensions through a television set has been demonstrated in the past for other experimenters.  It is, I imagine, a good deal more difficult for them technologically than speaking on tape.  It certainly is not nearly as reliable a means of communication as a tape recorder, but for those who wish to make the attempt it offers a challenge and possibly great personal satisfaction.  If we can eventually succeed in getting pictures on tape this may add additional weight to our claims that we are in communication with other realities.  I say, may, for I am sure skeptics will find reasons for the sources of the pictures rather than a paranormal one.  I always tune to 47 UHF for that is where my contacts said last summer I should turn.

Professor Uphoff mentioned on page 6 of the "Voice," messages from "mischievous" contacts.  He is right, of course.  We always have the "naughty" ones with us and the experimenter must hope he has the wisdom to decide what unexpected messages from the other side are genuine, and what are designed to try and throw him into a tailspin.  As you know, from past letters, I have mixed feelings about some of the things that have come through to me.  In some cases I think the entity was trying to give me a thrill, and not always a pleasant one I should add.  Upon many occasions, however, I feel he was saying something that he believed in, and which was possible for him in his dimension.  I frequently have to try and explore the thought if what I receive on tape might be possible in some other reality.  At the same time, I am careful not to speak indiscriminately about a number of messages that have been recorded.  Along with this, I certainly do not add everything that has been taped to my own belief system.  What is right, or wrong, for us here may not be the same way with those in other dimensions.  Since they, whatever world they belong to, express feelings of love, friendship and a desire to help, emotions with which I am familiar.  It is on that basis that I try to reach them through my tape recorder.

You mentioned, on page 6, that you find it a mystery why extraterrestrials do not communicate through many radios and TVs.  My own feeling is that they question what result such a mass "assault" on public radio or TV night do to the unprepared listener.  Their tendency is to be cautious with us and they may fear such contacts would cause general hysteria.  For our sake, as well as perhaps theirs, they want to avoid this.  What better way to begin tentative approaches to us, than through a group of EVP experimenters sitting at their tape recorders?  Many of us are somewhat "inclined" that way to start with, and as a group we are psychologically open to the possibility of communication with other worlds.  I would not be at all surprised if a number of experimenters in the field are hearing from worlds other than the spirit world.  Many of the messages "tagged" spirit may, in fact, be from other realities.  You might want to mention this in a future issue of the "Voice."  The atypical voices that you wrote about on page 6 is one indication of non-spirit world communication.  The nature of some messages is another, also unusual grammatical sentence structure and the use of unique words not found in any dictionary.

A few words about the enclosed tape—all the space communications have been received since I last wrote to you, and the first 48 spirit world messages have come through since the end of September.  It still remains difficult to be sure with what world I am in communication.  Although I always specify at the beginning of each day's recording with whom I wish to speak, I think both worlds frequently are present.  As I mentioned in my previous letter and which you pointed out in the "Voice" there apparently is some crossover between the two worlds.  Jeffrey, Styhe, Howard Wilson and my mother are four individuals who appear to belong to both worlds.  We may have the wrong idea about space.  It can have mass, such as Venus, Mars, and so on, and some of the space worlds may be peopled with extraterrestrials in more or less physical shape, which resembles the human figure.  These individuals visit us in UFOs and deliberately, or accidentally, make their presence known.  At the same time, there may be other space worlds, known and unknown to us, which may or may not have mass.  Spirits from what is known as the spirit world could possibly move out to these other worlds, for a time, and live a conscious but perhaps not physical life.  The "roaring" sound, which I mention, Numbers 81-85, did not duplicate well.  This is something which began over a month age, and has only been heard when I am talking to space.  It is very obviously a sound that is being deliberately created, and I suspect is done to help them speak.  "Space" uses it about a fourth of the time now in communication.  I tend to look upon these voice segments as coming from "real" extraterrestrials, for it is an artificially created sound.  Surely the entity who spoke in Number 85 was joking.  This is interesting in itself because in all the messages I have recorded over the last four years, I don't think I have more than two or three in which the communicating entity teased me.

Reply

I hope you will have better luck in the future with your Video tape recorder.  From a technical standpoint, pictures recorded on tape would be more difficult for skeptics to rationalize than would EVP voices, and therefore more evidential of paranormal communication.  This is especially true if they are obviously not the sort of thing that would be transmitted by a TV station.  It is indeed frustrating when one receives an indication that certain equipment or a certain method will work or will help reception and then find, it does not or at least does not help immediately.  This has happened often enough in voice reception.  One is left hanging up in the air wondering whether the equipment has been built or setup properly, whether it is exactly what they had in mind, whether they are having technical difficulties using the equipment suggested or whether they are simply experimenting just as we are, and in fact, do not themselves know if certain things will work until we make the setup and do the experiments.

In essence there are two possibilities as to how the pictures you have seen in the past have arrived.  The first possibility is an ordinary but weak TV signal from a non-ordinary source such as an unseen UFO.  If such were the case, a loop or other type antenna on your TV would be essential.  The Video Cassette Recorder could either have an identical antenna on the UHF input or it could be connected in parallel to the antenna on the TV.  In either ease, any channel 47 signal in your vicinity should then be picked up equally by both TV and VCR.  If you are dealing with an actual TV signal there may be some advantage in laying the loop antenna(s) on it's side in a horizontal position to better intercept a signal which we might suppose would be coming from directly overhead.  A UHF loop antenna is customarily mounted in a vertical position in order to intercept a horizontal, signal "broadside."  If your TV and VCR are connected to a cable service, the cable would shut out any kind of ordinary TV signal which may be coming from overhead or any where else.

The second possibility is that the pictures you have seen are of strictly paranormal origin, and I think this the most likely possibility.  In this case it should make no difference what kind of antenna arrangement you have on the TV and VCR, or even whether or not your sets are connected to a cable service, as long as there is no programming on channel 47.  Since a TV and VCR are both television receivers, the difference being that in the TV the received picture is displayed immediately on a CRT or picture tube, whereas in the VCR the received picture is stored on tape for later playback.  Since from voice recording we know that any voices received on one recorder are also received on any other recorders in the same room, we can suppose, from a theoretical standpoint, that any pictures you may receive on the TV would also be received and recorded by the VCR.  In fact, judging from my own experience in voice recording, I would be surprised if you reported you had received discernible pictures on the TV, which did not record on the tape.

Some time back I came to believe communication with the spirit world, and with extraterrestrials, is being opened up gradually according to fixed schedules—their schedules, not ours.  And I think this may be an important factor here, especially since they have already demonstrated to you they are capable of causing pictures to appear on your TV.  Remember recently when they told you "Too wise, too soon?"  Perhaps this was their way of telling us you were getting ahead of their schedule and they were going to slow things down for a while.  The only thing I could suggest is to continue to record on occasion, perhaps once a week.  And in the mean time try to find out through voice recording, whether there is some kind of technical or other problem, or whether they are simply not permitted by their schedule to come through at this particular time.  I would be very interested in what they might have to say about this.  Some time ago Mary and I did some experimenting to see if we could, have television here at our home.  Since we live in a high valley surrounded by ridges, and since we are many miles from any TV transmitters, this is no simple task.  Even though we have three TV receivers, we have not had television since we moved here 10 years ago.  Since we are both given to reading and other activities, the TV, for the most part has not been missed, although there is an occasional movie or documentary we would like to see.  In any case, one of these experiments involved a roof type, tripod mount and a mast about 6 ft high from a previous installation and a Radio Shack corner-reflector Yagi UHF antenna (#15-1661).  Using this arrangement with a portable 12V TV, we found we could get UHF signals from on top nearby ridges but not from here at the house.  Later we found we could, with a big enough antenna, get VHF reception even though the VHF transmitter is considerably more distant. 

In any case the point is this, we still have this portable UHF antenna arrangement, which is quite sensitive, being capable of picking up a UHF signal up to 100 miles distance.  (See Fig.  1) Recently it occurred to me that if I were to saw off the mast right below where the antenna is mounted and have this piece welded back on in a horizontal position, the antenna would then point straight up.  (See Fig.  2) Since these antennas are quite directional, in the vertical position it would pickup nothing from Earth transmitters, even if there were any near by.  It would, however, be very sensitive to any UHF TV signals that might be beamed down from overhead, even from as far away as the fringes of space. 

Before I go any further, I want to say I definitely do not recommend that anyone go out and buy the equipment to experiment along these lines.  We are talking about approximately $50 worth of equipment, and at this point we have absolutely no indication the extraterrestrials would be willing to transmit pictures to us even if we did set up the antenna.  Since I already have this equipment on hand and a friend of ours will do the welding free, I intend, at some future time, to experiment along these lines, if I am given any indication it would be effective at this point in time.

The reason I mention this subject at all is because I believe, judging from the gradually increasing UFO reports and encounters over the years, that UFO contacts and communication, in the future, is going to gradually come out into the open.  And for this kind of communication the vertically oriented directional UHF antenna would be a beautiful arrangement.  Even in a city or suburb where there are many UHF antennas, only an antenna pointed straight up would be capable of receiving not too strong TV signals beamed down from somewhere overhead.

In the mean time, Sarah, I would be interested in what your friends from space might have to say about this arrangement.  If you care to, you might show them the arrangement in Fig.  2, explain that the antenna is very sensitive, very directional and that it would be pointed straight up.  I would be very interested in their opinion as to whether or not this arrangement would be of benefit in TV reception.  And I would be very interested in whether or not they would be willing to beam down pictures if we do set up this arrangement.

From Mary Jo Uphoff, Wisconsin, USA December 1980
New Frontiers Center (In part)

We are getting an awful lot of material that is purported to be various kinds of extra-terrestrial communication–some of—in fact, a lot of it—mediumistic material.  One has to keep in mind, that in times of world-wide stress, catastrophes, sightings, etc., there can be a great deal of unconscious self-deception taking place to fill the great human need to explain, understand and make sense out of such events.  We have a good friend in the East, a psychiatrist, who has been interested for some time in evaluating the personalities of contactees, ("sighters") and he is greatly interested in the phenomenon of UFOs himself as a result.  Neither Walt nor I have seen anything very close-up that we could call a UFO, but we did sight something very high and unbelievably fast scooting across the skies south of Denver one afternoon about 4 P.M.  We have several friends who have had much more exciting experiences with them, however, and have no reason to doubt their accounts.

(and)

We have never had the occasion, and of late, the time, to get ourselves educated enough in the field of electronics to become researchers in EVP; we have come to the conclusion that our job is that of facilitators or communicators who can put others in touch with those who are on similar quests.  It has been very helpful to have your letters at hand.  Hope you do not mind that we have put David Lothamer on your "trail”—he sounds like a sincere, studious, intelligent fellow who has a lot to contribute.  David's report on some of his experiences reinforces something that I believe to be important: that when conditions are right, paranormal events take place (sightings of UFOs, clairvoyance, clairaudience, etc.) and the excellence of our technology may not be the deciding factor for the import and evidential quality of experience or the experiment.  And this is where we are continually at odds with the scientific community that has so much faith in the infallibility of technology.  Although I think only a few of us would qualify as "mediums," I do think there is latent psychic ability in everyone and that, again, it emerges when "conditions are right" even though that condition my be an emotional high, an altered state of consciousness, or intense "centering" of the mind, etc. 

Thank you for giving us a current address for Davis Peck.  We had a visit from Bart Ellis not too long ago; he was the one who told us a bout Davis.  What a pity that there is nothing in the way of funding for dedicated individuals to carry on research in such areas as the EVP phenomenon; Europe does no better than this country in that respect, and that goes for other areas of parapsychology as well.

Walter got an unexpected, but very welcome, invitation to present a paper at a parapsychology seminar in Switzerland in the spring.  While there, he should have the opportunity to see Gilbert Bonner with whom Lothamer is in contact.  We have read and heard about Bonner through the British publications we get, but with the heavy job we had the past three years getting those two writing projects done, we didn't initiate any correspondence with him.  Since we have assumed the "marketing" and distribution of the books ourselves, it will be a while, even now, before we have much time to take on anything extra.  I will see though if Walt can find time to send copies of some tapes to you.  We have one of those "mechanical voice" communications we got lately, and Bill Finch must have some of them too, in addition to the one which he sent us some time ago.  These, however, are not EVP voices, but mediumistic voices, but we think you might like to compare them with what you get in your research. 

Reply

We were very interested in what you had to say about your psychiatrist friend who is evaluating the personalities of contactees.  The most interesting part is that he himself became greatly interested in the phenomenon of UFOs.  I, of course, do not know this Gentleman and have no idea of his original motives.  However, it rather sounds to me as if he originally set out to find out what kind of mental aberrations would cause an otherwise normal person to "makeup" a wild tale about UFOs, only to realize somewhere along the line, that most of these people were not making up anything.  If such were the case, he would not be the first one to which this has happened.

Since UFO reports and encounters have been, on the average, increasing steadily since the early 1950s, it appears they are making a conscious effort to educate our civilization about their presence without at the same time scaring us out of our wits.  I have been following this phenomenon for most of my adult life and I have become convinced they are doing this according to a precise schedule.  I strongly suspect that if one were to take the year by year statistics of the percentage of people who believe UFOs are real, plotted these figures on a graph and extrapolated the line, it would be found that approximately 100% of the population will believe in their reality by the year 2000.  (Except, of course, for the scientific establishment who will probably still think they are "nonsense.")  In any case, statistics now indicate over half the people in this Country believe UFOs are real, which in turn either indicates half of us should be locked up on a funny farm or that the other half had better get their heads out of the sand.

In keeping with this schedule it makes sense that extra terrestrial mediumistic communication is increasing, jus t as it is gradually increasing through the EVP.  Also, as you know, there have been incidents reported in which people have received clear radio and even TV signals from supposed extraterrestrial sources.  So far these have been isolated incidents and will probably continue to be so for some time in the future.  But in keeping with their schedule, we can anticipate the frequency of such incidents to increase.

One thing that concerns me is that almost nobody actually realizes what the extraterrestrials are capable of doing whenever they wish.  Just as one example, consider this: At any given time most TV sets in this Country are tuned to one of the major networks.  At the present time all network TV signals are relayed cross-country via geostationary communications satellites.  Signals from powerful transmitters on earth are received by the satellite, amplified, and retransmitted back to different points on earth.  Now any kind of radio or TV receiver responds to the strongest signal on the frequency to which it is tuned.  Even though the earth transmitters may be several thousand watts, by the time this signal travels 22,000 miles to the satellite it's strength is down to probably a fraction of one watt.

As you can see, if another signal of only two or three watts at the same frequency were present, it would totally wash out the signal from earth, and this is where the weakest link is in our TV system.  A UFO could "park" within several hundred feet of such a communications satellite, broadcast their own programming on all the network frequencies, wash out the signals from earth, and have their own programming appear on practically every TV receiver in the Country.  And how much power would all this require?  About the same amount as is required to light the stop lights on the back of your automobile!

You mentioned you and Walter had not educated yourselves enough in the field of electronics to become researchers in EVP.  Since I have had several others express this same thought, I would like to say this: The really important aspect of EVP research is communication.  The electronics of the problem are only a secondary consideration.  The person who is making the real contribution toward raising the awareness level of Humanity, is the person who is using their tape recorder to explore the next reality, to accumulate evidence of survival, to push open the door to the Universe.  We few who do have an electronics background are, or should be, playing a supportive role in what is, or should be, a combined effort in this direction.  The point is I don’t think anyone who is otherwise inclined to do so, should hesitate for one minute in becoming involved in EVP recording because they do not have a background in electronics.  The important thing is to build Dr Raudive's bridge—to extend the circle of communication.  Electronic improvements will be made in time, and when these improvements are made they will be made available to those who are not in electronics.

You mentioned you have been continually at odds with the scientific community because of their faith in the infallibility of technology.  You are not alone.  For two hundred years and more, thinking people have been at odds with the scientific establishment, primarily because ever since the founding of formal science they have, as a group, always had the egocentric attitude that everything of any significance about the Universe was already known to them.  Except of course, for a few remaining minor details which were still under scientific investigation.  To this day, the scientific community, per se, still holds this same general attitude despite the fact that time and time again they have been forced to recognize aspects of reality they had previously considered "nonsense."  (Witness the struggle of Parapsychology to be accepted as a formal science.)

This is why some of the most important scientific advances have been made, not because of the scientific establishment, but despite the scientific establishment.  Probably as many discoveries have been made in basement workshops as in major laboratories.  Not because the person in the workshop is any smarter, but because his attitude is different—he doesn't think everything is already known, so he sets out to investigate phenomena which had been pushed aside by the scientific establishment, as mere “nonsense."  I do not need to give examples—the names in this category are legend.  Every major scientific advance is the direct result of the investigation of phenomena, which, at the time, is considered to be paranormal.

Fortunately for the future of science and especially for the future of Humanity, there are a few scientists of vision, and again I don't need to mention names, who are and have risked jeopardizing their scientific reputations in order to study such "nonsense" as UFOs, the Bigfoot, ESP and other paranormal (pronounced "not yet known") phenomena.  In fact we might compare the scientific establishment to a horse.  A t the head end we have a few scientists of vision, at the opposite end we have The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of claims of the Paranormal.  Other scientists have their choice as to which end they prefer to be associated with.  We do have the satisfaction of knowing that where the head end goes.  The other end will eventually be forced to follow, even though reluctantly. 

From Mr. Harold Sherman , Arkansas, USA November 1980
ESP Research Associates Foundation

(In part)

Your method...and that started by Davis Peck, an "experience exchange," seems to be the only way to get possible “breakthrough results.”  ...which demands selfless co-operation ...each contributing pieces of knowledge which can mean something to the other...and who knows, some of these inspirations may be coming through those on "the other side"!?

 Reply

As you know, I have believed for some time a means of exchanging information and experience is necessary in order for meaningful progress to be made in EVP research in general and in the electronics of voice reception in particular.  All of us were disappointed when Mr. Peck was unable to continue the "Hotline" newsletter, as it was much needed in this field.

On the matter of exchanging information, as an analogy one might think of a Teacher with a room full of students and a jigsaw puzzle.  We might imagine she wa1ks about the room passing out a handful of pieces to each student, and then returns to her desk to see what will happen.  If each student shares what they have and works at the puzzle, it will soon be assembled and enjoyed by all.  However, if some of the students pocket the pieces they have been given, and stand about waiting for others to assemble the picture, little progress will be made.

This is not an exact analogy because in EVP research if clues are given to some and they are not passed on, then in due course, the same clues will be given to others and if necessary still others, until they are passed on and become part of the body of public knowledge about the EVP.  In the end the final result will be the same—a Spirit Voice Receiver will be developed, and communication with the so called "dead" will become a Worldwide reality, with all it's implications for our society.  And this will happen irregardless of the actions or inactions of individual researchers.

The point, however, is how long is this going to take?  It is here that the actions or inactions of individuals will make a very important difference.  Whether we have a Spirit Voice Receiver within the next year or two, or in ten years, or in a hundred years, I think is dependent, to a large extent, on the amount of co-operation between researchers.

Not only is cooperation and information exchange important where methodology and psychoelectronics are concerned but they are important in other areas of EVP research as well.  As a case in point, all of us are very interested in just exactly whom it is we are communicating with.  There is accumulating evidence that EVP is not a single Phenomenon.  It is no longer sufficient to simply assume all the entities who have contacted us are of our own civilization.  Voices that claim to be from space, mechanical sounding voices, and voices which are better received by the radio method with the antenna up rather than down, etc., are all indications of an extra-terrestrial source.

As another example, where the question of reincarnation is concerned, of the three researchers I know of who have been given information on this subject, two have been told one thing while the other was told exactly the opposite.  I don't think any of us take everything we are told at face value, and here, in at least this one case, we have direct evidence that some of what we are told is not true.  The only way I can see of approaching a more accurate concept of whom we are in communication with, as well as sorting out fact from fiction in what we are told, is by comparing notes, exchanging information, and taking a consensus of opinion on various matters.

We have indeed been given clues from the Spirit World about how voice reception takes place.  In fact there have been a number of such clues, and it may be difficult for those who do not have an electronics background to understand why we do not already have an efficient EVP Receiver.  In essence, the problem is that EVP reception simply does not obey the laws of electronics.  The obvious possibilities, the normal methods of receiving and demodulating radio signals etc., have long since been tried and disregarded.  For lack of further orthodox methods to experiment with, researchers are being forced to "think in other channels."  For example, we must consider the possibility, among others, that the electronic characteristics of certain components, characteristics which are fixed at the time of manufacture, such as the resistance of a resister, or the flux density of a permanent magnet, may be altered by PK energy a t the instant of voice reception.  Because there is no electronic precedent to the EVP effect, we are, in essence, looking for a needle in a haystack.  However, since EVP reception is a fact of life, we do at least know for sure the answer is in there someplace among the tens of thousands of electronic possibilities, even though it has not yet been found.

It is for this reason that clues about how reception actually occurs, which have been given to various researchers, are so important, even though they do not give us the precise electronic information we need to clarify reception.  What the clues, which are very much appreciated, are doing, is indicating certain categories of possibility where, if we are being told the truth, it will be most fruitful to search for the answer.

For example, as you know, several years ago we were told we needed "feedback through continuously repeated sections."  What we were not told is which of many thousands of possible electronic circuit arrangements we should use as a "section," nor were we even told which of the two types of feedback (positive or negative) should be used.  This statement, however, is not without information content, and in fact several things are indicated.  First, the words "repeated sections " indicates that even with the ideal or most sensitive possible circuit, the EVP effect is still so weak that more than one such circuit, in fact a number of such circuits or sections are required.  Second, the words "through repeated sections,” indicates or appears to indicate these sections or circuits or points of voice modulation, should be connected in series rather than in parallel.  Third, the words "feedback through," indicate the circuits or voice entry points should be within a feedback loop, which is an arrangement evidently intended to increase the percentage of voice modulation. 

As I say, this information, of itself, does not tell us how to clarify reception.  But, as with clues in a detective story, the more information we gather and analyze, the closer we are to the solution.  This is not to say those in the Spirit World are going to tell us everything we need to know in order to clarify reception.  What is required is not only clues but also logic, intuition, and a great deal of experimentation.  Nevertheless, clues given by the Spirit World are an important part of this effort. 

I would therefore like to take this opportunity to invite everyone who has been given any information, of any nature, on the subject of how our spirit friends manage to cause their voices to appear in our equipment, to submit such information for publication.  Even though the person who has received such information may not fully understand it's implications, and in fact I may not either, if such information is submitted and published, it may be very meaningful to someone else out there who is working on the electronics of the problem.  Such clues and information about the "how" of EVP reception will be given a high priority in the "Voice."

VOICE BAND FILTERS

WHAT A FILTER DOES 

In essence a voice band filter is a frequency sensitive circuit or combination of circuits.  The filter acts in such a way as to permit certain frequencies, within what is known as the “pass band," to pass through the circuit at the same amplitude as the input signal, while at the same time preventing other frequencies above and below the pass band, from passing through.  In EVP research, the voice band filter is designed and used in such a way as to block out as much background noise as possible, while at the same time permitting those frequencies to pass through which are necessary in order for the voices to be intelligible.  With the use of voice band filters, "naturalness" of voice sound and understandability are tradeoffs.  As the filter's pass band is made "tighter," that is, as the range of frequencies permitted to pass through the filter are more restricted, a certain amount of voice naturalness and presence are lost and the voice begins to sound flat and distant, more like a broadcast radio voice than an EVP voice.  At the same time, the tighter filter, by trimming off more of the background noise, up to a point, allows the voices to be somewhat more understandable. 

The maximum range of human hearing, depending upon age, gender and other factors, is approximately 15 cycles per second or Hertz to 20,000 Hertz (Hz).  In electronics the audible range of frequencies is defined as 32 Hz to 16,000 Hz (Dictionary of Electronics, Rudolf Graf).  Because audio carrier noise encountered in EVP reception, which in most cases is radio static or electronic noise, is of random amplitude and random frequency, it is present throughout the entire audio frequency range.  With the human voice, fundamental frequencies together with harmonics and subharmonics cover approximately the lower 1/3 of this range.  Voice, however, unlike noise is not of constant amplitude throughout its range of frequencies.

If voice and noise are both plotted on an amplitude/frequency graph, it is found that whereas most types of noise are of fairly constant amplitude, voice resembles a flattened bell shaped curve with it's apex at approximately 1000.Hz (Fig 1). 

The human ear responds more readily to the louder frequencies of a given sound.  In the human voice these louder frequencies are concentrated in an area around 1000 Hz, and it is only this range of frequencies that need be heard in order for a voice to be understandable.  This range of frequencies that permits a voice to be intelligible, is referred to as the "voice band."

The width of this band and its exact position in the audio spectrum, is somewhat arbitrary and is often determined by the type of equipment and the application.  For example, in the telephone system a voice band of 100-3500 Hz is used (Dictionary of Electronics) which happens to be the approximate effective frequency response range of the carbon microphones used in home telephone receivers, whereas in certain Ham radio gear a pass band of only 450-2200 Hz is employed.  In electronics a “voice-grade" channel or circuit is considered to be 300 -3OOO Hz (Dictionary of Electronics).

In EVP reception, with an average voice, the signal to noise ratio is no better than 1/1, that is; the noise background is just as loud as the voice itself.  On weaker voices the noise is actually louder than the voice.  It is only because the human ear and brain can be trained to listen for patterns of frequencies, which constitute the voices, that these voices can be heard at all against the high level background noise.  This training, many of us have found, usually requires weeks or months.

As can be seen in Fig 2, voice frequencies above and below the voice band (area "A" + "B") rapidly deteriorate in amplitude and in fact add almost nothing to the understandability of the voice, even though they do add to the "naturalness" of voice sound.  At the same time the noise in these same areas, above and below the voice band, remain at a high level and interfere with listening.  It is these frequencies above and below the 300-3000 Hz voice band that need to be filtered out—especially the higher frequencies.  Since the ear is more sensitive to higher frequencies, for example, and cannot tolerate listening to 10,000 Hz at the same volume level as they can 60 Hz, it is these that most need to be eliminated.  Filtering out higher carrier frequencies allows comfortable listening to the voice band as somewhat higher volume than would otherwise be possible, and is thus a certain amount of help to understandability.

FILTER TYPES

Of the various types of audio frequency filters, we will be concerned here with only three different types; the high pass, the low pass, and the band pass, the latter, in essence, being composed of the first two.  Also two different kinds of filters will be discussed; the passive and the active, both of which do the same thing in a somewhat different way.

FILTER CHARACTERISTICS

In an ideal filter such as illustrated by the solid line in figure 3, all frequencies within the pass band would be permitted to pass through at exactly the same level, while all frequencies above or below the pass band would be totally eliminated.  However, there is no such thing as an ideal filter and the characteristics of any band pass filter, when plotted on an amplitude/frequency graph somewhat resembles a bell shaped curve (Dotted lines, Fig3).  The two most important characteristics of an audio band pass filter are the cutoff points and the slopes.

The decibel, a unit of relative loudness, is used to determine the cutoff points or corner frequencies of an audio filter, that is, where the pass band begins and ends.  With an audio tone of constant frequency and volume, the human ear is capable of discerning a change in volume of as little as one decibel.  However, where mixed sound such as voice or music is concerned, the smallest change in volume level discernable is 3 decibels.  It is for this reason that the point on the spectrum at which the signal has decreased to a level of 3db under the maximum amplitude, is selected as the cutoff point where audio filters are concerned.

According to the formula: db = 20 log E1/E2, we see that -3 db is equal to approximately a 25% decrease in signal amplitude.  Although this much change in volume level seems to be a large amount, due to the logarithmic response characteristics of the human ear, a 25% change in volume is the least change discernable in mixed material.  Going back to Figure 3 we see that the points where the signal is decreased by 3 db are at frequencies of 300 Hz and 3000 Hz.  This would be considered the pass band of this particular filter, since all frequencies within this band would be passed through within 25% of the maximum amplitude, and therefore appear to be all of the same volume. 

The second important characteristic is the slope or steepness of cutoff.  In a first order filter the slope is 6 db per octave.  For example if a filter has a pass band of 300-3000 Hz the first octave under would be 150-300 Hz, while the first octave over would be 3000-6000 Hz.  If the signal level is decreased by 6 decibels between 300 and 150 Hz and between 3000 and 6000 Hz then the filter is said to have a 6db/octave slope ("B" in Figure 3) and would be classified as a first order filter.  In a second order filter ("A" in Figure 3) the slope is 12db/octave and as can be seen, the sides are steeper; the filter has a sharper cutoff.  It is second and higher order filters that are most beneficial in EVP reception.

(To be continued in next issue)

From Mr. Jesse Glass,  Wisconsin.  USA December 1980

Sarah Estep gave me your address, and showed me a copy of your newsletter.

I too, am interested in the EVP and am presently working on an article about this phenomenon.  Would you tell me about your own experiments?  Would you also put me on your mailing list?

Reply

We will definitely put you on our mailing list, and we are glad to hear from people who are interested in the EVP. 

It would be impossible to briefly describe the experiments Mary and I have done since 1974.  In essence, since my own EVP reception is normally weak, and since I am an ex-Air Force electronics technician, I became interested almost immediately in the electronics of Voice reception.

Since that time we have built and experimented with numerous different circuits and devices in an effort to clarify or at least improve reception.  About 9 out of 10 of these circuits failed.  The ones that did not were little or no improvement over existing methods.  Nevertheless, in the process we acquired some hard earned education about the EVP.

We believe an efficient EVP Receiver is possible, and toward this end our work has been directed at pinpointing the precise electronic component or circuit arrangement necessary for Voice reception.  This part of the work is mostly trail and error and is rather like looking for a needle in a haystack.  Progress is not measured by how much improvement in voice quality has been obtained to date, but rather by how many electronic possibilities and hypotheses have thus far been examined and eliminated, and how many more such possibilities still exist.  We believe, and we are told from the Spirit World, that we are making progress.  At this point we believe the EVP effect is associated with permanent magnets such as are found in speakers, microphones, tape heads, earphones and on the tape itself.  The effect seems to be PK modulation of either the flux density (field strength) of the magnets or of the eddy currents within the magnets.  Hopefully further experimentation will shed more light on the matter.

After the precise electronic component or circuit arrangement necessary for EVP reception has been determined with certainty, the work from that point on will be to arrange a number of these components in series or place several within a feedback loop arrangement, etc., in order to magnify the EVP effect and step by step improve the quality of reception. 

As I say we believe an efficient Spirit Voice Receiver is possible, and we have been told from the Spirit World that such a Receiver is indeed possible.  We also believe the Voice Receiver will be brought into reality more rapidly by sharing information in a joint effort.  For this reason it is our intention to describe various specific experiments in future issues of the "Voice," as well as to gradually pass on everything we have personally learned in the course of our own work.  It is immaterial to us who develops the first efficient Voice Receiver.  Our concern is that such a Receiver be developed.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Demonstration of ELECTRONIC VOICE PHENOMENA

Presented by the Association for the Study of Electronic Voice Phenomena (ASEVP).  2:00 PM, Saturday, February 7, 1981.  Fireside Room, Education Bldg., Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarians, 1606 Bonita Avenue, Berkeley, California--Admission is free 

NEW BOOKS

Now Available 

MIND over MATTER

by Walter and Mary Jo Uphoff

A very detailed, yet informal and readable documentation of the effects of PK energy on metal and film and the social implications of such abilities.  Available from: NEW FRONTIERS CENTER, [Address withheld]

To be published this Spring 

THE DEAD ARE ALIVE

by Harold Sherman

"MUST" reading for EVP researchers.  Will be available from: ESP RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FOUNDATION, [Address withheld].