Monday, May 06, 2024 10:34

Two way radio

July 7th, 2020

Two Way Radio


Used to communicate with team members across a building or site. Especially useful in some of the larger and more outdoor locations or between two buildings.


These radios have a 10km range and can be voice activated (with a headset). We use these for large investigations where timekeeping becomes particularly important or for our live investigations.
Some cheaper sets have a limiting wavelength which can be used to listen to other conversations e.g. taxi and food delivery in cities. Interference is a problem with cheaper sets.

The rechargeable batteries on these sets usually last for 7-8 hours although it depends on how often they are used. We have had sets which only lasted for a maximum of 2 hours, which defeats the point of having them.

These are made by Motorola and come in a set of 4 (license free), waterproof, with headsets and were bought for approximately £150. These are available on eBay, Amazon or Communication specialist shops like Ligo.co.uk.

Social Share Toolbar

Tags: ,
Posted in Explainers | No Comments »

Boo Buddy

July 2nd, 2020

Boo Buddy (Interactive Bear)


This is a purpose-built device for the paranormal field. It asks questions to trigger the spirit to respond for EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) related questions. It also can detect changes in EMF (Electromagnetic Field), temperature, vibration and motion and responds with a verbal question or statement (just like a real person would!)

The whole point of this bear would be to put this with a camera in a locked-off area or room and let the bear interact with the spirit. If you knew the area was locked-off and no-one would enter the room any voices recorded by the camera (apart from the bear) could be potential EVP’s.

The paws light up for vibration or motion along with speaking a phrase related to the environmental change. E.g. It got warm in here. As well as the belly of the bear lighting up green. (in response to  EMF energy)

We like this bear because it always asks questions, however this is off putting to guests or even scary at times!

We also get quite a lot of responses in the right environment (i.e. where you would expect children to be)

This can only be bought from Ghost Stop in the USA although you may find one on an auction site. The 2020 price is $360 but when we bought ours, we had to pay a shipping charge of about £40 and when it arrived a customs charge of £36. This is definitely not a toy!

Social Share Toolbar

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Explainers | No Comments »

Infrared Video Camera

July 2nd, 2020

Infrared (IR) Video Camera


True Infrared Video cameras can only be produced by Sony as they have the trademark for true 0lux sensors. Obviously filming in total darkness is going to require an Infrared Illuminator. At one time when the hard drive cameras that we use were new, there was an added accessory, an IR illuminator that fitted on the hot shoe of the camera and took its power from the battery. We still have a few of these, although they are starting to be temperamental in use, but they are at least 10 years old. Nowadays it is much simpler to buy an additional illuminator with its own battery to go alongside the video camera. With the prevalence of CCTV systems Infrared Illuminators are very easy to find. Any illuminator will work, the more leds the better as IR light dissipates very quickly. Most Illuminators the fall off (the point at which there is no IR light) is about 10 feet from the source. To light a large room, you would need a few illuminators unless the camera was close to the subject.

We use the DCR-SR series of cameras (either 190 or 290), these all have hard drives to store the footage on, ranging from 30Gb to 80Gb which is ample for a single night, as the batteries only last about 90 minutes each. You can also use these cameras to take photos in nightshot mode which can be useful at times (as a flash can blind people in the dark)

When setting up our cameras we always set the clock to 12 hours behind the actual time. This is for one reason. If we had set for the right time when the footage is transferred to the PC it would span two days (because our events usually start at 8pm and finish at 2am). We have one set of footage from 8pm until midnight and then another set from midnight to 2am. To illuminate this problem, we set the clock for 12 hours behind the time so that when transferred we have just one folder with all the recordings from that day.

We use these cameras because they are simple to use, quite cheap to buy (compared to buying new cameras) and transfer to a PC is easy. The quality of the recording at night is limited by the IR illumination so it doesn’t matter what the quality setting of the camera is. The recorded footage will be have a green tinge or black and white.

These cameras can be picked up for about £100 on eBay (the price when new was up to £650) for a DCR-SR290 which is the top of the range. IR Illuminators range in price from about £20 up to £100 depending on how many LEDs and battery type (most CCTV ones work from a rechargeable 9v battery pack)

Social Share Toolbar

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Explainers | No Comments »

Laser Pen

June 30th, 2020

Laser Pen


We use these laser pens to detect shadows or movement in dark surroundings, these are highly effective in outdoor scenarios.

These laser pens were originally design for office presentations but were adapted for the ghost hunting and paranormal market by the addition of a filter which splits the beam of light into a grid.

The high-powered laser emits a grid of green, red or purple (depending on the laser colour) dots useful for detecting visual disturbances during an investigation. The size and shape of the star grid is adjustable by turning the lens.
There are only a couple of limitations, one is the size of the area that it is illuminated, outdoors is good, but the light beams can be lost in any vegetation. Indoors the room needs to be quite big otherwise it is too bright. This has an interesting ambience in fog!

One of the other limitations is being able to hold down the switch for long enough. Small tripods have been developed with a holder that keeps the button down, along with special clamps but in all honesty we just use a cable tie that isn’t tight, but tight enough to be moved on and off the switch.

We like these pens because it only requires 2 AAA batteries and is light to carry and they are fairly cheap and plentiful on eBay or Amazon, costing about £8-15 each with a set of filters.

Social Share Toolbar

Tags:
Posted in Explainers | No Comments »

Ghost Meter Pro

June 30th, 2020

Ghost Meter Pro


This is a device that can be used to communicate with spirits. The Ghost Meter Pro measures the Electromagnetic energy in a similar way to a KII meter. The difference with this device is that it has four different modes, these modes enable communication as the lights are used for simple yes/no answers to questions. We tell people to use a simple one flash for yes, two for no. After a while of seeing the types of flash and how to interpret the flashing lights, users like the device.

As with the KII meter this device can be affected by electricity, mobile phones and wifi signals and the same precautions are required for successful use.

Like the KII the Ghost Meter Pro can be a very effective way to communicate with spirits and it is also very easy to determine whether the energy is a spirit energy or whether the device is picking up a man-made electromagnetic energy source. It is obvious when you see how the lights flash, as wifi, mobile phones, hearing aid loops and electricity all interfere with this device in waves, after a few minutes the user can see the repetitive flashes that man-made frequencies make.

We like this device and it is probably the most popular device that our guests want to investigate with because it is an easy instrument to use and once the user has got used to the types of questions that they can ask, the responses can be rewarding.

The Ghost Meter Pro is now not that easy to get hold of, however there are still sellers on eBay and Amazon selling them. The original ones came from the USA and you can still buy them from there. We would now expect to pay between £45 and £65 per item (depending on if it is new).

Be warned however there is a simpler Ghost Meter which does not have the four modes (which are needed for the communication mode) and is just like a KII as it is an EMF meter and not a very good one either.

Social Share Toolbar

Tags: ,
Posted in Explainers | No Comments »

Temperscope

June 25th, 2020

Temperscope

This is another device purposely designed for the Paranormal world. This is another device built by Paranologies.

This is a simple temperature measuring device for hot or cold spot detection. When there is a hot temperature, one side of the device lights up red, if the temperature is cold then the opposite side lights up blue. It automatically resets every 30 seconds if the ambient air has a constant change it will auto-adjust to that change while still displaying the hot and cold changes

This device can easily be affected by the ambient air temperature, especially if it is near a doorway. Depending on the environment it is easy for warm air to drift over the device and equally a cold air draft.

However, if it is used in a locked off area or room then this can be an exceptionally good indication of warm or cold spots as it will light up with the temperature difference.

This can only be bought from Paranologies in the USA and is currently priced at $69.99

Social Share Toolbar

Tags: ,
Posted in Explainers | No Comments »

Geophone

June 25th, 2020

Geophone


A Geophone is used to see noises. Strictly speaking these are data logging devices to record vibrations or sounds, however we are not after the scientific version, we just need to be able to see when there has been a noise or vibration. The device picks up sounds and converts this into light which is displayed by the device.

Some are round, others and square or oblong and others have a range of lights. The purpose of the device is the same, it is to “see” the noise. Depending on how the device lights up will depend on the loudness of the noise. Some models more lights, light up, others get brighter or different colours.

Whilst these do not measure the sound with any accuracy, these are purely designed to let you know that there is a noise or vibration. These devices are usually very accurate in picking up noise or vibrations that we cannot hear. This is also one of the downfalls of these devices, that any small movement create a noise or vibration. They are however ideal for lock-off situations or where there won’t be anyone present.

This is the reason why we like these devices as we can put them beside some other kit which has a camera pointed at it in a locked off area and know that if the geophone lights up then something must have made a noise.

At one time these were quite simple devices and you pick them up cheaply for about £20 in Maplin. However since their inclusion in the paranormal field and ghost hunting these are now quite expensive and start at about £35 and the top end models are about £80, found on Amazon or eBay.

Social Share Toolbar

Tags: , ,
Posted in Explainers | No Comments »

360 Parascope

June 23rd, 2020

360 Parascope

This is a customed built paranormal device, built by Paranologies for the paranormal field. It is a Triboelectric field meter. It is designed to pick up static energy/electricity through 360 degrees on the horizontal and when it does so, the closest part lights up and as the static energy moves so does the lights. In its simplest form it picks up static electricity or energy as it is believed that spirit energies are made up of static electricity/energy.

Trying to create static electricity is generally quite difficult unless you are wearing clothing which generates static electricity or walking on carpets that do. So when this device lights up it is rarely because of something we have done. It’s likely that the energy is related to spirit activity rather than human intervention or another device.

This is the reason why we like it, as static electricity is hard to generate and we can be sure of our surroundings that this is not the reason for it lighting up. Most of the venues we use are venues with natural materials (stone, bricks, wood etc) that don’t create static.

You can only buy this device from Paranologies based in the USA and a new one costs from approximately £120

Social Share Toolbar

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Explainers | No Comments »

Barrier Alarm

June 23rd, 2020

Barrier Alarm or Sensor

When something moves in front of the sensor it lights up. These are the quiet versions and only light up when something passes through the barrier. Other similar devices make a loud noise or alarm when something breaks the barrier. We prefer this version as a simple light comes on, rather than an alarm (which will need to be turned off) as the light will dim and go out when no more movement is detected.

Ideally these would be used as part of a locked off area (with a camera recording) as it would be obvious to see if anything set the barrier light off. Sometimes the smallest of movements can set these off so they need to be used in an area where no-one will walk past or in the beam of the alarm.

These are quite difficult to get hold of nowadays and we haven’t seen any for sale for some time. That said they pop up on eBay from time to time. The barrier alarms that make a noise are generally available on eBay and Amazon and we would expect them to cost about £20 for two. PIR light sensors you can get easily as they are now used for cupboard or wardrobe lighting, it is even possible to get USB charging ones, cost is from £6 per unit.

Social Share Toolbar

Tags: , ,
Posted in Explainers | No Comments »

EMF Pump

June 18th, 2020

EMF Pump

An EMF Pump is designed to produce an Electromagnetic Field surrounding the pump. The idea is to create electromagnetic energy so that spirit energies can use this to communicate in some way. It is suggested that several EMF pumps should be placed in a room and switched on 15 minutes before using the room to conduct a paranormal experiment. Obviously, these pumps must be turned off before using KII meters or other meters that pick-up EMF energy.

These EMF pumps can also interfere with mobile phone signals, although not 3G, 4G and 5G data signals. To be honest, we don’t often use EMF pumps unless we are holding a private investigation where time is not an issue.

There are some cheap EMF pumps available, but a good quality pump can produce enough Electromagnetic energy with a range that spreads out to about 3m (9′) from the device. You can easily check the range by using an EMF meter, like a KII.

Very recently we also found another item that produced a massive amount of EMF in a room; a plasma ball. This ball produces an EMF that spread about 6m (20′) from the device.

These EMF pumps are easily available on eBay and probably Amazon also available on a UK site called Infraready
We would expect to pay anything from £35 to £50 per item.

Social Share Toolbar

Tags: , ,
Posted in Explainers | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »