Ghost Gadget Guy
Unbiased Paranormal Gear Review
Rule #1 We have yet to prove ghost exist
Rule #2 We have yet to find a device that proves ghosts exist
Rule #3 Debating Rule #2 without accepting Rule #1 is silly
Rule #4 Closed minded people suck
June 27th Cell Sensor RF & ELF/EMF Meter Besides a recorder and a camera, the "must-have" ghost gadget is the EMF detector. When I die, if I find out that I can’t manipulate EMF, I’m gonna be pissed. Why? Cuz’ I’ve spent hours walking around taking base readings, staring at meters, and hundreds of dollars on various meters. But let’s assume that I will be an EMF affecting S.O.B. There are literally thousands of EMF detectors out there. Ok, maybe not thousands, but a lot! From cheap detectors that basically light up and say "Danger!" to expensive tri-field three axis meters that will measure a cat moving in the next room, the choices are plenty. Let’s focus on cheap and decent. The Cellsensor has been out for over 10 years now (Winner of the Design and Innovations Award - CES 1999!!). If budget is really key, I can sort-of recommend the Cellsensor. I can go into all sorts of explanations about EMF meters. But if you are visiting this site, well, you probably know as much as I do.
Field Tested- Using this on various investigations, yes, it found baseline sources of EMF like power in walls, electronics, etc. I now use it more as a stationary meter, putting it in view of a camera or within earshot of a recorder. I have to say that I have not had one anomaly using this unit.
Green Laser Grid Lasers for paranormal investigations have been used for some time now. They’re great to visually see the dust content in an area (“How can I have caught all these orbs, I didn’t see any dust?!”), can be used to light up an area quite a distance away, and with a little tinkering can be used as perimeter alarms to secure an area. They have also been used to detect the presence of shadow people or solid manifestations. Up until now, the only way to use the laser for shadow or manifestation detection was by watching for something to form in or break the lone solid beam. A matrix or grid could be built, but it required mirrors and tri-pods, etc. As lasers have become cheaper, especially the bright green lasers, so have their accessories such as diffraction gratings. The gratings allow the laser to be split or reflected into patterns, such as grids , fans, or columns, which allows for greater coverage of a room for detection. The only issue is that you needed to purchase the laser (approx. $80) and the gratings (approx. $15) separately, as well as build some type of mount for them. Thanks to Pararock Productions for offering a fantastic, cheap solution to this need! A quality laser pen with a pretty neat innovative stand. ***Caution must be exercised with lasers! Direct eye exposure can cause severe eye injury!*** http://pararockproductions.com/equipment.html Innovation= A+ Yes green lasers have been offered online now for years. And the diffraction gratings have recently been available too. Even the combo pens have been offered for about a year now. But offering the quality laser with a “how did they make that?!” stand is genious. Ease of use= A Simply slide the laser into the tri-pod, screw the clamp down and adjust the tripod legs to your liking. My laser came with a disclaimer NOT to use the screw to clamp down the laser’s button, although the acrylic mount has a notch on one side of it to accommodate the switch. I assume they have received complaints of broken switch from people who have turned the clamp too tight. They advise taping the switch. My two cents is only clamp it down tight enough to activate the switch and you should be good to go. Be aware that long term use will heat up the pen, as well as drain the batteries quickly. I have not used the pen for more than an hour at a stretch, and other than battery drain, the unit seems fine. Quality= B I give the pen a B because although it seems like a pretty solidly made unit, I don’t know the manufacturer and can’t vouch for it’s quality. Also, the tripod (although pretty interestingly designed) seems very fragile. Every time I move the legs I feel like they will break. Maybe it’s just me. Price= A The pen runs $32 for one and $12 for the tripod, about $45 with shipping. Consider I paid $85 for my first green laser, this is a steal. They offer bulk rate discounts too! Bench Tested- The unit is 14mm x 160mm, a little bigger than an ink pen. The seller claims that the laser is 534 nm <30mW, um . . . ok? So it falls somewhere greater than 0 mW and 29.9 mW?? All I can say is that if you screw the diffraction tip off of the laser, it is noticeably brighter than my $85 534nm 5mW laser (which irritates me for what I paid for it). The body is as solid as my higher priced pen. The unit runs on 2 AAA batteries. Sorry, I won’t sacrifice the unit by leaving it on until the battery dies for you to determine battery life (I did that once with a red laser and killed the diode). What I can say is after using it a few times for 30-60 minutes, like my other laser, the battery life does depreciate. As I stated the diffraction tip on the end is removable if you wish to use this as a straight up pointer. The tip rotates so that you can create a solid grid pattern on a wall. As you adjust the more lines are created, but the points get dimmer. I like keeping it the brightest as it still creates a grid of hundreds of points. From less than 10 feet away, you can cover an entire room. I blew out a candle on one side of the room and watched as the smoke visibly trailed through the grid. Pretty neat! Again, I cannot emphasize to take precautions with lasers. Either point them away from everyone, or ensure everyone is wearing protective eye wear. Field Tested- Although I have used my other green laser many times on investigations, I have not been able to use this device yet. If others have, please share and I will post. Bottom Line- For about $45, you cannot beat the deal on this gadget. If we are able to detect shadows or manifestations using laser grids, then this will make the job even easier. And if not, you still have a pretty neat toy! Have fun! PIR (Passive Infrared) Motion Detector Let’s say you want to secure a location if you leave for a bit. Or maybe you want to secure a room while you are in other rooms. You can obviously do this with multiple cameras (but who has that many), or you may secure doors with security tape ala Paranormal Cops. Or you can you use a cheap easy device known as a Passive Infrared Motion Detector or PIR for short. PIR’s can be thought of as a camera that takes a snapshot in it’s viewing range. If anything that has “mass” and a temperature different than the background surface moves in front of the field of view, it will trip the sensor. Most PIR’s are designed to either chime like a doorbell, or trigger a piercing alarm. Although PIR’s are designed so that small pets, or objects like curtains will not trigger the alarm, caution must be used in their placement around vents and windows. So why use these for Ghost Hunting? Well first, they are great for securing a room ensuring that it is not contaminated or compromised by humans. Second, although we have no evidence that Ghost reside in the infrared spectrum, or affect temperature, we have had instances where the PIR’s have triggered in areas that we have had activity. For more technical information see- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_infrared_sensor Innovation= B These have been around for years with little changes, and have been used for paranormal investigations for some time now. You can now get PIR’s that will monitor a 360º field, and can be set with a wireless key fob remote. Ease of use= B These are a set and turn on device. You either set them to chime or alarm and walk away. What keeps me from giving these an A is that caution must be exercised in their placement. Although air vents should not trigger the device (air has low emissity), the heat may warm objects that can trigger the sensor. Also, lights in windows such as the sun or headlamps can trigger the device. Quality= B Most of these are made over seas. Although they are decently made, because they are meant to be mounted, I would be careful not to drop them. Price= A For $15-20 bucks (even cheaper if you buy in quantity on eBay) these give a lot of bang for a buck. Bench Tested- The device itself is about 4”x2”x1” and weigh only a few ounces. They run off of either AA’s or 9v's and do not need replacement for many investigations. On a flat surface they will sit sturdily, or you may attach the bracket for more stability. Once turned on the unit will take 30 seconds to set. Once armed, anything entering the field of vision will trigger the alarm. Until that object leaves the field of view (usually 90º), the alarm will still be triggered. The sensitivity for most of these are listed as 50-100 feet, although I have found that they are most sensitive up to about 30 feet. Because these are cheap sensors, it is possible to sssslllllooooowwwwlllyyy sneak up on them. But any normal movement will trigger them. I have never had false alarms during my bench tests, even for hours at a time. Moving objects like curtains of items tossed in front of the PIR did not trigger the device. Field Tested- These have been around for awhile so why review them now? Well, I’m surprised how few groups use these cheap devices. My group likes to set up and leave for about an hour. Although I used to be against this (why waste good investigation time, right?), we have found that not only does this give the site time to settle, we have caught some great evidence during this time. Not only have we caught the sound of footsteps and doors closing, we’ve got voices and conversations. So how do we eliminate human contamination? We set up the PIR’s along with our cameras and digi’s. You can set these up near entrances to ensure no one has entered. On more than one investigation we have had the PIR’s trigger even though we have no evidence that any one entered. We have also caught movement on our digi’s even though the sensors did not trigger. During one investigation the chime went off multiple times in rapid sequence which is not possible. Also, during one investigation, we started asking provoking questions to only have the PIR’s go off in series as if something moved down the hall and to the bottom floor. Bottom Line- For about $60 you can get enough PIR’s to cover an entire house. Can ghost trigger these? Not sure. But what I can say, is that we have never had these trigger and not had any other activity. Even if not used for ghost hunting, they are worth the money to secure your site from contamination. OK, Say you’re at an investigation and your client reports the sound of walking or banging and you want to capture that on a geophone. Or maybe you suspect a low frequency rumble is the cause of reported feelings of uneasiness. Maybe you wish to test out the Singapore Theory and play back familiar sounds or even EVP’s to trigger activity. Or maybe you just need more historical data for a location. How about doing an entire client reveal on a device that fits in your pocket? Guess what? There’s an app for that! Before you ask what I'm smoking (which I don't), I promised I'd bring you gear not made for the paranormal, but pretty useful nonetheless. Ahead of the curve for Ghost Hunting, but a little behind on upgrading my dying Blackberry, I assimilated into the iPhone Nation recently. Although I won’t discuss/debate the actual phone quality of the device, I am left wondering what took me so long to get it. And yes, I consider this a pretty kick @$$Ghost Gadget. I'd post a pic of the iPhone, but Apple's attorneys are bigger than mine. Soundlevel- (free) This is a very basic visual based sound level meter. It monitors sound on what looks like stereo levels. The iPhone from what I have read does not record in stereo, but gosh golly, if you move the sound, the bars move differently (see picture above). Do the numbers correlate with dB? Not from what I could ascertain using an actual sound meter. The app also has three different displays. Sonogram, which shows a color bar in reference to the sound (useless). Mute, which works like an oscilloscope (neat), and FFT which actually displays where the sound is on the frequency spectrum, meaning a low sound spike to the left and a high sound spikes to the right (pretty cool). I think this is neat for ghost hunting as I can watch this and see if I pick up a sound on the meter and my recorder, but not with my ears. What’s better? Spotlighting a great gadget? Or one that also is going to help a great cause? Answer-BOTH! So you got a camcorder or camera with night shot and wish you had a better/stronger/lighter IR light? This edition of the GGG Gadget of the week is Creepy Hollow Gear’s Infrared Illuminator. The IR Illuminator Ver. 1 is not only a kick-@$$addition to any ghost hunter’s arsenal, but Paul Bradford of CHG and Ghost Hunters International is donating a portion of the proceeds to the Haiti Relief Fund. Way to go Paul!! I only own the Sony HVL-HIRL, but I have used HVL-IRM in the field and find their IR illumination similar. Comparison wise, the CHG IR light is as bright if not brighter than the Sony (see below). Coupled with the camera’s onboard IR Light, the CHG IR light does a fantastic job and doesn’t kill my Sony HD camcorder’s battery. Although heavier than the Sony, and needing an external bracket, the weight was barely noticed. I can vouch for the battery life. One 9v last beyond 10 hours. SONY Nightshot Only SONY HVL-IRL CHG IR Belfry shown with 1/8" output and optional LED It is theorized that spirits may communicate using Infra-sound (<20Hz) or Ultra-Sound (>20kHz). Although neither range is within the human hearing spectrum, these frequencies are not only able to be "sensed" by humans, but may be able to be captured by audio recordings as they are harmonically mux’d up or down. That being said, it is then possible for manmade sounds to give false positives that are captured as EVP evidence. Although Infra-sonic detectors are very expensive, Ultra-Sonic detectors by way of Bat Detectors are somewhat affordable. Professional meters range from $500 to several thousand dollars. I wanted to eliminate the possibility that manmade Ultra-sonic sounds contaminated an EVP, creating a false positive. So when I went looking for an affordable Bat Detector, it had to meet three criteria for the paranormal investigator. First, it had to detect sounds above 20kHz. Second, it had to built to take the abuse of field work. And last, it had to be affordable for the paranormal gadget junkie. What I found was the Belfry Bat Detector. A small handheld unit with recording outputs, as well as an LED visual. Lately, you may have seen a little wand/speaker device used on investigations. That item is an inductive amplifier. These devices are used primarily in the telecommunications and IT world for wire and cable tracing (usually with a tone generator) without having to make direct metallic contact with the conductor. These will also detect AC EMF (like a lamp or wires behind a wall) and make a distinctive 60hz buzz when detected. These will also detect EMF off of cell phones and DC powered devices that have a high EMF. These items are nice to not only identify manmade electric disturbances, but may be used to “hear” paranormal EMF fields where you know there is nothing electric near. Innovation= ? These have been used for telecom for years. Ghost hunters are just starting to realize their usefulness. November 30th, 2009 From the guy who brought you the controversial Paranormal Puck and the Ovilus, available now is the EM Pump, as seen on the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures. This device puts out a low level magnetic field, or as Bill calls it “a magnetic white noise.” The device produces an EM sweep from .1 to 34 Hz for 30 seconds, followed by a sweep from 64 to 128 Hz for 15 seconds, finishing with a 256 Hz for 1.5 seconds, and back again. During each sweep the lights change from green to blue to red. This in theory is supposed to act as a beacon or a trigger device. As seen on GA, when this is turned on “bad things start to happen!” Ok, not bad things, but activity either increased or “something” was attracted to the device and drained the battery multiple times. It was advised to keep EMF meters at least 12” away for “safety” sake, although the EMF strength at 6” is quite low.
Cell Sensor
For more information and to purchase-
Just Google Cellsenor. Prices very weekly.
Innovation= C+ Ok, it won an award in 1999 at the CES, but as far as lighting up the paranormal world (yes, I know it wasn’t designed for us ghosties), it’s like a new flavor of vanilla. I do like the fact that it measures both cellular RF, and ELF/EMF with one unit.
Ease of use= C Although I do like both probes, what’s the point of having one remote? I’ve seen folks put this on a stick and two feet ahead of the unit and I’m like "Why?" Frankly, I wrapped the chord around the unit and velcro’d it to the top of the unit.
Quality= B Made of ABS plastic, the unit feels solid, but I wouldn’t drop it.
Price= A The cheapest I found this device was $23.98 as of this writing. Some places are charging as much as $40.
Bench Tested- The meter itself weighs only a few ounces, even with the 9v battery. There is a volume control knob (volume is great!), an on-off switch, and a sensitivity switch. Stand alone without the probe, the meter is an RF meter measuring 0.1-1.0 mW/cm in normal mode and 1-10 in high. The unit will flash and beep depending on signal strength. This unit is designed for close distance measurement, and distance from the source will affect the measurement. By attaching the probe, the unit now measure ELF/EMF in a single axis. The meter reads in milliGauss, and reads 1-50 mg in normal mode, 1-5 in high sensitivity mode. Remember that EMF meters are frequency specific, and this unit is calibrated to 50/60Hz. When compared to other meters such as the tri-field, the MEL 8704, the 822-A, and the KII, the Cellsensor proved itself pretty sensitive. What I liked is that even if the EMF source increased in such a small amount that the meter barely moved, the light and the beeper sounded. The meter is too jumpy to take a specific reading though. I’ve used the same 9v battery for the last year, so this is not a power hog.
More info from manual-
Bottom Line- For a cheap sensitive unit, this is OK. If I had to spend the $$again, I probably would have just got the Ghostmeter from the same company. It’s cheaper, and serves the same purpose. I do like it’s sensitivity, but I rely on much more solid meters to serve this purpose. Save your money, get a tri-field.
PWS-1000TD
PWS-1000TD Professional Weather Station with Data Logging
Even since the days of Harry Price, Ghost Hunters have observed a change in environmental factors such as temperature, pressure, wind, etc. when paranormal activity has occurred. From both cold and warm spots, to an observed rise in pressure associated with headaches and anxiety, to known correlations between extreme variations in humidity and it’s effects on people, pets, and electronics-our ability to measure and track these data points during our investigations is key to either corroborating paranormal activity, or by documenting sources which may be causing perceived paranormal activity.
I spent a long time looking for an economical unit which would not only measure temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure, but track and graph that data as well. I found many that would handle temperature and humidity, but not pressure. I found some that do all three, but not data log. Most I found that would do all three and data log were hundreds of dollars. Then one day I spoke the Gary Galka, President of Pro-Measure and inventor of the now famous MEL meter who said "Hey, Michael, I’ve got just the thing!" The PWS-1000TD not only measures all three data points (and wind speed/direction and rain fall) but will transmit every 48 seconds and store up to 4080 readings. It also includes some great software for immediate display and future analysis. Pro-Measure has several units, and a basic stripped down version may be found at Creepy Hollow Gear.
For more information and to purchase-
http://www.pro-measure.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=PWS%2D1000TD
http://www.creepyhollowgear.com
Innovation= A You will not find a unit that will do all of this for this price. I know, I tried. Is this unit rocket science? No, but it does a lot. And although not specifically made for the paranormal community, it has everything we need.
Ease of use= C or B depending if you’re not an idiot like me! I admit, I jump in headfirst before reading directions. The units operation itself is pretty basic. But you do need to read the directions and learn how to correctly set it up. Otherwise you will either not retain, or worse, lose all of your data. Which I did. Twice! Grrrrr.
Quality= A This is a well made unit. The display tablet is pretty sturdy, although caution should be exercised with the touch screen. The other parts are made of weather resistant plastic and pretty solid as well. I see years of use with this unit. Price= B The 1000TD runs $159 from Pro-Measure, and $99 for the stripped down unit from Creepy Hollow. Can you find it cheaper on eBay? Probably, but because Gary and Paul will price match, I’d kick the $$to our peers. Do you need the deluxe version with the wind indicator? How much is an anemometer and do you want to track all the data in one package? Your choice.
Bench Tested- The base station 9" x 5.75" x 1.25", about the size of book. The thermo-hygro transmitter., which is about the size of a large Snickers bar, slides into a protective housing, but can be used without it if not requiring wind speed. If you use the whole unit, you will need to add a tri-pod or base of some sort to stand up the transmittor. The base take 3 AA’s and transmitter 2 AA’s. The manufacturer claims 1-2 years life on the batteries, that’s with non-stop usage. Once I read the instructions, the unit is fairly simple to control via the touch screen or connect via PC. You will have to connect it via PC if you wish to set the sample rate to the lowest interval (about 1 minute). You will have to set this up every time you replace the batteries, but the whole process takes less than 5 minutes (once you know what you are doing). Both the base and transmitter reactions times are almost immediate. The transmitter transmits every 48 seconds so there may be a slight delay between a variance and recording. I compared the accuracy of the readings with other temperature meters and barometers and found the 1000TD to be accurate to +/- 1 degree. Also, I did find there to be about a 1-2 degree difference between the base and the transmitter. Note that the base only the base measures relative pressure, not the transmitter. The manufacturer claims a 300ft line of site distance between the base and the transmitter, but I was able to use the transmitter in a second floor room, with the base all the way in the basement no problem. You may either use the base to data log and dump to a PC later, or you may hook it up to a PC for immediate display. The base connects to your PC via USB and the software provide is not only kick @$$, but very user friendly. You may also dump the data to a spreadsheet or via jpg for display (see example below). Also, the base is green backlit for easy reading in the dark.
Remote Temperature Pressure Humidity
Field Tested- I have used this unit for several investigations now. At the very least it provided baseline settings for two separate rooms. The base was kept at our monitoring station, and the remote unit was placed at various hotspots. I admit, on the first investigation, I didn’t know what I was doing and lost all the data captured (again, read the manual). The unit was sensitive enough to capture when the investigators were in the room as the temperature did raise slightly. On the second investigation, we did capture an anomaly. At the same time activity was starting to occur, the hallway we were in dropped about 8 degrees. This was validated by our MEL meters at the time. The remote unit was in the bedroom next to us. At the EXACT same time we felt the cold spot form in the hall, the temperature in the bedroom increased, the pressure increased, and the humidity fell sharply. Although this was during the winter, no one opened any doors at that time, nor did the furnace kick on or off. Was this proof that whatever was manifesting, was also affecting it’s environment physically?
Bottom Line- If you’re like me and want to capture as much data as possible during an investigation, than you can’t go wrong with this unit. Rock solid construction that will give you years of use, and pretty neat software, this makes for a great ghost gadget!
Laser Pen with adjustable grid
Tripod
PIR
PIR
iSeismo
SoundLevel
Innovation= A Let’s face it folks. There is nothing out there like it. The Droid and others are making strides, but the apps for the iPhone out number the competitors 10-1. And I have a feeling we have yet to see everything this piece of gear can do. Even Bill Chappell of Digital Dowsing has created 3 apps with I’m sure more to come.
Ease of use= B- The iPhone is very intuitive, and most apps are smartly built around that. But, maybe it’s my fat fingers or the fact that I keep hitting the home button that keep closing things out when I’m right in the middle of them. Seriously, many apps are seamlessly integrated into the features of the phone like sending a report/pic via email, or triggering alarms or the camera. Pretty basic, but too easy to exit out of apps while in use.
Quality= B OK, I bought a pretty solid Skullcandy shell for the phone and Apple makes a solid product. That being said, this is not a tank and I have seen many a screen cracked from dropping. Also, the fact that the battery is built in and cannot be swapped out sucks.
Price= B+ Considering that the iPhone cost less than a laptop, is more compact than a netbook, and gives you more bank for your buck than a Blackberry, it’s not a bad deal. I paid $199 for a 16gig 3GS. Consider that a geophone will run you $50-100 bucks (app is free), a semi-decent digital recorder is $50+, a cheap digital camera and a video camera at least a couple hundred, etc. etc. I haven’t even touched on the netsurfing features (which it does faster than my DSL at home).
Bench Tested- I’m only going to discuss some neat apps I found for the iPhone that I consider pretty useful for paranormal investigations.
iSeismo- (free) This app kicks @$$!! The iPhone has a very sensitive three axis accelerometer built into it. That means it detects any movement of the device on an XYZ axis. Simply start the app and it starts working like seismometer (see picture above). You visually see any movement to the device or vibrations very clearly on the screen. Also, very neat feature, you can set the alarm and the app will set itself, and once any movement is detected it will sound an alarm. You can also send the data to yourself via email. But to be honest, the data is very cryptic.
For more info go to http://iphone.objectgraph.com/iseismometer/
SpyCam- ($0.99)This is a motion, sound, or both triggered camera. With both sound or movement, this is pretty sensitive. Once it’s set and triggered, it keeps snapping pictures until either the motion or sound subsides. This is not a drop and leave app since it will snap pics about every two seconds. But I can imagine using this during an EVP session to see if something can trigger it. Video would make this even better.
Metal Detector- ($0.99) I have no clue how this works, but it does. The closer you get to metal, this thing goes off. Is it like an EMF meter? No idea, but it would be another tool in our arsenal.
Field Tested- Honestly, I have only used this on one investigation so far. But, I certainly got a lot of use out of it. This was a return visit to the client. Although a final reveal was pending, I was able to play some VERY clear EVP’s we captured (using my Olympus). Since the iPhone’s speaker is geared towards human speech, the EVP was even more clear than on headphones. I also was able to display some pics and video to the client from past investigations. I did test the iSeismo app was able to visually see a teammate walking on the old creaky floor of the location we were at. We also used the audio playback to replay past EVP’s caught at the location to see if it would trigger any activity (it didn’t, sigh). And before you ask, yes, I set this iPhone into airplane mode which turns off the transmitter which can affect recorders and EMF meters. Last, I was able to google some historical info to validate a question we had about the location.
Bottom Line- I know you’re saying the Ghost Gadget Guy has lost it. But I am really excited about the potential this device has for paranormal investigations. I’m sure there are plenty more apps out there I haven’t found yet, or are in creation. I’d like to see a shadow detector using the iPhone’s light and proximity sensor. A video spycam would rock. Give me a way to datalog all my devices right to the iPhone and then send them anywhere or monitor them from anywhere. Bottom line, Apple has always made a good product. I have to admit I am excited about the upcoming iPad and it’s larger screen. My advice, if it’s time to upgrade your phone and you are a ghost gadget geek, you could blow your money on more useless toys. I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments!
IR Illuminator Ver. 1
Haiti Relief Special Edition
http://www.creepyhollowgear.com
Innovation= A Paul continues to not only produce cutting edge gear, but nuts and bolts products that help further our field of study.
Ease of use= A Turn it on and go. You may need an external bracket to add to your camera to mount the unit depending on your camera.
Quality= A- The case is made of good ABS kit plastic, and the components are all quality parts. I would not call the unit fragile, but I probably would not be dropping this as the LED’s are not recessed. Also, due to the location of the switch, like others I have inadvertently switched on the light while it was in my case. Others have changed the location of the switch, or used a less obtrusive switch which does the trick. I simply modified my case to accommodate the switch.
Price= A+++ Free, yes you read that right! Paul provides the schematics right on his site if you wish to purchase the materials and build it yourself. Don’t have a Radio Shack nearby? Then you can buy the guts for $28+S&H and do it yourself, or buy the unit pre-made for $35+S&H. Considering that the El-Cheapo Big Box IR lights that die after about an hour run $45-$80, and the Sony HVL-HIRL & HVL-IRM (although well made) cost $99+S&H+Tax, this is a STEAL!!
Bench Tested- The unit itself is H 3.25" x W 1.75" x D 2" and weighs about 2oz without the battery, and about 4.75oz with. This makes the light heavier than the Sony’s, but keep in mind it’s a larger unit and it has it’s own battery (which means it’s not sucking the life out of your camera!!). Speaking of the battery, these will run 10+ hours on a single battery. That Rocks! The design consists of four 850 nm external IR LED’s, one toggle type switch, a standard hot-shoe mount, and an external 9v battery housing. The viewing angle of the LED’s is listed at 30 degrees with a range of about 35 feet.
SONY HDR-SR11 10.2mp at 20 feet
Field Tested- Let me say first that the battery life is great. The CHG IR light lasted for two investigations before dying. One of my co-investigators used her IR light for over 10 hours straight without fail. CHG’s just seemed brighter than the Sony. Maybe it was the widened viewing angle, but I didn’t seem to have that tunnel vision I have with my Sony, especially in closer quarters.
Bottom Line-Creepy Hollow Gear’s motto is "By Ghost Hunters For Ghost Hunters." This IR light certainly had that in mind. A good quality, well made, affordable light. If you were not familiar with Paul Bradford and his site before, his gear and his forum are great sources for every paranormal investigator out there! Thanks Paul and safe travels on GHI!
Belfry Bat Detector
http://www.econvergence.net/batdet.htm
Innovation= B from what I found so far, there is nothing this cheap that will handle this function.
Ease of use= B Again, this is simply a turn it on and stand back device. No tuning is required and the mic is omni-directional.
Quality= C+ Although the case is made of good quality kit plastic, the toggle switch and speaker have a somewhat cheap look and feel to them. I do not wish to determine if this will take a fall and will need to ensure it is on a solid surface and laying flat when used.
Price= C+ $65 for basic unit to $85 for the unit with 1/8" output and yellow LED indicator.
Bench Tested- Although this works exactly as promised (and even demonstrated on their site) I guess I expected more. When the unit is turned on, it will "click" as it detects sounds above 20kHz. Jingling keys that would have harmonics in that range produced a plethora of clicks. So did turning on the TV, the vacuum, and all sorts of stuff. No wonder our pets run when this stuff is turned on. On a more scientific test, I mux’d up a test tone above 20kHz and cranked it out of a high power piezo tweeter. The detector clicked like a geiger counter. When I raised the pitch of a human recording above 20 kHz, I got the same-lots of clicks. I guess I expected the unit to convert the frequency to a range we could hear. There are units out there that will do this. But for the cost of the Belfry, it did detect the ultra-sonic sound as promised, as well as give an audible and visual cue. Lastly, I conducted the same experiment, this time recording with my Olympus and Zoom H2. Neither recorders caught the ultra-sonic sound, or at least from what I could hear (LOL). This operates on 1 9v battery and ran for hours.
Field Tested- First, let say this thing does detect bats. I received this unit late summer and on a hot humid, mosquito infested night, I turned this on outside. I wasn’t surprised as I could see the bats shuffle through the night sky. What I was surprised was the amount I could hear. Again, the Belfry clicked away. On the Ghost front. I used this on both an outdoor and indoor investigation. During the indoor investigation, the Belfry did record several clicks through the night, but none were in concert with any EVP session questions, nor did they coincide with any EVP’s captured. I did have an interesting thing happen during the outdoor investigation. At the same time the Belfry was clicking, the Tri-field Natural EM’s needle was jumping (sum mode) at the same time as the clicks on the Belfry. This happened for a period of about 30 seconds and then stopped. It did not happen again for the duration of the investigation. I have no rational explanation for this. If you do, please contact me.
Bottom Line- The unit performed as described and for the bat enthusiast, the Belfry is a bargain. The jury is still out on whether Ultra-Sounds may explain some EVP’s, but I hope to find a correlation with this device. Stay tuned . . .
Inductive Amplifier Front
Back
Ease of use= A- Simply press the button. Would be better to add an on/off toggle (which I did).
Quality= A The tool warehouses build these for techs to drop and abuse. I have had mine for 15 years and it’s still in great condition.
Price= B+ $60-80 A little pricey for a spur of the moment purchase, but you will get a lot of use out of this in and out of paranormal investigations. One of the good manufacturers out there is Progressive Electronics.
Bench Tested- These consist of a battery, a speaker, a pushbutton, a circuit board and a tip sensor (usually metal or plastic coated), pretty basic. I added a switch from RS for under $2. This allows the unit to be left on. These will easily pick up EMF and electrical signals from up to two feet away depending on the strength of the field. You can easily trace out electric behind walls. Got an EMF spike with no outlet/or switch near? This will let you hear the 60hz AC hum. You can even pick up the EMF off of a poorly grounded water pipe. For the experimental side, if you pick up a high EMF field on your meter, but the amplifier stays silent, you may have something. Also, theorist out there say that spirits may speak via EMF. This may pick that up. I just wish I could build a more sensitive version.
Field Tested- On the debunking side, I have found many an EMF source from electrical wiring where there wasn’t supposed to be one. At one location, the homeowner claimed to get creeped out on the stairs, and past investigators noticed a high EMF spike up and down the stairs. Well, as it turned out, there was a hidden electric run behind the stair wall giving off over 5mg. On the experimental side, this was used at a location where I was picking up strange clicks on my recorder. There were no electrical sources anywhere near, and my Tri-field EM was not picking up electrical or radio waves. When I turned on the amplifier and let it sit, it too was getting some strange pops. These were not in conjunction with any questions asked. I wouldn’t say paranormal yet, just unidentifiable.
Bottom Line- These are nice to have. Not only to corroborate manmade electrical fields, but may be a new gadget to allow us to sense or communicate with sprits.
The EM Pump by Bill Chappell of DigitalDowsing.com
EM Pump in action
EM Pump
Innovation= A Bill is cutting edge. Nothing else out there like it.
Ease of use= A Simply turn it on.
Quality= A Bill products are built like a brick outhouse. Made of heavy duty plastic and laser stenciled, this will take some abuse.
Price= C+ $69. I understand Bill makes his items small batch and by himself (he is not doing this to get rich folks!), but I have to wonder the cost of the circuits involved. Could it be smaller and cheaper, or slightly more powerful for the cost?
Bench Tested- This works exactly as promised-turn it on and it starts pumping away. The LED is very bright and will be seen quite far in a dark room. I’m not sure what I expected, but I did use caution when I turned this on and kept my EMF meters a good distance away (like 5 feet). I used a Tri-field Natural EM, a MEL-8704, a KII, and a Cell-sensor all at the same time from equal distances to see the effect. As the units got closer, you started to watch the needles (or lights or digits) pulsate with the EM Pump’s sweep. It was interesting to see how each was affected not only at what range, but at what frequency as well. Surprisingly, the cell-sensor was as sensitive as the much more expensive Tri-Field meter. No meter registered from more three feet, and at 12” the field was still quite low. I wasn’t about to sacrifice my Tri-Field, but with the KII I figured what the heck and set it right next to the EM Pump. Well, the KII lit up like a Christmas tree as expected and didn’t start to smoke. For science sake I threw caution to the wind and did the unthinkable! I placed the EM Pump on my head and waited to see God. Although His Holiness did not appear, I remembered where I lost the remote control earlier in the day. Coincidence? Seriously, this does what it says. Bill Chappell is an innovator in our field and is always thinking outside the box. If this will act as a beacon for spirits, I just wished it was more like a floodlight than a flashlight. This operates on 1 9v battery and ran for hours.
Field Tested- Well . . . . call it a coincidence, but apparently the flashlight was all that was needed, even on a bright afternoon. In a famous haunted locale outside of Chicago, I turned on the pump after not getting any activity for more than an hour. Coincidence or not, not only were two EVP’s captured shortly after, but a branch began to bounce by itself while there was little wind, and no other branches moving at the time. This could not be explained or duplicated, but did occur AFTER the EM Pump was turned on. Stay tuned for further field updates.
Bottom Line- Once again, you can expect great new products from Digital Dowsing and Bill Chappell. The EM Pump is a new gadget for us out there and I expect to see some interesting field reports from all of you!
November 16th, 2009
The E-pod by Gary Galka President of DAS Distribution & Pro-Measure.com
May 21stApril 13th May 21stApril 13th
April 13th
 E-pod |
 E-pod in action |
From Creepyhollowgear.com (the only current supplier)-The E-field feature has been designed to assist a Paranormal Investigator make an informed decision based on EMF and Electro-Static evidence collected during an investigation. When you are performing your investigation, team members will often refer to the hair standing up on their arms or the back of their neck. This added feature can help to detect this invisible E-field that causes this condition. The colored LED (red, blue, or white)of the E-Pod will remain ON and as a charged object slowly approaches the Pod, the colored LED will begin to dim in relationship to the e-field strength and proximity to the static source. Eventually the LED will go off when the charge is within a few inches of the Pod. The colored LED light will slowly come back on again when the charged object moves away from the e-field. Innovation= A Nothing else out there like it.
Here's a video of Gary demonstrating the E-pod
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vxnSUgaan8
Ease of use= B+ OK, this is a turn on and monitor device, but see Bench Test.
Quality= B- This first batch are more like prototypes. Crude but effective.
Price= B $45 or $150 for a four pack.
Bench Tested- OK, flick of the switch and go right? Well, not really. The e-pod (my understanding) will only light when in a positive state. Meaning, when you turn it on it may or may not be lit. If lit for example, moving a negative charge near it will dim the light (I used the old hair rubbed balloon trick). Boy, did the light start to dim as it got closer-from even around 4 feet away. Problem is some of the e-pods (I ordered 4) do not start out lit. I assume if I moved a positive charge toward them they would light. Sometimes I could get them to light and stay lit, but it was tricky. I spoke to Gary at length this week and the bottom line is you want to track change. These will be great to line up or use as a grid and monitor visually or with a camera. Oh, and the middle resin glows in the dark so you won't trip on the non-lighted ones. These operate on 1 9v battery.
Field Tested- Not yet.
Bottom Line- For a completely new product, these things are neat. We've got EMF meters galore out there, but this is a cheap easy way to potentially measure the presence or movement of ghost. Great Gadget Gary!!