Eqipment
Below is a list of the equipment that we use and a brief discription of each. We are a small self funded, non profit group, so you will not see a long list of fancy equipment. However, I have found over the years that the best tools I use are an open mind, a heathy dose of skeptisism, a notebook and a digital voice recorder.
Mel Meter
Mel Meter 8704-R with IR safe Red Backlight Display is Designed Exclusively For Paranormal Investigators. It operates from ELF Range down to 30Hz.This is 20Hz lower than the KII. Custom Dual Display Correlates EMF & Temperature Cold Spots Simultaneously. Measurement Ranges are: 20, 200, 2000 uTesla 200, 2000, 20,000 mGauss. This is one of my favorate pieces of equipment becasue of the convieniance of it. If you have ever walked around somewhere in the dark with a camcorder, flashlight, EMF meter and digital recorder all in your hands you will appreciate the idea of having a few of those things combined into one unit. This measures ambiant temperature, EMF fields, and has a built in flashlight.
K-II Meter
Electromagnetic fields, or EMFs, are emitted by electrical devices of all types. EMFs are everywhere, originating from appliances, cell phones, electrical wiring, and even the human body. The K-II EMF Meter helps measure these fields to identify appliances that produce high-level emissions, allowing users to make informed decisions about limiting exposure. More on that later. The K-II reports EMF measurements in five milliGauss ranges. Instantaneous response to EMF fluctuations & spikes. Accuracy of 5% at 50-60 HzDetects ELF range (50 to 1,000 Hz) & VLF range (1,000 to 20,000 Hz).
EMF Meter
The Ghost Meter has been calibrated to ignore the extremely subtle EMF emissions surrounding the human body, yet is still sensitive enough to detect the small, distinct, erratic EMF energy fluctuations frequently found at reputed haunted locations. The Ghost Meter provides three corroborating indicators of EMF emission strength. A needle based display, LED lights, and an adjustable audio signal. The response time of this meter is excellent, easily outperforming more expensive EMF meters. It can also be operated in silent mode so it doesn't interfere with EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) recordings or distract other investigators during an investigation.
Digital Voice Recorder
Most of the evidence collected will probably come from this single device. We have several different ones from sony, olympus, and coby all of which have given us outstanding results. We use these to record notes and data and also to capture EVPs. What is EVP? Electronic Voice Phenomenon, and the simpliest explanation I have is that it is electronically generated sounds, not heard by the naked ear, that are imprinted on a recording device. Almost anything that records sound can record an EVP, a cell phone, a camcorder, an MP3 player, a tape recorder, etc. I'll do a more indepth explanation of the phenomenon at a later time.
Sony Nightshot Camcorder
I like this particular model because it has a built in hard drive and I don't have to constantly change out tapes or DVD's. It has a large enough memory for up to 8 hours of investigation and an expansion slot to add more memory just in case. I also have one 8 hour battery and two 6 hour batteries for backup, because you always need extra batteries. It has an amazing Ifrared range and it's nightshot is one of the clearest ones I've used.
Infrared Illuminator
This is an IR illuminator. This basically extends the range of the Infrared light on your nightshot camcorder. I like this model becasue it's smaller and easier to carry. It will illuminate an entire room in conjunction with your night vision camera. However because of it's portable size, it's field of vision is limited when outside. What is infrared? Infrared is used in night vision equipment when there is insufficient visiable light to see. Night vision devices operate through a process involving the conversion of ambient light photons into electrons which are then amplified by a chemical and electrical process and then converted back into visible light. Infrared light sources can be used to augment the available ambient light for conversion by night vision devices, increasing in-the-dark visibility without actually using a visible light source.