9 replies to this topic

[Joven76]

Now onto my next piece of investigation equipment... I've seen some of you mention here that you utilize motion sensors and lights during your investigations... I've also seen the popular TV shows utilizing this as well...

I am really curious about this new piece of equipment and have been doing some research, but would like to get some help from some of you who have this in your "arsenal"...

What I would like to get is something that triggers a light and an audible alarm... However most of the ones I've found, the audible alarm is way too loud for a residential investigation... I've also seen ones for like door alarms when someone walks into a store... I thought these would be good, however having 4 or 5 set up in different areas would cause some confusion... So that's why I thought of having a light go off as well so we can see what room it was in...

I would like to know what you use, how do you use it, and have you had some success with it???

Thanks you for your help....

Christopher

[angrycelt]

My group is looking into this as well. It is a learning curve, however and I will advise you of our success or lack thereof when I have enough good data to do so.

The do seem like a good idea. Certainly can assist in providing an explanation when used in tandem with video.

[C_Tanner]

My group is looking into this as well. It is a learning curve, however and I will advise you of our success or lack thereof when I have enough good data to do so.

The do seem like a good idea. Certainly can assist in providing an explanation when used in tandem with video.

Take a look at Wal Mart (or Meijer if you have one in yor area). You'll find the low-cost, portable ones in the same aisle where the doorknobs and locks are. Avg price is $12.00 a piece. I have also found one with no alarm but activates a soft light. I use this in rooms where i have stationary, remote video set up AND I need to keep it quiet (such as kids sleeping or what not).

People are split on whether or not ghosts can activate them. Based on my experience I would say "sometimes." I think when some entities are manifested just enough they can set them off...just like people have seen, on occasion, a laser beam stopping in mid air. (Which is why I also use laser levels to project a horizontal line in all my video cams.) You can get thhe ones I use at Wal Mart in the tool ailse. It's a cool idea I'm trying to spread around...could make for some compelling evidence. You can read about THAT HERE

[Joven76]

Wow C_Tanner... I just finished reading the other forum... That's a great idea and will definately try this on our investigation tonight ...

I do want to say that I think I may have found something rather useful as far as motion sensors go... Check out this link: Sky Link Motion Sensor

It's pretty interesting... You put a sensor somewhere in the house, and place the monitor at "home base"... When the sensor goes off, it will make the monitor box chime and an indicator light will light up showing which sensor it was... You can link up to 4 sensors per monitoring station... This way, if you have a camera in the room, you won't disturb anything with loud noises or lights comming on in the room...

I'm still conducting research on motion sensors and will keep everyone up to date with what I find out...

[Joven76]

Well nuts... I went home to get my laser level and it doesn't send out the beam, it has to be mounted on the wall so it didn't work very well... I'm going to check craigslist to see if I can find a better one...

Christopher

[TheresaRHPS]

I don't have any specific models in mind, but here's a copy and paste from a post I made on the TAPS 18+ board about the issue of whether or not an entity would set off an alarm:

Yes...I think an entity can set off a motion sensor, which it can go about by two ways. The first being...actually triggering it.

Some motion sensors detect mass...usually 30lbs or so (think of the cameras that hunters use out in the woods). Those would probably NOT be useful in detecting paranormal occurances, but could be useful in areas where you think there is possible tampering or trespassing going on.

Then you get into the Passive vs. Active systems.

Passive systems use infrared technology, and the motion sensors in this category that are generally available on the market are designed to pick up the temperatures of a normal human body...again, probably not too useful in ghost hunting. However, should and entity be giving off a significant heat signature close to that of a human body, then perhaps it would trigger.

If anything, active systems are probably your best bet, but I would also imagine they're the most impractical and expensive to set up. Active sensors inject some form of energy, whether it be light,sound, or microwaves in an effort to detect some type of change.

This site and the accompanying links can probably explain things much more elegantly, and more importantly, much more acurately than I can, lol. This site also talks about how to get AROUND these types of alarms, hehe.

http://computer.hows...question238.htm

The second way a spook can set off the motion sensor is to somehow physically or telepathically manipulate the inner workings itself. If they can turn on TVs, stereos, and other electronics, why couldn't they screw around with a motion sensor...especially a simple one that MOST investigators who use a motion sensor own.

[Joven76]

I've decided to take the plunge and buy a test system... If you want to take a look at what I'm buying check out the link below...

Homealert Security Demo

This is a pretty cool demo... Just click on each sensor to see how the monitoring station works...

I've read a lot of good reviews about them... They're wireless and the monitoring station is not that loud... Perfect for an indoor investigation... Loud enough to hear from another room, but no so loud you wake up the neighbors... You can connect up to 4 different sensors to it... I just got the monitoring station and 2 motion sensors for now... I will be getting another motion sensor and possibly a door alarm later...

I'm going on an investigation this weekend so I'll be taking this system with me... Oh yea... I also found a laser level that broadcasts a + on the wall that I will be taking as well... I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes...

Christopher

[CASEY WELLS]

curious to see how it worked

[Joven76]

Well, the investigation was last night and the sensors worked really well... We set them up in 2 rooms and every time someone entered the room, it went off... It was loud enough for us to hear the alert if we were on the different floor, but wasn't so loud that it disturbed the sleeping children upstairs...

Everytime it went off, we had to make sure someone was in the room... There was one time that everyone was downstairs in the living room when I heard the alarm going off... The alarm was in the master bedroom which was upstairs... When we got up there, the kids were still in their bed...

We all ran up stairs to see what was going on... We also had the laser + on the wall along with a camera so hopefully the camera caught something...

But this is a nice little system and would recommend it to anyone who wants to use something for investigations...

Edited by Joven76, 19 March 2008 - 09:58 PM.

[CaveRat2]

These detectors serve a purpose, but capturing ghosts isn't one of them. As you found out they will false alarm on occassion , likely due to temperature gradiants. But most often some ONE sets them off. thus their primary purpose; to keep the investigation honest. If someone tries to sneak in and disturb something they will get caught. Detectors will also alarm if animals enter the area, thus you may be warned if other findings may be compromised along athe way. But ghost detectors? Nope.