Post by Melissa on Oct 5, 2007 13:27:02 GMT -5
Here is a really good article I found on GhostStudy (it's a little long)
Equipment on a budget
We see a LOT of questions about how to go about getting/finding equipment on here, and this will be my first attempt at explaining how I did so myself. I don't have a large surplus of money to toss away buying ghost hunting gear, but I made a plan to do so and I am one of the two best equipped people on my team. Here's how:
STEP ONE:
MAKE A BUDGET
You need to be realistic about what you have to spend. How much can you afford to buy? Break it down by payday how much you have available. You'll be surprised to find you don't need that much.
STEP TWO:
MAKE A LIST OF WHAT YOU CURRENTLY HAVE
Before you go buying stuff, tear your house apart for what you may already have to put in your "Ghost Hunters Kit." There are TONS of miscellaneous household items you might already have that will be useful. Some examples:
* Extension cords and 3-prong adaptors
* A small box of sorts for spare batteries
* Flashlights and battery powered camping lanterns
* A small duffel, large camera bag, or large plastic Toolbox with nut/bolt organizer
* Masking tape, string, and Rubber bands (I use these a LOT)
* Pens and small notebooks
Some specific items most people may already have are:
* Digital Camera
* FRS Walkie-Talkies
* Tape Recorder
* Camcorder
* A set of Stereo Headphones
* A hard-drive MP# player that doubles as a USB mass storage device
Even if you don't have the "In" camcorder or digital camera...make do with what you have at first until you round out your inventory. THEN worry about upgrades.
STEP THREE:
MAKE A LIST OF WHAT YOU N-E-E-D
Notice I typed "Need" a little funny? I did that because you don't NEED an IR Thermometer gun. They are extra luxury items, and far inferior in use to a good Thermocouple Thermometer. Now...instead of trying to wrap your brain around what specific items you need to get, I want you to instead do this:
What do I need to measure or record?
Well, we know there are several main things we all need. We need Video, Photographic, Audio, Environmental, and Analytical equipment. There are the main 5 categories we will focus on. Environmental would include EMF readings, Temperature readings, Wind speed, humidity, etc....Analytical would be mostly computer programs, which I will touch on in a minute.
So we KNOW we need to: Record video, Record audio (for EVPS), Check EMFs, Check Temperatures, and take pictures to start out. So as we purchase equipment, we need to do it in an order that checks off all these categories.
STEP FOUR:
COLLECT ALL THE FREE STUFF FIRST!
One of your biggest and most central tools will be your PC or Laptop. I know you have one, or you aren't reading this. So lets go collect all the free stuff first! I'm not going to hyperlink stuff, I want you to find it because you need to know how. The #1 tool I use for this is simply:
www.google.com (your new best friend)
For picture analysis, go find a free program called EXIF READER and download it. For Audio, you can go find AUDACITY...or if you wish to brave the adware, go to KAZAA and find the COOL PRO 2.0 program with all the registration keys. That’s how I found mine. Once you have it, save all your software on a USB FLASH DRIVE. You can get 128mb for $19 or less at most stores. This too, will go in your kit.
Download GHOST WEATHER. www.wvghosts.com/software.php
Also, your computer is the gateway to the information superhighway. Utilize it! Reorganize your favorites into folders and sub-folders to bookmark the pages where you find the best equipment deals. This will save you time later. Also bookmark the best WebPages to learn the basics of ghost hunting. Other than the Ghost study page, the AGS (American Ghost Society) website and The Shadow lands website are both top sources of information. They've been around a long time, and that’s where I taught myself the basics.
STEP FIVE:
MASTER USING GOOGLE, FROOGLE, and EBAY!
There three are THE main sources I have used to find all my equipment. You should already know Google, and Froogle is a selection you find on the top of the Google page. It is used to search for PRODUCTS and then sort your search by lowest price. One drawback is when you use "Lowest Price" for say...a Sony Camcorder, you will usually find $5.00 power cords first. So you will need to sort through those.
The main key here is THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX when coming up with your search terms. You will find different results between the terms of "EMF METER", "EMF DETECTOR", "AC FIELD METER" "DC EMF DETCTOR" ...and so on. So you NEED to try and use as many different words in your searches as possible, to maximize your results. This is especially important on EBay.
Also, there are many, many equipment suppliers out there, whose sponsored links will appear on the right hand side of a google search result. Click on them and check them out. Sometimes you will find new things to search for.
If you DO find a new piece of equipment on a random site that looks good...don't stop there. Copy the equipment name and model number, then paste it into a Froogle/Ebay search for new search results. That’s how you filter down to finding the best price for an item. Another good tip: When you find the best FOUR prices for an item....check/calculate the shipping for each distributor. Sometimes the lowest list price is NOT the lowest price once you add in SHIPPING!
STEP SIX:
DON'T FORGET WAL*MART!!
Wal*Mart? Are you kidding? No, I am not. I got my Sony Hi-8 camcorder at Wal-Mart. It was on sale for $198.00....and I didn't have the money on me. I don't use many credit cards, and WAL MART is one of the last great outlets that use....LAYAWAY. I put $30 down on the camcorder, and made the commitment to buy. I paid it off in a month, and then I had it. Had I waited till I had an extra $200 to buy it all at once, I might have waited longer to get it. Wal Mart is also a good cheap source for Hi-8/8mm tapes. Also, look in your Sunday ads...I commonly find 3 or 4-packs of 8mm tapes at places like Walgreens or CVS Pharmacy for under $10.
STEP SEVEN:
ALWAYS BE ON THE LOOKOUT!
There are TONS of miscellaneous items you can use for ghost hunting that you will come across everyday. I was in Wal-Mart earlier today and saw a mini-tripod for $4.00. I bought it to throw in my bag. I was in Target in "The Dollar Spot" and saw compasses for $0.99. Grabbed one to throw in the case. Also grabbed two hard shell eyeglasses cases...one to hold and protect my thermocouple and one to protect my digital recorder. Total money spent: $3.00. The bag of many-sized rubber bands I bought for $0.33 at Marcs got all my cords, chargers, and extensions nicely wrapped in my case. I saw a two-pack of 3-mile range walkie-talkies at Wal Mart for $15.00. An aluminum equipment case (pictured at the bottom) found at Harbor Freight tools? $14.00 on sale.
STEP EIGHT:
OPEN BOX RETURNS!
Coax cable? Not always cheap. I once found 400 feet of it for $50 from a guy at Radio Shack because they were open box returns. With Radio Shack, all the stores in one city will generally send them to one store. You usually have to ask if you can get these. Nowadays, companies will liquidate their open box items to Internet discounters. Back in the early days of Ghost hunting, I got a pair of FRS walkie talkies (then they were $80 for two) for $20 at Circuit City open package. And I got a $20 mail in rebate. so they were free. Ask all your local stores and find out who you can get open box returns from. Some places like Best Buy and Circuit City will also sell open box items like camcorders at a cheaper price and put them out on display.
BTW...speaking of Radio Shack...they have all the answers for adaptor cables. They figured out for me how to adapt my Sony night shot to the Coax cable and then into a color video monitor to make my remote viewing setup. Adaptor cables cost me about $15.00.
STEP NINE:
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!
Don't go searching for a Ghost hunting Supplier. Find the source. Don't just follow what everyone else does...as I mentioned earlier, Ask yourself "What do I want to accomplish?" then figure out "What do I need to accomplish it?" By doing things this way, we advance the field, by everyone coming up with new stuff. For a LONG time, paranormal research was stagnant because everyone just perpetuated what everyone else said. It became a self-made fact. When IR Thermometers arrived on the scene many years back, everyone was using them to find cold spots in the air, because one guy said he did. Think about what the equipment is designed to do first. BLAZE YOUR OWN TRAIL. I recently acquired two IR strobes that attach on the top of a 9v battery. I am experimenting with them to see if it attracts activity. Not because I read somewhere that it would, I just thought it would be good to try. And they do not interfere with anything, since they are only visible through Night Vision. I bought a pair of folding, amplified speakers for listening to EVPS on site. On a recent investigation, the client said the ghost acts up when the son plays his music loud. So I plugged them into my Zen Micro and blasted some music. Never did it before, but like I said, I try to think outside the box. You wouldn't look at a set of speakers and immediately think of them as useful on an investigation. I am going to try and get some white noise types in an MP3-type format, and put them on my Zen micro, so it will double as a "white noise generator". (I just thought of THAT one just this second)
STEP 10:
NOW GO BUY IT!
You have the tools to find the best prices. Now you have to spend the money. Buying gear is like having a baby (well, kind of). People always seem to think they need to wait to have a kid when they have more money. Then they get pregnant and it's not an option. Just go buy the stuff! You don't have to spend hundreds of dollars at once! Buy a few small things when you see them and maybe one piece of equipment a month and it will add up fast. Don't worry about getting the BEST gear out there unless you KNOW you are serious about doing this long term. MANY people get bored with it after a while and no longer use their stuff. Get the piece you can afford as cheaply as possible until you have everything, then upgrade as you go along and become more serious about it. Start with a Gauss master for EMF, then, if you are still serious 6 months or more later, consider getting a Trifield which is more expensive.
I Hope this helps!
Equipment on a budget
We see a LOT of questions about how to go about getting/finding equipment on here, and this will be my first attempt at explaining how I did so myself. I don't have a large surplus of money to toss away buying ghost hunting gear, but I made a plan to do so and I am one of the two best equipped people on my team. Here's how:
STEP ONE:
MAKE A BUDGET
You need to be realistic about what you have to spend. How much can you afford to buy? Break it down by payday how much you have available. You'll be surprised to find you don't need that much.
STEP TWO:
MAKE A LIST OF WHAT YOU CURRENTLY HAVE
Before you go buying stuff, tear your house apart for what you may already have to put in your "Ghost Hunters Kit." There are TONS of miscellaneous household items you might already have that will be useful. Some examples:
* Extension cords and 3-prong adaptors
* A small box of sorts for spare batteries
* Flashlights and battery powered camping lanterns
* A small duffel, large camera bag, or large plastic Toolbox with nut/bolt organizer
* Masking tape, string, and Rubber bands (I use these a LOT)
* Pens and small notebooks
Some specific items most people may already have are:
* Digital Camera
* FRS Walkie-Talkies
* Tape Recorder
* Camcorder
* A set of Stereo Headphones
* A hard-drive MP# player that doubles as a USB mass storage device
Even if you don't have the "In" camcorder or digital camera...make do with what you have at first until you round out your inventory. THEN worry about upgrades.
STEP THREE:
MAKE A LIST OF WHAT YOU N-E-E-D
Notice I typed "Need" a little funny? I did that because you don't NEED an IR Thermometer gun. They are extra luxury items, and far inferior in use to a good Thermocouple Thermometer. Now...instead of trying to wrap your brain around what specific items you need to get, I want you to instead do this:
What do I need to measure or record?
Well, we know there are several main things we all need. We need Video, Photographic, Audio, Environmental, and Analytical equipment. There are the main 5 categories we will focus on. Environmental would include EMF readings, Temperature readings, Wind speed, humidity, etc....Analytical would be mostly computer programs, which I will touch on in a minute.
So we KNOW we need to: Record video, Record audio (for EVPS), Check EMFs, Check Temperatures, and take pictures to start out. So as we purchase equipment, we need to do it in an order that checks off all these categories.
STEP FOUR:
COLLECT ALL THE FREE STUFF FIRST!
One of your biggest and most central tools will be your PC or Laptop. I know you have one, or you aren't reading this. So lets go collect all the free stuff first! I'm not going to hyperlink stuff, I want you to find it because you need to know how. The #1 tool I use for this is simply:
www.google.com (your new best friend)
For picture analysis, go find a free program called EXIF READER and download it. For Audio, you can go find AUDACITY...or if you wish to brave the adware, go to KAZAA and find the COOL PRO 2.0 program with all the registration keys. That’s how I found mine. Once you have it, save all your software on a USB FLASH DRIVE. You can get 128mb for $19 or less at most stores. This too, will go in your kit.
Download GHOST WEATHER. www.wvghosts.com/software.php
Also, your computer is the gateway to the information superhighway. Utilize it! Reorganize your favorites into folders and sub-folders to bookmark the pages where you find the best equipment deals. This will save you time later. Also bookmark the best WebPages to learn the basics of ghost hunting. Other than the Ghost study page, the AGS (American Ghost Society) website and The Shadow lands website are both top sources of information. They've been around a long time, and that’s where I taught myself the basics.
STEP FIVE:
MASTER USING GOOGLE, FROOGLE, and EBAY!
There three are THE main sources I have used to find all my equipment. You should already know Google, and Froogle is a selection you find on the top of the Google page. It is used to search for PRODUCTS and then sort your search by lowest price. One drawback is when you use "Lowest Price" for say...a Sony Camcorder, you will usually find $5.00 power cords first. So you will need to sort through those.
The main key here is THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX when coming up with your search terms. You will find different results between the terms of "EMF METER", "EMF DETECTOR", "AC FIELD METER" "DC EMF DETCTOR" ...and so on. So you NEED to try and use as many different words in your searches as possible, to maximize your results. This is especially important on EBay.
Also, there are many, many equipment suppliers out there, whose sponsored links will appear on the right hand side of a google search result. Click on them and check them out. Sometimes you will find new things to search for.
If you DO find a new piece of equipment on a random site that looks good...don't stop there. Copy the equipment name and model number, then paste it into a Froogle/Ebay search for new search results. That’s how you filter down to finding the best price for an item. Another good tip: When you find the best FOUR prices for an item....check/calculate the shipping for each distributor. Sometimes the lowest list price is NOT the lowest price once you add in SHIPPING!
STEP SIX:
DON'T FORGET WAL*MART!!
Wal*Mart? Are you kidding? No, I am not. I got my Sony Hi-8 camcorder at Wal-Mart. It was on sale for $198.00....and I didn't have the money on me. I don't use many credit cards, and WAL MART is one of the last great outlets that use....LAYAWAY. I put $30 down on the camcorder, and made the commitment to buy. I paid it off in a month, and then I had it. Had I waited till I had an extra $200 to buy it all at once, I might have waited longer to get it. Wal Mart is also a good cheap source for Hi-8/8mm tapes. Also, look in your Sunday ads...I commonly find 3 or 4-packs of 8mm tapes at places like Walgreens or CVS Pharmacy for under $10.
STEP SEVEN:
ALWAYS BE ON THE LOOKOUT!
There are TONS of miscellaneous items you can use for ghost hunting that you will come across everyday. I was in Wal-Mart earlier today and saw a mini-tripod for $4.00. I bought it to throw in my bag. I was in Target in "The Dollar Spot" and saw compasses for $0.99. Grabbed one to throw in the case. Also grabbed two hard shell eyeglasses cases...one to hold and protect my thermocouple and one to protect my digital recorder. Total money spent: $3.00. The bag of many-sized rubber bands I bought for $0.33 at Marcs got all my cords, chargers, and extensions nicely wrapped in my case. I saw a two-pack of 3-mile range walkie-talkies at Wal Mart for $15.00. An aluminum equipment case (pictured at the bottom) found at Harbor Freight tools? $14.00 on sale.
STEP EIGHT:
OPEN BOX RETURNS!
Coax cable? Not always cheap. I once found 400 feet of it for $50 from a guy at Radio Shack because they were open box returns. With Radio Shack, all the stores in one city will generally send them to one store. You usually have to ask if you can get these. Nowadays, companies will liquidate their open box items to Internet discounters. Back in the early days of Ghost hunting, I got a pair of FRS walkie talkies (then they were $80 for two) for $20 at Circuit City open package. And I got a $20 mail in rebate. so they were free. Ask all your local stores and find out who you can get open box returns from. Some places like Best Buy and Circuit City will also sell open box items like camcorders at a cheaper price and put them out on display.
BTW...speaking of Radio Shack...they have all the answers for adaptor cables. They figured out for me how to adapt my Sony night shot to the Coax cable and then into a color video monitor to make my remote viewing setup. Adaptor cables cost me about $15.00.
STEP NINE:
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!
Don't go searching for a Ghost hunting Supplier. Find the source. Don't just follow what everyone else does...as I mentioned earlier, Ask yourself "What do I want to accomplish?" then figure out "What do I need to accomplish it?" By doing things this way, we advance the field, by everyone coming up with new stuff. For a LONG time, paranormal research was stagnant because everyone just perpetuated what everyone else said. It became a self-made fact. When IR Thermometers arrived on the scene many years back, everyone was using them to find cold spots in the air, because one guy said he did. Think about what the equipment is designed to do first. BLAZE YOUR OWN TRAIL. I recently acquired two IR strobes that attach on the top of a 9v battery. I am experimenting with them to see if it attracts activity. Not because I read somewhere that it would, I just thought it would be good to try. And they do not interfere with anything, since they are only visible through Night Vision. I bought a pair of folding, amplified speakers for listening to EVPS on site. On a recent investigation, the client said the ghost acts up when the son plays his music loud. So I plugged them into my Zen Micro and blasted some music. Never did it before, but like I said, I try to think outside the box. You wouldn't look at a set of speakers and immediately think of them as useful on an investigation. I am going to try and get some white noise types in an MP3-type format, and put them on my Zen micro, so it will double as a "white noise generator". (I just thought of THAT one just this second)
STEP 10:
NOW GO BUY IT!
You have the tools to find the best prices. Now you have to spend the money. Buying gear is like having a baby (well, kind of). People always seem to think they need to wait to have a kid when they have more money. Then they get pregnant and it's not an option. Just go buy the stuff! You don't have to spend hundreds of dollars at once! Buy a few small things when you see them and maybe one piece of equipment a month and it will add up fast. Don't worry about getting the BEST gear out there unless you KNOW you are serious about doing this long term. MANY people get bored with it after a while and no longer use their stuff. Get the piece you can afford as cheaply as possible until you have everything, then upgrade as you go along and become more serious about it. Start with a Gauss master for EMF, then, if you are still serious 6 months or more later, consider getting a Trifield which is more expensive.
I Hope this helps!