You have a fancy piece of equipment in your hands, but do you really know how it works?

On social media, paranormal pages presenting ‘evidence’ or live streams of their investigations are ubiquitous. The problem with this is that many investigators don’t really understand how their “paranormal equipment” they used during their wakes actually works. It means that they cannot correctly identify a false reading or correctly interpret the readings received. A perfect example is devices that can be activated by cell phone signals, such as K2s and ghost meters used alongside a cell phone during a live stream. The closer they get to the K2, the more it lights up. It’s not the ghost communicating with you, it’s the cell phone signal. The market is full of ‘gimmicky’ products with flashing lights and I love flashing lights, they can be colorful and exciting. When a light flashes, people tend to interpret it as a ghost communicating with them. With some better understanding of what makes that light flash, their opinion can change very quickly. We need to understand how our equipment works

We all have different devices that we like to use. Maybe it’s a simple digital recorder to capture EVPS. Maybe it’s a mind box to hear voices? Maybe you like to read the emf levels and use a melmeter or measure the room temperature. It’s personal preference. They all together can make great research tools and all have varying results, but we can’t really analyze or support these results if we don’t really know how the equipment collects this information and what this information means. For example, a spirit box travels back and forth via radio frequencies at a speed you set. Depending on how fast you swipe, what direction you swipe, how sensitive your antenna is, and whether you are in a commercial area will depend on how much radio bleed you get. Just because a voice comes through, you can’t immediately say it’s something paranormal without knowing the basic information above. How do you get all this information? A perfect example I can present is that my brother and I have SB7 Spirit boxes. One has an extremely sensitive antenna, while the other has very little interference because it is detuned. They are exactly the same model, but perform completely differently in the same environment when we use them side by side. One has very little radio bleed, while the other is just a constant splash of half words or musical notes causing interference. The settings on your equipment may be slightly different from someone else’s and may be more sensitive, for example. So it’s important to understand how YOUR piece works in the settings you work in, because it may perform differently than the same device someone else is using.

Of course, we all have to start somewhere, so how do we find out and learn how it works? First of all, most equipment comes with a manual, so reading it is the first step. Start researching the equipment online. Talk to fellow researchers who use the same equipment. You also have to practice, practice, practice, practice. Learn every button and function of your equipment in the field. Learn how it reacts in different conditions. If you have multiple units of the same equipment, test each one the same way as it may respond differently, as in my example above. What gives it false positives?

**With regards to testing equipment in your own home, many researchers choose not to do so just because you could potentially open a door to communication. If you don’t want this to happen in your home and you’re concerned, don’t do it at home, but this is also a personal choice.

Know that device inside and out! Instead of having a huge set of tools that you use and only knowing a little bit about a few parts, pick a few parts and make them your base product. Teach them inside and out. Are you part of a team or do you have people with whom you conduct research? Each member of a team usually has a device or some other way of investigating and when they all come together, most areas are covered and it is something that works well for many people. There is more we can do and we always try to think of new things to try, but we always go back to our ‘basic principles’ because we know them inside and out and you can interpret the results with confidence.

What’s the one device you love the most? Learn it. Use it and understand it to death. If someone has a question, make sure you can answer it confidently and, most importantly, stand behind your opinion. If you have done the necessary work and know it very well, if someone questions you and speaks to you about it, you can give your opinion, knowing that you know what you are talking about. There is a lot of eyebrow raising when people present evidence. This is mainly because the people presenting it do not know how the equipment works. It’s also very difficult to convince someone who wasn’t there that you might have something, so you have to be confident behind it. If you believe in what you captured and have the knowledge and facts behind you, you have done a fantastic job as a researcher! The most important thing is to ask your colleagues for assessment. The people in the paranormal that you respect and who may be able to help you give a good, experienced objective opinion on what you have captured. That’s what being a paranormal investigator is all about, my friends!

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