I am planning on starting my own Paranormal Group soon, but before I do I am going to save some money to buy some good equipment. What kind of equipment can anyone reccomend and where could I purchase them? Any experienced investigators that could make a suggestion would be a great help...

Thanks

GHOST PIX

Look around on that site, they list a lot of stuff you should use.

You should watch Ghost Hunters. They have alot of excellent equiptment.
That should give you a good idea of what you'll need. As to where to purchase
the equiptment, I'm sure you can find people on this site who can help you out
with that. Good luck and happy ghost hunting.

There are tons of books out there about ghost hunting and they tell you everything you'll need. I have one called How to be a Ghost Hunter by Richard Southall that's very good.
Browse the book here

For video, almost everyone seems to use Sony Handycams with NightShot Plus (better color than the old monogreen NightShot). I bought a Digital 8 one in the Best Buy boneyard for $150 new! They're unloading 'em dirt cheap to make way for the HD, DV, etc. recorders. Mine is great. USB interface is kind of a pain, but on the plus side, it HAS a USB interface.

I have a nice Olympus DS-2 Digital Voice Recorder, reviewed here.

I also have an utterly crappy RCA RP5013 Digital Voice Recorder, reviewed here. It's a hideous s**tbox, but to be fair, I did catch an EVP with it the first time out.

Thanks a lot guys... I'll be roaming around to see what I can afford. thanks for the suggestions. I do watch Ghost Hunters, its a great show. They basically inspired me to persue going into the Paranormal field. I know the equipment they use as well, but their equipment is technical and sophisticated with DVR, Thermal, ect; And expensive, I am an amatuer, and need to look for affordable items...lol

Matt -

Then you really should invest in that book I posted about. It tells you all about the basic equipment and costs and then about building up to more advanced equipment and costs.
It's very informative and it's entertaining. Good luck!

Here' some stuff as a reference, this are some of my equipment I have in storage.
* 9 Motorola Walk about walkie talkies with 8-10 range each for larger groups to cover massive areas in teams

*Garmin-eTrex Legend C handheld GPS unit with Road map. I can find a penny I buried in the woods from last year if i save the cordinates and also shows me the quickest route to it. Good enough for GeoCashing.

* -Digital camera 4.0 megapixels with digital video recording capabilities and two 512mb memory cards. I can do plenty of 10 minute clips with audio and can display everything from my camera directly to any TV screen, VCR or Computer.

*-35mm Nikon camera-So I can provide any negatives and cannot be photoshopped.

*-Q-beams- incase there is movement, I can momentarily flood the area with 1 million candle light power

*-red lense 72 hour LED flashlites- so to stay at a low profile, does not create a glare, and doesn't effect nor is capture by Night Vision, which is too sensitive to white light

*- NVD ( night vision devices ) optics, motion sensing security cameras with night vision, and daytime w/ auto adjustment.
*-IR Illuminator beams- to broadon my range of night vision devices, and when strobe, fast movement object can be detected better too. To the naked eye, it is invisible, but record in NV mode, and use any house hold remote to it, and you will notice that your TV remote works as a flashlite on the display screen.

* -EMF meter by Professional equipment

* -EMF meter by AlphaLab Trifield Natural EM Meter

*-Digital Voice Recorder for EVPs

*-Microwave meter

* - Cooper-Atkins Multi Probe Humidity and Temperature Tester- testing humidity is good to prevent taking pictures of orbs that are nothing more than water droplets

I'm a gearhead myself and need only the slightest excuse to memorize catalogs and buy toys and talk about them endlessly, and I think lots of us are that way. But I think it's important that we keep it in perspective. I've heard Hans Holzer say that all this equipment is fine, but what you really need is a trance medium, and without that, everything else is useless. At first that sounds pretty unscientific, but if you think about it for two seconds, it stands to reason. After all, the percipients (witnesses) who reported the spirit encounters in the first place were using nothing but their own five senses-- and perhaps others not yet classified.

I'd add to Hans's remark that more important than any equipment is method. Anyone, regardless of intelligence, imagination, education, budget, or technical inclination, can do science. I'm not talking about what TAPS does, which is fun and extremely valuable but isn't what I'd call science. What I'm talking about costs nothing but a little serious thought, and there aren't any secrets to it that you couldn't learn at any library. I've written down some stuff on this and have been looking for an excuse to post it, if anyone is interested.

--Scott

Hey, I'll bite boorite, post it.

OMG, you'll bite boorite?

Okey doke, I posted it. And I won't even charge $1000, which after all would be a mere pittance. Or $199. No, this info is yours for the ridiculous low price of watching me imitate a carnival huckster!

But seriously, it's pretty long, so I posted it on my board and linked it here so as not to totally highjack this thread.

Hope it makes sense. Feel free to reply there. Registration is instant, and I don't ask for or make any money off the dang thing, which hardly anyone visits anyway.

Agreed, staying logical is a key factor. Most of my stuff is for navigation alone. It helps when you trek a whole day without any routes or roads to follow. I've gotten lost after venturing deep woods one day. I turned 180 degrees and walked out towards my car and ended somewhere else.

I try to stay away or ignore my senses simply because a little fear can create a large imagination. If someone tells you that it's haunted, then to you fear will really make it haunted even though it's not.

good P's and Q's.

So I registered on your site. So soon I'll see that you signed the guestbook on my site, right?

Yes, twice! Oops.

Thanks, all who waded through my algebraic science stuff. What I want to do is investigate reportedly haunted locations using self-identified mediums or sensitives in a double-blind design. If the reports of witnesses match up with those of our sensitives in certain predefined ways, we'd be able to reject the theory that the experience of witnesses is "all in their heads." We'd be able to say that something in the environment is causing the perceptions.

The main "equipment" we'd be using is floor plans and questionnaires, but voice recordings and video would be used to provide a record of who said what, and where and when. Also, I'm interested in the idea that EMF is linked to sensations associated with hauntings. I'd like to turn on a trifield meter during the walkthroughs and not watch it, just record its readings for later comparison to other recorded events, if any.

I'd want to throw in an equal number of "control locations" where no hauntings are reported. The sensitives and the investigators walking through with them would not know which locations were "haunted" and which were "control."

So... is anyone here located in Wyoming or northeastern Colorado? Interested in participating in something like this? Know anyone who has a "haunted" house? Or located elsewhere and just want to discuss methodology? Lemme know.

Maybe bring some holy water...in case the entity decides not to show up....just sprinkle it on some things to provoke the entity...seems like the best way to get some paranormal activity...but it's only my opinion

It really sounds pretty brilliant. Unfortunately I'm in Arkansas.

does sound interesting,but i'm in kentucky.i have family that live in jonesboro,arkansas.

I'm not from here, I'm just living here for now but I have heard of Jonesboro. Maybe we should all meet somewhere in Texas and go 'busting.