ITC Bridge Forum: What is good basic equipment?

[Left Behind]: I'm reading Anabela's "Electronic Voices" book, and it seems that the best way to get started is with a shortwave radio: a digital recorder: and headphones. What do you recommend in the way of equipment? And what are good retailers for it? Jim [ArizonaEvp Super]: Left Behind wrote: I'm reading Anabela's "Electronic Voices" book, and it seems that the best way to get started is with a shortwave radio: a digital recorder: and headphones. What do you recommend in the way of equipment? And what are good retailers for it? Jim Step Away from the short-wave radio For the most part, all you need to get started is a digital recorder and some audio software. As far as which recorder, I guess it all depends how deep your pockets are. Most people speak well of Olympus recorders. The most important thing in recorders is to be sure you can transfer your files via USB cable. You will find Olympus recorders that are inexpensive. That's because they do not have USB transfer capability. If you are looking in the $80 - $100 price range, you might want to consider a Zoom H1. http://www.samsontech.com/zoom/products/handheld-audio-recorders/h1/ It has a lot going for it....for the price. Way better than a $100 Olympus. For software, Audacity is good for starters and is completely free. Here is the link: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Keep in mind that when you start, it might take a wee bit of time to get used to what you are supposed to be

listening for. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Ron Last edited on Feb 6th, 2012 07:44 AM by ArizonaEvp [ArizonaEvp Super]: Other options for ITC include those who use radio sweep and variations thereof. You can google P-SB7 - frank's box - joe's box - ghost box - etc and watch videos of these devices in action. Even Amazon sells the p-sb7. One member here: Joe from Pennsylvania is the designer of Joe's Box. Still.....others us their computer and a program called EVP Maker. It was designed by a fellow member of this site: Stephan Bion of Germany. Here is his site: http://www.tonbandstimmen.de/evpmaker/index_e.htm http://www.tonbandstimmen.de/evpmaker/speakjet/index_e.htm I myself have not tried the EVP maker program so I cannot comment on it but maybe some other peeps will chime in. Hope this helps more than confuses, Ron [Spider]: Hi! I am with arizonaevp, Olympus has some excellent recorders! I still just love to use my old Olympus analog recorder......it is still hanging in there after 6 years of steady use! It's what ever you get used to using and the results you get. Yes, forget the shortwave business. And as arizonaevp mentioned, audacity is a free download. You may just want to check out a few websites and their EVP galleries, to just to listen to the various examples of EVP captures, and some will talk about what equipment they used. You need to acclimate your ear to the different ways EVP's come across. I like to use a "ghost

box" occasionally as a source of noise for the spirits to help facilitate speech. But I didn't use a ghost box until I was way into recording and getting the hang of the wole EVP process. Good luck! Lisa [Left Behind]: Why is short wave radio not a good choice? Don't the spirits need some ongoing energy source - such as the white noise/static between stations - to latch onto? Jim [joecioppi]: Hello Friends, I am the guy who designed the Joe's Box. Before that, I had been using "I Ching" to do fortunes. I was especially interested because "I Ching" was well developed and there were books in print with interpretations of the symbols developed with random coin tosses. When evps came to my attention I wanted to find the source of the spirit voices on voice recorders. Experiments indicated the voices were contained in the baseline noise of the recorders themselves. Audible external noise sources also contained voices. The nature of noise is the random frequencies it is made up from.This was the reason spirit radios have messages because the radio selects station vocals at random. While shortwave radios don't select receiver frequencies at random, they do receive random noise when tuned between modulated signals.They have much more gain than recorders and the off station noise is much stronger than recorder baseline noise. I believe shortwave receivers are excellent sources for noise that can contain spirit voices. I believe the spiricom system was based on AM receivers on

short wave band with vocal tones added to enhance the spirit voices detected from between station noise. Joe [Left Behind]: That confirms what I'd heard, Joe. I'm probably the only one here who doesn't know this, but I'm new to the whole topic of EVP. So please tell us (me), what is a Joe's Box? Jim [joecioppi]: Jim, A Joe's Box is an FM broadcast receiver with additional circuitry that rapidly tunes from station to station with adjustable timing. The stations play brief vocal segments and result in messages and words that can be taken for live conversation with unknown intelligence. ( Your guess who they are is as good as mine) It is a convenient means of acquiring vocal material without resorting to voice synthesis.The concept was first used by Frank Sumption, who named his box a ghost box and others called them Frank's Boxes Joe [ArizonaEvp Super]: Left Behind wrote: Why is short wave radio not a good choice? Don't the spirits need some ongoing energy source - such as the white noise/static between stations - to latch onto? Jim Hiya Jim, Of course Joe is correct when he states: While shortwave radios don't select receiver frequencies at random, they do receive random noise when tuned between modulated signals.They have much more gain than recorders and the off station noise is much stronger than recorder baseline noise. I believe shortwave receivers are excellent sources for noise that can contain spirit voices. From my perspective; I approached your initial

query from a start-up cost standpoint. A lot of people do use noise in an effort to assist with any responses. Whether that noise is generated by a short wave radio, running water, fan, pre-recorded noise file or ???? is largely a matter of personal preference based upon trial and error. If you go back to Stephan Bion's site, there are examples of recordings done with various background noise that you can listen to and compare. The link is here: http://www.tonbandstimmen.de/beispiele_e.htm Here on this site there are one minute noise files of different "colors" that you can download and experiment with. In fact I was going to add a new file of Grey Noise for those who are interested. The thread is here: http://www.itcbridge.com/forum/view_topic.php?id=990&forum_id=17 Some people like the apparent benefit that radio sweep seems to offer. I myself have not used such devices and as a result, I would defer to Joe's expertise and youtube videos. Ron [Left Behind]: Besides, I've wanted for years to buy a short wave radio anyway: EVP research is an additional justification! [ArizonaEvp Super]: Left Behind wrote: Besides, I've wanted for years to buy a short wave radio anyway: EVP research is an additional justification! Well then....I guess a short wave radio it will be. Keep us posted on your progress. Pax, Ron [NYevp]: Hello Left Behind, I can relate to your dilemma, but in all honesty there is no need to go overboard in the $$$$'s to capture an EVP. I recommend an Olympus

product over a Sony, for no other reason than that is the product line that works for me. I am partial to the DS 30/ 40 / 50 series. The only difference is the memory. As stated earlier "noise" in most but not all cases is a positive addition. When I choose to use a noise factor for energy, I prefer #1.....a slight wind or fan type noise. #2.....running water, either faucet or stream if outside. #3....certain electric motors, etc. #4......radio source. What works for one is not always the best for others. A major factor is "intent". It is my experience that "they" know if we are serious in our endeavors or not. Once we open that window we become in a sense a beacon and attempts at communication become more successful with "them". Regarding Anabela Cardoso's book, It is a good read and it relates her personal experiences and interpretations. Her locality deems the shortwave radio a "must have" piece of equipment. I personally have one myself but do not rely on it other than a last resort means of getting news, but most sw stations of the past no longer direct English newscasts or programs toward North America. Go with what works for you.........Good Luck ! Noise is not always needed, so don't think it is a required ingredient. Keep it simple in the beginning. Best Regards, Dan Last edited on Feb 10th, 2012 10:31 PM by [Left Behind]: Thank you, Dan. I've heard good reports about

Olympus recorders. And you confirm what I've heard before about the intent of the EVP researcher being of paramount importance to the success of his search. Jim