When conducting thorough investigations, it is very frustrating when it is simply not possible to cover all areas of the investigation site simultaneously. We perform our investigations where we feel the activity is and we are getting the strongest signs of paranormal activity. Often an area which was very active suddenly becomes vacant and the ghost which we were very close to moves on. Even when you have several members in your team it is still very difficult to have all areas covered at once. Therefore a need arises to use some devices, which will hopefully alert us to areas where the activity is. By using motion detection alarms as a means of alerting us to movement and changes in pressure we can move our investigation to the area where the device has been triggered.
Categories of alarms:
- IR Sensing (most common type)
- Infrasonic (detects pressure changes like many car alarms)
- IR beam barrier (an invisible infrared beam alarm)
- Laser (use of lasers and reflectors)
The use of motion detection alarms, also have a secondary purpose besides alerting us of paranormal activity. They can also alert us to anybody attempting to tamper with any trigger objects or lock off rooms. You do not always have access to keys to physically lock a room or area off for unmanned surveillance, therefore we use an alarm to ensure that the room is not entered by anybody during an investigation.
There are various types of IR sensing motion detector which are readily available. They have varying senor ranges and angles. Some have remote controls and some can be plugged into the mains power supply for prolonged use. Ideally you will be looking for the widest sensor range that you can for general use and having a remote control means that you can place the alarm high up and easily arm and disarm. Sometimes a narrow sensor range can be useful to have on hand, when you want the alarm to concentrate on a specific target and not be triggered by your own presence, just outside of the area covered by the alarm. We would recommend that you take a large amount of Blu-Tack™ or similar sticky tack, to fix the alarm high up e.g. above a door. Most of these alarms are designed to be wall mounted therefore the higher that you can safely locate the alarm the better (no more than 1.5 to 2 meters is usually required).
Beam barrier alarms are now becoming very popular and are far cheaper than the laser beam alarms which you would have seen in the movies. IR Beam alarms consist of a transmitter and receiver unit and need to be perfectly aligned with one another to work properly. If the invisible beam between the units is broken the alarm or chime is triggered.
Alarm units that are designed to detect pressure changes are only to be considered if you can seal the room off completely and there are no strong drafts present. You can adjust the sensitivity to accommodate slight pressure fluctuations. These units will be triggered when they detect a sudden, significant change in pressure such as would be caused by a door or window being opened. These are a nice gadget to have on hand when other motion detection is not appropriate.
Laser alarms operate in a similar way to the IR beam alarms with the exception that they can consist of a single unit and use a reflector to reflect the beam back to the alarm. When this beam is broken the reflection stops and triggers the alarm. These systems take a bit longer to set up and can be very costly.
We have briefly covered the different motion detection units which are available and by adding a selection of motion detectors to your investigation kit. You will prepare yourself for wider capabilities in covering a greater area during your investigations. Using motion alarms in conjunction with trigger objects will further increase your chances of locating where the activity is.
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