EMF

[ljiljanac]

Is there anything that can "disturb" EMF's that may be found inside a home (i.e. power surges, faulty electrical wiring, etc.)?  I'm wondering if EMF fluctuations can cause video camera screens to go digital for brief periods.

[PPI Debra]

Is there anything that can "disturb" EMF's that may be found inside a home (i.e. power surges, faulty electrical wiring, etc.)?  I'm wondering if EMF fluctuations can cause video camera screens to go digital for brief periods.

I don't know if this answers your question, but when our home had a collapsed conduit under the floor all our computers, the TV, the cell phones, the land line: ALL malfunctioned until it was repaired.

[ljiljanac]

Interesting.  I think it might have answered my question.   lol

[PPI Jason]

Is there anything that can "disturb" EMF's that may be found inside a home (i.e. power surges, faulty electrical wiring, etc.)?  I'm wondering if EMF fluctuations can cause video camera screens to go digital for brief periods.

I'm no expert (I would defer to Brian on this one), but I imagine that in theory they could. However, I believe they would have to be very very very strong surges. I remember one of the highest readings I ever had for EMF (which, incidentally was the wall of monster wires found in the bathroom at Ontario I and II) was in the thousands of milligaus. Now, that wasn't a surge, however it was very high. Yet I never noted any interference with any of my devices (namely my camera which I was operating in the vicinity of the wires during the high readings) when I was in the vicinity of those wires. I'm sure there are a lot of other causes, however, for video camera screens going digital for brief moments (i.e. faulty wiring or other technical problem, a bump to the equipment, solar flare, etc...)

Is there a specific example of this occuring that you're thinking of?

[ljiljanac]

Yes...during DVR viewing, I noticed that sometimes when we would pass by the camera or lights would be turned on, the screen goes digital or fluctuates.  It doesn't happen all the time when we pass by it or when lights go off.  I was wondering if that was an equipment thing or an EMF thing.

[PPI Brian]

Hi Lillie,

Sorry for the delayed response. You bring up an excellent point. I believe what you're describing is a digital artifact known as "blooming", which all infrared cameras seem to experience to some degree. There are several causes for this odd pixelation pattern, but I think it has more to do with the video compression than power surges in the client's home.

As a rule, we always plug the DVR into a surge supressor during investigations, but it does not prevent power "dips" that may occur during the course of our investigation. During evidence review you may have noticed this effect occurs when an investigator gets too close to the camera, or takes a flash photograph. The image "blooms" with pixelation until the investigator moves away or the auto iris on the camera resets. I also believe it has a lot to do with the amount of infrared illuminators on the DVR cameras, because this effect is rarely seen in daylight conditions or during live monitoring. Apparently this effect is a digital artifact of the video compression used to record the video.

I would like to test the cameras by exposing them to a strong magentic field just to see if it can recreate this odd blooming pattern. If there is a correlation, perhaps we should consider deploying datalogging EMF detectors with our DVR cameras?

[ljiljanac]

Thanks!  That is totally consistent with what I saw.  I logged all screen fluctuations and digitalizing in the DVR log because I was not sure what the cause was.   

[Damian]

I like the idea of EMF data-loggers!

[PPI Brian]

We have talked about deploying a comprehensive remote sensor array during our investigations that can be monitored in real time from the command center. Ideally, it would incorporate EMF, RF, Temperature, Humidity, Barometric Pressure, Lux Meter and a few other devices and record the fluctuations (if any) on a graph for later analysis. Kind of like this: http://www.leagueofparanormalinvestigators.com/Science/Article.aspx?Request=Ghost%20Lab

[ljiljanac]

cool!

[Damian]

That's a pretty sweet piece of equipment.

The comment in the write-up interesting, about their team psychic saying that spirits are afraid of technology and will hide from it.  Why would that equipment/technology be any different than IR cameras, camcorders, audio recorders, thermometers, EMF meters, and the like?  That cautionary comment didn't really make sense to me.

[PPI Brian]

That's a pretty sweet piece of equipment.

The comment in the write-up interesting, about their team psychic saying that spirits are afraid of technology and will hide from it.  Why would that equipment/technology be any different than IR cameras, camcorders, audio recorders, thermometers, EMF meters, and the like?  That cautionary comment didn't really make sense to me.

Yeah, isn't that convenient? I seriously doubt that intelligent haunts would hide from "technology" that allowed them to communicate with us. There may be exceptions, but I  doubt that would be "the rule". Residual haunts would not even notice us, so why would they hide from a monitoring package?

I wish that I had the time to devote to a project such as this. I would love to assemble a comprehensive data logging package that could be deployed as one compact device in a room, or even four devices that could be deployed alongside our DVR cameras. Anomalous environmental fluctuations could be investigated as they occur, and later we could look for correlations between environmental fluctuations and EVP captures.

[ljiljanac]

Hey Brian....speaking of DVR's.  Is it true that no one is making DVR's anymore?? 

[PPI Brian]

Hey Brian....speaking of DVR's.  Is it true that no one is making DVR's anymore?? 

No, I don't believe that for a second. When the economy sucks, video surveillance systems are in demand.

[ljiljanac]

The guy at Fry's told me that.  I asked him what security companies and others who use DVR were going to use then....he said PC's.  ??

[PPI Brian]

The guy at Fry's told me that.  I asked him what security companies and others who use DVR were going to use then....he said PC's.  ??

LOL! That's very amusing. 

[ljiljanac]

Yah so, in the end, no DVR info for me.  Where do they sell those things other than online?

[PPI Brian]

Yah so, in the end, no DVR info for me.  Where do they sell those things other than online?

Oh, no where except Fry's, Costco, Target, Sears and Wally World. Other than that, you'll have to buy them online. 

[ljiljanac]

Thanks Brian!  I'll check them out....everyone except Fry's.  They're the dorks who told me no one makes DVR's anymore.  haha!