Paranormal Investigation Equipment & Tips

For years I've been interested in the paranormal and for the last few years I've run and organised paranormal investigation groups. I wanted to share some of my thoughts and experience on this subject with regards to various tips and equipment usage.

Equipment
- Digital camera
- IR (night vision) video camera
- Thermometre; electrical/standard
- Tape/voice recorder/microphone (including spare tapes)
- EMF metre
- Crystal pendulum
- Control objects (usually associated with the location)
- Motion detectors/sensors
- Torches
- First aid kit
- Stop watch
- Walkie talkies
- Hydrometre
- Dowsing rods
- And plenty of spare batteries, tapes & film!

Of course much of this equipment can be costly; so I would recommend the basics as being: camera, video camera if possible, thermometre, emf metre, tape recorder, pendulum.

Saftey should always come first - don't go alone... not just because you might get scared, mostly for obvious personal saftey reasons, always go in a pair or preferably a group and for extra measure, always let at least one other person know where you are going and how much time you are planning to spend there, on average. Although mobile phones can interfere with certain experiments, make sure everyone can be contacted or contact others for help if necesery.

Locations

With regards to public locations, always make sure you have permission to photograph/film/investigate, most places will clearly state any specific restrictions on entrance. If you're unsure, contact them before hand.
Although you make think public places are not ideal, especially during public opening hours; this is how many paranormal groups start out. It's good practice, and you never know what you may find.

For private bookings/investigations, there is usually a price to pay, some charge hundreds of pounds/dollars/etc if not more, whilst others may allow you to investigate for free or some publicity.
Some places will openly advertise this service, whilst others which allow it, may not. So if you are interested in investigating somewhere in particular, contact them via phone or E-mail; be polite, express genuine interest and you may be surprised with your results.

Experiments

It's not for me to recommend ouija boards or seances to just anyone, as these should be practiced with respect, caution and seriousness.
Other experiments include: EVP recording, table tipping, motion detector set up/locked-off cameras, control objects, pendulum/tarot work.

The Group

In any typical group it is always good to have a diverse range of characters in terms of beliefs, a sceptic, a believer (most of them are anyway), a psychic/medium. This is purely to offer a wider range of perspective and opinion on any experiences or evidence the group may collect.

Evidence

Any data/photo's/experiences that are recorded some way during the investigation should also be recorded afterwards in an understandable format that can be used for future reference, most groups do this on their website. You could easily set up a website for free or a relatively small charge for this purpose.

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Even though I don't currently openly run any active investigation group, I still keep in touch with others that I've investigated with in the past and I still get a lot of E-mails from the public asking various questions; is their house haunted because they've experienced this and that; they've seen orbs around someone - what/who is it, can I shed any light on such and such.
Before investigating anywhere it is always a good idea, wherever possible, to conduct preliminary investigations, or at least a visit, and to do as much background research as possible, on past investigations and general history.

I will add more soon, I hope this helps for starters.