On October 29th 2020, Deep Echo made an appearance on the Ghost Adventures Tiger King episode. Deep Echo is an attempt to understand the physical nature of EVP and create a controlled environment for capture an experimentation with the phenomena.
We often talk about how we feel and what we sense, so we set out to record and monitor the feels of the crew during an investigation.
Then we went a step further and built a “God Helmet” type device to try and play back or link others in real time or replay what was recorded from the other individual.
We started with a commercial EEG device that is designed to monitor brain activity; these signals are received by our custom computer software and broken out as wave forms to be recorded and monitored. With the expanded ability to visualize the teams response it was quickly apparent that we could see the reactions often before the crew reacted.
The second piece is a magnetic device used to replay the recorded brain waves in an attempt to transfer the feelings or reactions.
We built these devices using 3D printer parts and laser cut pieces. The Replay helmet was built with a dual microprocessor control designed to replay the signals form the PC recording the events.
The entire build was very exhausting, between hardware and software this build took nearly 200 hours.
Further information on the Ghost Adventures Season 11 / Episode 11:
It’s always great to work with Zak and the guys because they allow me to create new gear and push the boundaries. The Wireless Movement Sensor is a leap forward in paranormal sensors. It can run stand alone or stream data to be remotely monitored / controlled.
Sometimes we need to just try for plain hard data. Real time data aids the investigation by adding collaborative information.
For this device we really wanted to move toward a more autonomous remote monitoring system. If we can remotely monitor it enables an area to be totally free of interference and accidental triggers thus we can attempt to capture clean event data as it actually happened.
We wanted to create a setup where at a glance the room and any recent changes could be seen and noted quickly. In addition we wanted to be able to remotely change the sensors alarms and configuration without disturbing the area the sensor is in.
The Wireless Movement Senor reads temperature, light levels and passive inferred movement. When sensors detects changes it triggers both audio and visual alarms.
The heart of the sensor is a small microprocessor that scans and tracks all inputs. Each value is monitored and compared to the previous sample to make sure nothing has changed enough to trigger an alarm. If the sensor is remotely connected the data is sent over the wireless connection to the remote monitoring station. The alarms settings can be remotely turned OFF/ON along with sensitivity levels. These remote configuration abilities enable the crew to adapt to environmental changes in the room.
Temperature is monitored using IR. Distance is measured by using a sonic sound pulse. Light levels are tracked by intensity and movement is monitored by the use of a PIR device “Passive inferred ”
The sensor has a visible alarm that flashes on the top of the unit and a speaker mounted on the bottom for audible alarm.
Either alarm can be activated or disabled depending on the needs of the investigation.
This device is built from a combination of laser cut parts and 3D printed parts to create the shell and housing. Powered by a LiPo battery the sensor runs for 12 hours on a single charge. A custom circuit board was constructed to connect the sensors and microprocessor.
The build was roughly 70 hours from concept to finished device.
This week the guys use the Ovilus 3 and Xcam SLS Camera. Zak and Jay are startled by the communication they receive with the Ovilus 3.
The Ovilus III was built for slightly over a year and subsequently replaced by the Ovilus 4 and then again by the Ovilus 5. The Ovilus III was the last Ovilus to use the synthetic speech generator. With the synthetic speech generator words were built using a series of phonetic sounds. The Ovilus III has 2048 pre-programmed words in the dictionary. Words are triggered and ‘spoken’ as a result of changes in the energy levels surrounding the Ovilus.
This week the guys also use the Xcam SLS “Structured Light Sensor” camera.
The Xcam SLS camera tracks changes in the depth of field viewed on the screen using the SLS sensor array. Distance, temperature and Light level is also measured by the device. Distance of objects from the camera using ultrasonic sensor. The temperature of the environment is recorded using the on board IR temperature sensor. Ambient light levels also recorded by an on-board photo sensor. Audio is captured and displayed in two manners. First it the audio is visualized as frequency over time in the lower window. In the upper window the audio is displayed as an instantaneous reading as frequency by decibel. These allow the user to visualize the audio spectrum. In addition the Xcam SLS creates a video recording so all changes can be viewed in real time as they happen so the replay shows all inputs as they happened.
When the Xcam SLS camera is filmed with an IR camera so you can actually see the DOT field the SLS projects to determine depth of field and track objects.
This field is projected using IR light so it is only visible when viewed with an IR sensitive camera.
The “field” is what the SLS camera uses to determine what objects are in front of it and how far they are. The video image displayed on the Xcam SLS screen is actually a series of layers not a video image at all.
We often hear that spirits drain batteries so for this episode we built a test based on ideas from Billy Tolley of Ghost Adventures.
The Spirit Battery Drain Experiment is a way to monitor batteries power drain over time in multiple types of batteries along with surrounding energy levels.
Each battery monitor was set up with a different battery type (alkaline, lithium, nicad) enabling observations such as if one kind of battery was affected more than another to be visualized.
Each battery meter was set up with a different color LED display which aides with quick differentiation between the battery tests.
The bright light in the center under voltage is an indication of the surrounding energy levels.
Including construction, printing, programming and assembly the build took close to 65 hours to complete.
For the shell of this build we used some durable pre-built cases. To simulate the electronic load of a camcorder we created a small microprocessor.
We added a small antenna and an energy sensor so the display could provide a visual indication if a nearby energy field was detected.
Flip switches were added to control device power and ITC mode.
The batteries are mounted on the face plate for easy access.
The face plate was laser etched and supports for the battery meters were 3D printed.
Video link: http://www.travelchannel.com/shows/ghost-adventures/video/paranormal-battery-drain
Image above remains sole property of its respective owner.
During investigations it is difficult to tell how fields of energy are changing. This week we built a quad sensor that shows the direction of the energy change and the level of change. Dubbed the bullet sensor because of the shape and that it is intended to provide rapid visual cues of energy changes.
The sensor has four separate antennas, each is monitored continually for changes in EMF / static fields.
As the energy level changes the light color will change on 1/4 of the device based on the antenna with the highest level of change.
Using a series of RGB leds the sensor can show energy as dark blue to pure white and virtually any color in between. Basically the lower the energy the darker the color. So dark blue is like a calm zero energy state and white would be the highest energy level.
This device is built from a combination of laser cut parts along with 3D printed parts to create the shell and housing. The four antennas are rubber tipped for safety and protrude from the top of the bullet dome. Powered by a LiPo battery and runs for 12 hours on a single charge. The build was roughly 65 hours from concept to finished device.
It features a 24 RGB led and a microprocessor control.
Ghost Adventures Season 11 Episode 06 – Los Coches Adobe in Soledad,CA – Episode photos and write up
This week we set out to make energy more visible than say a simple EMF meter would provide. To do this we created a dot matrix screen and added X / Y control from two antennas.
The Spirit window works by lighting the LED’s and scanning the array of LED’s from left to right, much like how an oscilloscope works. The X antenna controls the line height the Y antenna controls line width. The Spirit Window makes changes in energy easy to see, rather than a static reading you see changes over time.
The original design of the Spirit Window used what is called a flip-dot display; however, the flip-dot display had several bad rows so the design was scrapped and re-done using LED’s.
The design was “old school,” using through-hole devices and two microprocessors for control.
This build took roughly 120 hours to design, construct, scrap, start over, rebuild, test and tune. The major components were the case, opposing mirrors, custom made circuit board for controller, and custom made LED array. The sub assembles and mirrors were laser cut and everything was safely fitted and fastened inside the hard shell case.
The final unit created spectacular full screen drawings and small pinpoint images.
Looking for a cold spot?….How about a hot spot?……………Or EMF?
Ever tried to hold a flashlight in the dark and use an EMF meter at the same time? Well the Hand Held Thermal Sensor solves that issue and provides a wearable easy to read interface.
For the Old Lincoln County Hospital we devised a hand held thermal sensor flash light / energy meter. The device is compact, light and hands free. The flashlight color adjusts as the temperature around it changes. The small flashlight tucks in your palm while the display shows the readout on the back your hand.
On the back the device can display temperature or energy readings as well as histograms of either source.
The unit weights a couple ounces. It is powered by an internal rechargeable Li-Po battery that is can be recharged via a small USB port in the side of the device. Typically the battery can run the flashlight and display for up to 4 hours.
The display can show temperature or a chart, so you can sweep a room and view the changes. Additional modes read EMF and display the wave forms on the screen.
This build took nearly 90 hours to complete from concept, print, assembly to programming and test. The finished device printing time was roughly 7 hours for two units.
The entire case for this device was 3D printed all the wire and controls are mounted inside the band which was a hallow printed tube. Multiple small laser cut parts finish off the unit and encase the internals. Below you can see the shell before the laser cut parts finish it off and the lights/sensors were put in place.
What kind of 3D printers do we use? We have a fleet of 12 printers based on the original Rep-Rap Pursa design.
Ghost Adventures Season 11 Episode 4 – Old Lincoln County Hospital – Episode photos and write up
When Zak asked us to build a portable video ITC device we wanted to do more than just film black and white static. So we added multiple wireless energy sensors to influence the audio and color video input. During testing of the device we saw numerous images that ranged from disturbing chants on curdled red screens to pleasant imagery like a moving road way to a spectacular sunset.
The Video ITC system works by focusing a camera on the very same image that it is producing, thus creating an infinity type effect of looking into series of mirrors. The heart of the system is a custom written software program that controls the projector, camera and the offset image inputs for both x,y on the screen. The Vertical and Horizontal sensors were designed as wireless devices allow any changes in the energy fields to influence the images being shown. The controller allowed capture of the video images in real time so no additional gear would be needed. As an optional ITC mode the sensors also had an ability to influence character selection that were shown on screen and spoken by the software.
The device produced anything from pure white screens to multi color vertices:
The horizontal and vertical control sensors make this device so much different than just video feedback of static. With the introduction of a color camera in the system colors made a startling difference when looking at images:
The images flow like video morphing from the constant feedback and shifts of the image from the vertical and horizontal sensors. The system requires a bit of setup and tuning to get the exact distance from the projections surface between the projector and camera. Lastly audio feedback was added to take advantage of multiple methods of ITC at the same time.
This build took roughly 120 hours between hardware sensor design, software, testing and tuning. The remote sensors are wireless devices sensing energy changes in the form of static ionization or EMF. The bulk of the mounts were built using a laser cutting tool and various 3d printed parts.
Ghost Adventures Season 11 Episode 3 – Manresa Castle- Episode photos and write up.
Positive Ion Low Frequency Energy Resonator.
We wanted to create an environment that is “charged.”
Designed to emit positive ions pulsed at a very low frequency this unit creates a series of ringing sounds produced by the small coil on the discharge side of the electrodes. Hence the device does double duty, producing a series of rhythmic low frequencies –and- charging the environment around the device at the same time.
The 3-coil system is powered by a custom built micro-controller board.
The device consists of the power supply pictured below in the background, a long power cable and the main chamber.
Sound is produced by the electrical arc and the small coil rings. CAUTION: Devices like this can cause serious electrical shocks.
The power system needed to be portable so we constructed a 24v DC power pack with an emergency power switch as a fail safe.
The Pilfer took over 200 hours of build time to design, configure, test and refine. This build used a lot of laser cut components, 3d printed parts and Hand built electronics
The interior chamber had to be wide enough to hold the electronics and the fan to cool and force the air flow through the main chamber. Each coil produces ~120,ooo volts fired in sequence and precisely controlled to create the three frequency outputs. It took several attempts to tune the coils chamber length and diameter correctly.
The electronics were adjusted to create the pulsed arcs with out being too large or small, the key to this device was exacting the timing and distances.
Ghost Adventures Season 11 Episode 2 – Old Montana State Prison – Episode photos and write up.