NOVICE NOTICE:
Just a helpful "consumer" warning:
If you see a paranormal team using a device similar to what is pictured, and you ask them what they are doing and they say, "Measuring the temperature" - then you need to realize they probably don't know what they're doing!
I'm seeing some teams using this device - it does NOT measure ambient air temperature, it measures the SURFACE TEMPERATURE of whatever it is the infrared laser dot happens to be on. It looks cool but is useless. Ghost hunters need to use ambient air temperature devices, not surface temp ones. We have one of these in case for some ODD reason we need to measure surface temp, but we know what it is for. We have a dozen ambient air temp devices. Apparently many teams haven't a clue...which says a lot about their skill and ability as a serious paranormal investigatory team.
So many people watch TV shows and think it'd be "cool" to go out and do this...that have no business in the field, at least without the humility of asking a mentor to help them...sigh...
[Yes, I'm saying if you are a team leader and you feel you'd like to be able to contact me and ask questions that would make your team a better team, then yes, I'm available. I'm all for training people that are trying to legitimately help others. Just be ready for me to ask you some questions about your motives and sincerity - or to get you to think about something you need to think about. But I am willing to help you get better.]
Complete novice question here, but when you're looking for ambient air temperature, couldn't you just use a regular thermometer? No batteries or anything, just a plain old mercury thermometer?
ReplyDeleteGreat question, and yes Mark, you sure can. The only disadvantage of using a standard mercury type thermometer is how slow they are to react. That's why seasoned teams prefer to use digital ambient air temp devices that have a "k" type thermometer-such as the MEL meter made by our friend Gary Galka of DAS Distributing. They give a very quick response to any variations of air temperature, and do so in tenths of a degree.
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