Best way to make a "ghost detector" :P

[Triode]

I've noticed a lot of "ghost hunting" shows manage to make it, probably because they attract some viewers and cost almost nothing to make. So I started thinking, how could I cash in on this? A detector? They always buy devices from "ghost technology experts" in these shows. But what would it detect? You want it to seem to detect something, it can't be random, that would be unsatisfying for them, it can't react to something obvious, like grip pressure or electrical fields, that would get obvious. But if it reacted to their heart rate I think that would work great!

Picture it, they're holding the device (beep.......beep........beep) they go somewhere they feel a ghost may be and get scared (beep...beep...beep) the speeding up of the detector confirms this fear, or makes them excited a ghost may be nearby (beep beep beep). Better yet, what if they freak out and start running? It would speed up even more (BEEBEEBEE) "OH LORD THE GHOSTS ARE CHASING ME! AAAAAH!"

 

[audioguru]

Go away. Ghosts are in your imagination.
But there are many GULLABLE people that you can sell ANYTHING to.

 

[Reloadron]

Start with IR detectors and work from there, keeping in mind it is a novelty thing. Fitting as Halloween is coming. Boo!

Ron

 

[jpanhalt]

You can buy one cheap here: https://www.amazon.com/Ramsey-TFM3C-Field-Meter-Detector/dp/B0002NRLBG

Amazon even gives a guarantee.

John

 

[BrownOut]

If there's somethin' strange in your neighborhood
Who ya gonna call (ghostbusters)
If it's somethin' weird an it won't look good
Who ya gonna call (ghostbusters)

I ain't afraid a no ghost
I ain't afraid a no ghost
If you're seein' things runnin' thru your head
Who can you call (ghostbusters)
...

 

[Triode]

I wasn't asking for how to do it. I was just saying this would be a funny way to do it, probably as a prank on friends, not something you could actually use or sell.

 

[duffy]

Well, I think this is a terrific idea! A humorous example of some sort of positive-feedback loop.

The usual technique for heart-rate monitors is to read the change in subdermal skin reflectance with an IR emitter-receiver pair. Tricky to implement that into a small box that could be held any number of ways. You could add a wrist-strap or something (make an excuse that the user has to be properly "grounded") but that would probably give away the operation.

 

[Ziddik]

If there's somethin' strange in your neighborhood
Who ya gonna call (ghostbusters)
If it's somethin' weird an it won't look good
Who ya gonna call (ghostbusters)

I ain't afraid a no ghost
I ain't afraid a no ghost
If you're seein' things runnin' thru your head
Who can you call (ghostbusters)
...

thats from a movie called "ghost busters" LOL LOL LOL

 

[Blueteeth]

Generally, from what I've seen of these shows, they use the ever spooky 'EM detector', because of course! Ghosts emit EM radiation! (like all electrical appliaces, electronics, and pretty much all matter in the known universe does...). They claim its ELF EM, so thats low frequency magnetic fields to you and me, which are kicked out by all household appliances and with constructive/destructive interference create 'hotspots' that ghost hunters claim to be the dead - hovering over an old refrigerator - probably after cold cuts.

So googling an ELF meter woudl be a good idea. Adding a buzzer/beeper, and a flashing LED when it goes above a threshold would be a handy touch. But if you plan on charging people to 'hunt for ghosts' with this thing, make sure they do not turn off the power to their house - you probably won't pick up anything. Often many will turn off lights because apparently ghosts are afraid of lights (and it means people are more likely to be fooled by their eyes), but flourescent lamps kick out a lot of electrical noise so would give more 'ghost blips'.

I did have a Robert E Ianini book which had a 'UFO detector' circuit. It just detected changes in the earths magnetic field for picking up moving large metalic objects (he claimed it could detect planes over head), That was a coil, excited by an oscillator, the frequnecy of which woudl get pulled off-centre and then detected by a PLL. Sonds like a metal detector to me, but same deal.

Adding a switchable filter at the front would be a good one too, as you could claim that some ghosts appear at certain frequencies, I wouldn't put it past many self-proclaimed ghost hunters to believe that ghosts of children produce higher frequencies (oh doesn't that make sense!).

I'll stop being sarcastic, sorry :/

Blueteeth.

 

[duffy]

Playing Devil's advocate here for a moment - suppose you took this biophysical monitoring idea seriously. The idea would be that the ghost hunters themselves are the sensors, that somehow only a living being can detect a ghost. So you hook sensors up to the paranormal investigators. You would detect pulse rate, galvanic skin response, alpha waves, goosebumps, penile plethysmography and vaginal photoplethysmography.

Especially those last two.

 

[Blueteeth]

...vaginal photoplethysmography....

Good work if you can get it...

 

[duffy]

How about this: a throat mic connected to the input of a high-threshold VOX driving a backlit annunciator that reads: GHOST DETECTED. Works when the ghost hunters start screaming.

 

[Mikebits]

You can attract ghost with ghoul-osh... You need a plasma detector...

 

[Ziddik]

Ghosts n devils do not exist..

 

[Blueteeth]

Ghosts n devils do not exist..

Try telling that to Keith Richards..

 

[misterT]

Try telling that to Keith Richards..

Tutankhamen, Ramses, Keith Richards.. the famous mummies.

 

[ronsimpson]

Ghosts n devils do not exist..

There are hundreds of radio and TV preachers that make a living from the devil.
1-800-SEND-MONEY

 

[transistor495]

Detector works!

Ghosts n devils do not exist..

I'm having a drink with couple of them right now..Let me say they're very friendly

 

[BrownOut]

Now that this thread is in the Lounge, I can go OT. I've wanted to make more realistic Halloween effects, ghosts and expecially fireballs. I've used all the normal methods; silk sheets illuminated with colored LED's and blown by fans. That's a pretty good fire, but I want someting that knocks the kid's socks off and is safe. I've though about a backlit screen with a hidden projector, also using a fog machine with lighting to make an effect of fire. I'm looking for better suggestions, as I want to make it as realistic as possible.

 

[duffy]

^ Add some sparks. Some years ago, I made a nice simulated explosion that used a thick bundle of fiber-optic strands in a foot or so of plastic tube mounted vertically. A heavy "washing machine" solenoid connected to a lever would quickly slide the tube down the bundle, so the strands were free to spill out under their own gravity. At the same time, I fired a brief 20V pulse through a 12V incandescent bulb in a reflector assembly at the base of the optic bundle. The effect is similar to a flashlamp (and for a brief pulse doesn't seriously degrade the life of the bulb) - but there's an important difference: as the tungsten filament goes from white-hot to cool, there are a few milliseconds where it transitions white-yellow-orange-red, getting darker as it cools. This looks EXACTLY like sparks from a fire when seen from the flying ends of the fiber optics.

If you add this, and smoke from a fog machine, to the standard "blown silk" flames you will probably have people running in abject terror.