This has to be the worst meter an investigator can add to their arsenal of equipment, but has received great attention and enthusiasm because of its use on the Ghost Hunters TV series, where they use it for “Spirit” communication. Unfortunately all the show has done is to set the world of paranormal research back to the stone-age.

The K-II was designed at the height of the EM scare in the early 90’s, and is designed to pick up EM noise. The readout only has four LEDs (the fifth is always lit) to display a reading, which gives it very poor resolution and supplies the user with very little information about the strength of the signal. That in itself should raise major concerns about the usefulness of this product, but it gets even worse from here.

Because the meter uses LEDs, which are very quick to respond with a readout, any little spike in EM will generate a response. While some may think this is a good thing, it is actually not desirable because there are such spikes generated by know sources all the time. The sun, beginning and ending radio transmissions, electrical appliances switching on and off, and a number of other man made and natural influences.

Another thing that makes this meter undesirable is that it is has a single pole detector.  What this means is that it is polarized and simply turning the meter on any axis will greatly affect the strength of the reading.  This again adds to the confusion and influence that random noise will have on the meter.

Now when it comes to spirit communication, I think people need to reign in on their emotions and think about this logically. The K-II is not the first EMF meter, nor is it the only one. The only difference between it and a number of others on the market is the LED readout. As I mentioned earlier, this is a bad thing, and if you were to hook up an LCD display to this device, you would find that it would produce similar results to a Sperry Meter. In other words, if it works with the K-II, it should work with any meter out there, but investigative teams such as T.A.P.S. would have us believe that it is special and unique to this ability to communicate with spirits.

Here’s another interesting observation that people should be aware of and consider: When the K-II meter was first used by TAPS on the show Ghost Hunters, with Chris Fleming as a guest, they used the cheap on off button that comes stock on the meter. This is a momentary switch that only stays engaged as long as you hold the button down. Another interesting thing about the K-II is that it swings full scale when first powered on, then half scale, then sits idle with the first LED lit. Exactly like it did during the communication episode on Ghost Hunters, when they were in Dave Oman’s house. In fact, if you watch that episode, you can see the first LED wink out momentarily, indicating they let off the power button momentarily. This happens each and every time they get a response. Now some have suggested that maybe it is like a Ouija board and that it’s subconscious, but I say hogwash to that. To do this requires to much conscious effort to trigger it with as little power interruption as is seen on the show. In other words, it’s all staged, and if you notice that after being called into question about it, they ceased using the meter in such a fashion.

Now what Ghost Hunters does is to jam a quarter in the power button. This is the keep the switch engaged, but as a side effect it also makes it more susceptible to influence from things such as family band radios. This influence can easily be seem by anyone who momentarily pushes the talk button and releases it. It can also be seen by simply holding the talk button down and simply moving the radio side to side in any direction or pivoting it in a twisting motion, which is how I believe they are rigging their responses now.

In short, because of all the drawbacks of this meter, the results are highly questionable and should be ignored. Because of all its flaws, the K-II is more toy than a useful piece of equipment for paranormal investigation. Those who think otherwise are encouraged to open up a few books on electronics, scientific methodology, and examine the schematic for the K-II.

In closing, I’d like to present a couple of video clips I shot with the K-II. The first is using the same method TAPS used in the Manson Murders episode. The second is using a family band radio.

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