Recording Device

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Hey everyone. I am new to the site, and a new OC/CC carrier in Nebraska.



I have seen some posts on recording devices and was wondering if it is absolutely recommended when carrying. Where is the best place to get them?



Thanks

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Husker0700 wrote:

Hey everyone.  I am new to the site, and a new OC/CC carrier in Nebraska. 

 

I have seen some posts on recording devices and was wondering if it is absolutely recommended when carrying.  Where is the best place to get them?

 

Thanks

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Welcome to the forum.

Yes many here do carry them for Open Carry (OC) encounters with unfriendly Law Enforcement Officers (LEO). Digital recorders are best as they require on tape and can record for hours. Radio shack, best buy, Amazon.com are the most common purchase locations. The specific type and cost are generally determined by your budget. Get the best one you can afford that can be easily activated BEFORE your encounter, and has a long record time. If it can interface with your computer, better yet.

The purpose is not to pull a "Gotcha" on the LEO, but to protect the rights of all concerned.

Regards

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Best Buys, or online.

Many cell phones will record voice memos too--some are better than others though, and some of the software to do this on smartphones will stop recording if a call or text message comes in...

You can get a good-quality digital voice recorder for under $50 if you shop around. Best Buys should have them on sale soon for the holidays...

Look at the SanDisk Sansa if you're on a budget. Their "View" model has 8gigs of memory, which can provide a whole day's worth of recording. and it can be had for under $60. The smaller Sansa's (2gig, 4 gig) can be had for even less, and they are small, discreet, and work with most computers for downloading audio files.

If you have deep pockets and want to go higher quality, the Olympus digital recorders are purpose-designed for recording speech, (they are not just MP3 players that also record, like the Sansa), have better mics, and are small and have great battery life. They also cost between $100 and $250, depending on the model.

If cost is not an issue, and you want production-quality sound, look at Tascam. They make a model called the DR-1 that uses SD cards (and can take up to a 32gig card) and can record a number of formats, from MP3 to true CD-quality. Of course, they retail for about $300, and are a little bigger than the old, big PalmPilots...

If you have a Mac, your choices are a little more limited, because some of the companies (Sony, Panasonic, etc) are notoriously Mac-unfriendly. so getting the files off your recorder and into a computer can be tricky (if not nearly impossible). But The Sansa is accessable from a Mac, although it does not include software for file transfer and is not iTunes compliant.

Good luck!

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Just FYI, this week's Staples ad (usually in the Sunday newspapers) says all their digital recorders are on sale for $10-$40 off. 12/13-12/19.

I have done no comparison shopping, I just saw the ad.

TFred

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Thanks for all the replies.



I'll be getting a digital recorder to help protect myself.

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Just last friday I picked up an Olympus vn5200-pc at costco for $40. Normally retail for about $50 to $60. Records about 17 hours in HQ mode. Pretty much long enough to hit the record button when you leave the house and not worry about running out of "tape". I just happened to have a big enough lanyard/leach to wear it around my neck and conceal it under my shirt.

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With a digital voice recorder, I would also have a digital video camera. Not really a camcorder, but one of the little ones that don't have the great optics, but you can still get video and have it dumped right to a memory card in the device. Makes for faster uploading to the computer and editing if needed. I saw one on Best Buy's site for $50. You don't need anything great, as long as it records sound and video with some level of clarity that is useful.

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You can also up the gain quality of lower digital recorders by purchasing a T7 (used to be TP6) from radio shack. This is actually a microphone that jacks into your recorder and designed to be used to record both sides of a telephone call, but it makes a great hidden microphone and helps reduce interference from clothing and such.

I use the Sony Digital recorders from Wal-Mart, long record time, good quality, and reasonable at $35.00

Always remember, if an incident happens that you record, you KEEP the original in your possession. If LEO wants it, give them a copy.

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okboomer wrote:

You can also up the gain quality of lower digital recorders by purchasing a T7 (used to be TP6) from radio shack. This is actually a microphone that jacks into your recorder and designed to be used to record both sides of a telephone call, but it makes a great hidden microphone and helps reduce interference from clothing and such.

I use the Sony Digital recorders from Wal-Mart, long record time, good quality, and reasonable at $35.00

Always remember, if an incident happens that you record, you KEEP the original in your possession. If LEO wants it, give them a copy.

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Is that the one that looks like a ipod ear bud?

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Make sure you know and follow the laws of YOUR state. Ohio is a one party consent state for audio recording. As long as you're a party to the conversation, you can record, without the knowledge or consent of any other party.

I don't open carry, but I ALWAYS have an audio recorder when I'm carrying, and usually even when I'm not.

I use a Sansa C250 mp3 player that somebody gave me. It has excellent recording quality, even inside the change pocket of my jeans.

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Sabotage,


The views are phone side, ear side w/out rubber gasket.

Not an Ipod user, so don't know what that looks like

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Dreamer wrote:

If you have a Mac, your choices are a little more limited, because some of the companies (Sony, Panasonic, etc) are notoriously Mac-unfriendly. so getting the files off your recorder and into a computer can be tricky (if not nearly impossible). But The Sansa is accessable from a Mac, although it does not include software for file transfer and is not iTunes compliant.

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Mac is notoriously friendly to devices that have no Mac drivers... Are Sony and Panasonic recorders setup in such a way that they need special software, and will not show up as an external mass storage device? (I don't have a recorder from either company, which is why I ask)

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Atomic,

I'm a Mac user (have been since they were called "Lisa"), so that's why I brought it up...

Sony digital devices are sort of notorious for this. Many of them won't transfer files unless you use their proprietary software--they are not even seen as external drives. I can't speak to the newer ones because I've ot personally use one, but some of the older Sony digital recorders are a real pain to use with Mac...

I recently saw a bunch of new Sony digital recorders in an office store, and most of the models on display DID say they supported Mac OS, but ONLY by showing up as anexternal drive. The sorftware they ship (for editing, archiving and managing files) is NOT Mac compatible. But then again, if you've gt GarageBand and iTunes, who cares, right?...

I'll probably be buying an Olympus...