(713) 774-1000 FAQ Spy Emporium where Integrity, Trustworthiness, Experience and Great Services are orders of the day since 1990.   Digital Recorder questions General Questions Pepper Spray Questions     Digital Recorder questions Q: Why did you send MBR-34 that does not have SIMS logo to me? A: SIMS, MBR-34, EDR-130, PTR-34T, PRO SERIES & MORE is the same recorder with the same features and superb quality MADE IN KOREA. There is no generic as long as pictures are the same. It is made by the same manufacturer. Every distributor and dealers use different names just to sell the recorder. 1.Q: I did not see too many dealers caring this Denpa online. Is it a good quality recorder? A: This recorder is second to the best if not the best in the market. It is designed and engineered like no other recorder. Highly durable with unsurpassed features of Resonance Box and Gap Coding . No other DVR has those features. 2.Q: Why did you send me 12 or 24 hours when l ordered 96 hours? A: The manufacturer used one beautiful packaging for all of the recorders with 24 hours on the box. The operation manual says USB-12, USB- 24, USB-48 & USB-96. Also the capacity and exact hours are indicated at the back of each recorder as 12 hrs.(16MB), 24 hrs.(32MB), 48 hrs.(64MB) and 96 hrs. (128MB). User friendly. 3.Q: Does it come with cell phone adapter and Remote mic? A: No it does not come with cell phone adapter and remote mic. Free. They are options from the factory. All other accessories including power supply are included free. 4.Q: After recording voice, which way is better to listen to my recorded messages? A: Three ways. (A) You can place it in the resonance box to listen. (b) You can listen with your ear piece plug for a stereophonic sound, (c) You can listen directly from the recorder mic. That is not as great as the first two options. 5. Q: Do l need MP-3 for surveillance recording? A: No you do not need MP-3 . It is unnecessary added luxury if you do not want it for loading music. That is the reason why we phase out MP-3. 6. Q: What is the FM-Radio for? A: The FM-Radio is for two things. (a) To disguise , and (b) To use it with the remote mic. 7.Q: What is Gap Coding? A: See page 15 of your owner's manual. It is feature that allows you to save up to 40% of recording time compressing the short gap (silence) in normal speech quality recording. No other recorder has this feature in the market. 8.Q: What type of batteries does come with? A: It comes with two 3ple A rechargeable batteries . We advice that you use Duracell or Energizer batteries . Why go through the pain of charging batteries overnight when it will record for only three to four hours while Duracell or Energizer batteries can last from 7-11 hours? 9.Q: What is the difference between digital and analog recorder? A: Digital recorder uses electronic chip, no tape, while analog uses tape. Digital is usually very small with many more recording hours and accessories such as USB & MP3. 10.Q: Can l use digital for evidence after l download it into my CPU? A: We do not think so here at spy emporium because one can easily alter a recorded message with digital recording, while it is not possible to do so with analog. See your legal advisor for more legal information. Analog recorders are better for evidence gathering. 11.Q: On your Denpa digital recorder, how can l set the (Voice activation)? A: To set VOR : (a)Press 'on' button from the side panel, press FCN button, it will show on the display. (b) Press the center key 2ce, VOR will appear on the panel for High Sensitivity. See page 14 on your instruction book. 12.Q: On your Denpa Digital Recorders, can l get the whole 12,24,48 or 96hrs. hours on one file or does it share the whole 96 hours within files A, B, C & D? A: Yes , you can record all of the hours on one file on all of our Denpa recorders. 13.Q: How can l record my phone line without the recorder running continuously? A: Make sure that you plug the cords into the right plugs and turn on your VOR. 14.Q: What format does the recorder store information? Does it store information in wave format ? A: Files are stored on the recorder in a "DVF" file format. The software included with the recorder has a wave file converter so you can quickly convert it to wave files once they have been uploaded into you computer. Then, you can copy them to CD or other media. 15.Q: There is software called Dragon that talks when stored in the CPU if it hears your digital recorder recording, can it transcribe it for me? Is your Denpa or MBR-34 recorder compatible with this software? A: At this time, we don't think that the recorder is compatible with the Dragon software. We think Dragon requires 25kbps sampling rate and our recorders run at 16kbps rate. 16.Q: Can l borne my recorded message into a CD? A: Yes you can; just like any other recorded messages. 17.Q: Will your hands free digital cell phone recorder connector automatically record if someone calls me on my cell phone? A: Of course, it will only if it is connected and set on voice activation. You need to set your VOX) on. Back to Top   GENERAL QUESTIONS: 18.Q: Do you guys operate from a box or are you the meet me at the packing lot business? A: No, we dot operate from the packing lot. We have a state-of-the-art show room at the highest up-scale rated A area in Houston, Texas called River Oaks. Our office hours are 10a.m.-6p.m. Monday through Friday and 11a.m.-6p.m. on Saturday. A degreed electronic technology engineer runs this show room. 19.Q: How do l know that my credit card is safe if l use it on line with your firm? A: We have a secured online credit card transaction. We have not had one incident of fraud to a customer since 1990. Not only that , Spy Emporium is a firm where Integrity, Trustworthiness, Experience and Great Services are orders of the day since 1990. We have featured on CNN, ABC, FOX 26, Houston Channel 2, 11, City under siege & 13 TV stations, Major News papers and Magazines over a period of 13 years. We are very confident that you are dealing with a celebrated business. See our bug detection equipment section under products for more information. 20.Q: Are your recorders quiet, do they make noise or beep? A: Our recorders are quiet and they do not make any noise. 21.Q: Do your digital recorders have power supply or just the batteries? A: Most of our digital recorders come with batteries and power supply. 22.Q: Can l know who is watching me? A: Yes you can know who is watching you by watching yourself or investing in spy gadgets to counter eavesdropping. No one is immune against eavesdropping attack, but it is your birthright to protect yourself against such attack. 23.Q: Can l bug a third party cell phone? A: By law, no one is allowed to intercept anyone's cell phone. However, you may record your own cell phone conversation. If you are caught recording a third party cell phone, you may go to Federal penitentiary for a good 5 years or more. 24.Q: Is it legal to record someone? A: Yes it is legal in some states most especially Texas as long as you are part of the conversation or say the word, "you may be recorded". See your attorney for more legal issues. 25.Q: Do you have tinny wireless microphones? A: No, we do not carry wireless microphones. It is Federal offence to carry or sell wireless microphones in America subject to public law 90-351. Tile 111.ISU.S.D. Section 2511, and any local, state or Federal ordinances. Consult your legal counsel for more details. 26.Q: Can l record my phone or someone's conversation? A: Yes, you can monitor your own conversation as long as you are paying the bill and the phone service is in your name. You can not record a third party's conversation, it is Federal offence which is punishable by prison time. 27.Q: Can l buy audio hidden camera? A: No, it is a Federal offense to have microphone in hidden camera. See act of Congress, surreptitious interception law. 28.Q: If my phone is tapped, how can l know? A: When you ask this type of question, you are only speculating. The way to know if your phone is tapped or room is bugged is by physical search or electronic search. You can do this by hiring a professional preferably from spy shop or a P.I who knows what he/she is doing. You can also by the debugging equipment and do tap/bug sweep by yourself. 29.Q: How can l tell if my daughter/son is skipping school or moving with the wrong crowd? A: You need to be vigilant and keep your eyes on the child. Go to his school, meet with the V.P and try to know as much as you can from home. They plan by talking on the phone at home. I am also a father, believe me, they plan and talk on the phone. You may want to check with your lawyer or your state law before you monitor his/her phone conversation at home. Also, you may not equip the child with cell phone if you can help it. 30.Q: How can l prevent employee theft? A: The best way to prevent employee theft is to install surveillance camera and stop them cold by having them on tape for evidence of theft. 31.Q: Can l use your recorder on my business PBS phone line? A: My answer is two folds. You can do so as long as you use the recorder on analog from phone service provider before it goes on the digital box call KSU or PBX or to the handset of the phone inside the office. No, you can not if you connect the phone to digital line in the office phone jack. If you do so, the lines will malfunction. You will have to connect the recorder into the "Y" jack and plug the cord into the PBS jack. If the cords are looped, you can not use the recorder. Check out our new P-5090, P-5085 and P-5075 for more info. 32.Q: Can RF detector detect hidden camera, tap and bug? A: No, it is impossible since they do not operate on the same frequencies. Some (RF) Radio Frequency detectors can detect wireless hidden camera because they transmit within the frequencies of 900MGz, 1.2MGz, 2.4GHz and more but they are designed for Tap and bug detections . Should you want to detect wired camera, you would need to purchase camera detector i.e. VDC-43. See our line of countermeasure sets under products from our home page. 33. Q: What is the difference between wireless camera and wired camera? Which one should l purchase? A: Wired camera has a cable that goes from the camera to a TV or VCR. Wired cameras must use RCA cable to connect the camera to the TV or VCR and BNC connector to connect camera to commercial VCR . A wireless camera does has built in transmitter and sends signal to a receive that hooks to TV, Monitor a VCR. Wireless cameras transmit 10-1000 feet frequency in reference to the camera transmitter capability. Check FCC law. Word of advice: Inasmuch as, you would like to enjoy convenience with wireless camera, you may be giving away your privacy and belongings to electronics hackers who drives around with receivers that can intercept wireless cameras. It will be very difficult to circumvent wired cameras. Also, wireless cameras do not have economic advantage that wired cameras have. 27.Q: Do you carry voice recorder detector? A: No, we do not carry voice recorder detector because the ones out there are not good and they are too expensive. To use them, you have to literarily touch a person with the $750-$1200.00 equipment. At Spy Emporium, we think about our customers satisfaction before we think about how much money we can make out of them. When you are happy, we can laugh our ways to the bank. 28.Q: Do ship C.O.D.? A: No. we do not because we have had bad experiences over years. 29.Q: Do you have the products readily available to ship? A: Yes, we have 90% of our online products in stock at all times in both our warehouses and show room. We always have 100% of all our recorders in stock. 30.Q Do you have free shipping and good warranty? A: Yes, we have free ground shipping on orders more than $100 but weighs not more than 10ibs. We have a 90 day full replacement warranty plus one year parts and labor. 31.Q: What kind of store is this? A: Our store is a spy gadgets store that sells, huge selection of all kinds of voice/telephone recorders, analog and digital, lock picking tools, hidden and wireless cameras, wired microphones and much more. 32.Q: Do you ship same day if l order online with my credit card? A: Integrity, Trustworthiness, and Good Services are order of the day at Spy Emporium. Yes we do, but you must provide your credit card issuing bank telephone number and use paid email such as AOL. Your shipping address and card holder's name must match the address registered to the card including the telephone. We take fraud serious since we do not want charge backs and unworthy transactions. If you want the item shipped to a different address for privacy, you must fax in your order with correct and relevant information to Security Trade fax number 713-529-8012. Back to Top   Pepper Spray Questions What is Pepper Spray? OC is a derivative of HOT CAYENNE PEPPERS and is the newest defensive spray agent. It is not an irritant like the tear gases, but an inflammatory agent. Contact with mucous membranes (eyes, nose, throat and lungs) will cause IMMEDIATE dilation of the capillaries of the eyes, resulting in TEMPORARY BLINDNESS and instant inflammation of the breathing tube tissues, cutting off ALL BUT LIFE-SUPPORT BREATHING. OC will not deteriorate with age and unlike the tear gasses, WILL NOT CAUSE LASTING AFTEREFFECTS. One of the biggest misconceptions about defense spray is that the higher the percentage, the hotter and better it works. In most cases this could not be further from the truth. Most of the best, fastest incapacitating sprays in the world are from 2%-10%. The lighter the fluid, the faster is penetrates the membranes. The percentage has nothing to do with the actual SHU or "hot" in the spray. Also, thicker sprays can inflame the skin area more and last longer with this unnecessary inflammation. A good spray will put the attacker down and out allowing you to escape or take control of the situation. Because it is an inflammatory, rather than an irritant, OC is effective against all those who feel no pain such as psychotics, drunks and drug abusers. OC has proven itself to be the ABSOLUTE BEST DETERRENT available for attacking dogs and wild animal control. Another major advantage of OC is that it is not volatile and will not emit a lot of fumes like tear gases. The term OC (oleoresin capsicum) is a horticultural term which refers to chili peppers. There are many different kinds of chili peppers ranging from jalapenos, chiletpin, and cayenne to habaneros. They all have one thing in common. They all contain a substance that is very powerful -- an alkaloid called capsaicin (cap-say-a-sin). Just a single drop of tasteless and odorless capsaicin in 100,000 drops of water and the heat can be noticeable. In fact, capsaicin can be detected by humans at one part per ten million! Capsaicinoids are produced by a gland in the pepper's placenta, which is the top partition just below the stem. This is also where the seeds are attached. The placenta is about 16 times stronger than any other part of the plant, any OC spray worth its salt will use its active ingredient made from this part. Back in 1912, a pharmacologist named Wilbur Scoville came up with the standard for measuring the power of capsaicin. Called the Scoville Organoleptic Test, it was needed to calculate the temperature of peppers used in many pharmaceutical products of the time (such as "Heat" which was used for the relief of sore muscles, arthritis pain and muscular sprains). Scoville measured the ground pepper into a mixture of sugar, water and alcohol. Then, a panel of five tasters sipped the mixture and gave it a grade; it took a majority of three to assign a value. Today, the value is established through high technology, a computerized method called high-performance liquid chromatography. The pepper scale ranges from zero Scoville unit for a bell pepper to 5,000 or so for a jalapeno to a whopping 200,000 - 300,000 for a habanero! Pure capsaicin is 15,000,000. The oleoresin capsicum used in a superior pepper spray formula is derived from the hottest peppers and further processed and refined until the heat rating is 5,300,000 (5.3 million!). Training on How to Disperse Pepper Spray Dispersion methods vary depending upon the type of strea patterns of the pepper spray unit. Outlined below are forced cone, broken-stream, fogger and foam. Forced cone: This is a variation on the popular cone type and is the best in most situations. It is a fine mist that comes out in a forceful spray pattern usually at distances from 8 to 12 feet. In the latest generation of dispensing actuators, the mist is made up of super-fine droplets of pepper solution. These droplets help to minimize blow-back of pepper formula on you while the mist (looks like a heavy fog) penetrates the attacker's skin pores and mucous membranes for an experience they will not soon forget! This pattern actually spreads out to a width of approximately 2 feet at its maximum distance. This pattern covers the whole face and is absorbed into the mucus membrane with hot pepper causing the eyes to seal with tears, nose to run, excessive coughing, shortness of breath, etc. Broken-Stream: (and heavy-stream) This type is a variation on the widely distributed stream type. Very effective at hitting multiple attackers, hitting them in the dark, in tight areas, e.g., through your partially opened car window, and helps with aim. The solid stream (similar to the water guns sold today) will blast an attacker with super-hot pepper! Through a partially opened car window you have minimum misting action that can contaminate you. If you miss, or the attacker was in a hard- to-reach area, you can "fan" this spray during discharge. Fanning is a technique for hitting your mark. You spray the stream then move your dispersions path from side to to side until yon hit your mark! The stream also provides the heaviest blast of pepper (cans will empty faster). The pepper works instantly. Causes the eyes to seal with tears, nose to run, excessive coughing, shortness of breath, etc. Fogger: This type of spray pattern is great for multiple attackers, crowd control, bears and home use. One disadvantage is there can be some blow-back of pepper contaminating you, especially if used outdoors. However, the blast you would receive and the direct blast the attacker receives are quite different. Where you would tear and cough on a good sized blow-back, the attacker would be rendered incapacitated for about 30 minutes. You pull the trigger or release button, and "fan" your path back and forth hitting everything in its path. Picture a mini fire extinguisher! The pepper works instantly. Causes the eyes to seal with tears, nose to run, excessive coughing, shortness of breath, etc. Foam: This type is excellent for blow-back protection and immediate saturation. EXAMPLE: If it is windy, you can spray this with minimum to no pepper blow-back contaminating you. A common misconception is that the attacker, once sprayed with the foam can just wiped it away and continue to attack. This Pepper Foam is like thick, sticky saving cream but with one addition... 5.3 million Scoville Heat Units of blistering hot pepper. He will try to wipe it off but it will be to late. The pepper works instantly. Causes the eyes to seal with tears, nose to run, excessive coughing, shortness of breath, etc. Pepper Spray Antidote No one has a quick and 100% effective neutralizing agent for Capsaicin. Capsaicin is the chemical agent in peppers (not the seeds) which stimulate tissue and fake the brain into thinking there is pain. No doubt the pain is real though! Milk, baking soda paste and honey do a good job removing the sting from the fingers and face, but trace amounts of Capsaicin will remain on the fingers even after dozens of hand washings. Advice from a Bio-Chemist at Michigan State University is to wash the hands in alcohol. Please be aware that this will only help to a certain degree. Ultimately you will need to wait for the skin to slough off the microbes of Capsaicin. Back to Top Thank you. We will continue to add more questions and answers as you ask them. Leo May For Security Trade (Spy Emporium).