RECORDING TELEPHONE CALLS Thomas M. Goodpaster

NOTICE This ebooklet is copyrighted material. No part of it, including imagery contained herein, can be reproduced or sold without the written consent of Thomas M. Goodpaster dba Blue Heron Investigations. There are no reseller rights that came with your purchase of this ebooklet. Your use of the information contained within this ebooklet constitutes an agreement on your part to indemnify and hold harmless the author and Blue Heron Investigations from and against any and all claims, loss, liability, costs, damages and reasonable attorney’s fees incurred by the author and / or Blue Heron Investigations arising from your actions. INTRODUCTION Before we begin, let me assure you that (in all probability) you will come to the conclusion that installing a recorder and recording telephone calls is a lot easier than you originally thought. I hope you keep in mind that, before you bought this ebooklet, that you didn’t have the answers to your questions. I hope you don’t feel cheated by the ease with which you are going to begin recording calls. If you find recording calls difficult, then I have failed you. I recall once ordering an ebooklet that proclaimed to teach the reader how to build a realtime GPS vehicle tracking device for under $50.00 and in only an hour or so. Knowing that GPS tracking devices were expensive and complicated devices (from personal / professional experience), I was intrigued enough with the author’s claims that I actually bought the booklet for a couple of dollars. The answer, I found, was so obvious that I initially felt cheated by the author. But then I realized – I didn’t have this obvious answer until after I bought the ebooklet. Similar to a fantastic magic trick – once you know how it’s done, you think to yourself “Well that’s not magic – that’s just stupid.” People record telephone calls for a whole host of reasons – some legitimate, others not. As a licensed private detective, hardly a week goes by without someone calling to ask, “Can you bug phones?” The question’s phrasing implies a desire to tap a telephone or otherwise conduct illegal eavesdropping – something I am unwilling to do. But I’ve long since learned that follow-up questions are usually in order – that, while a few callers really are asking for an illegal wiretap (almost certainly unknowingly), most have a legitimate and legal reason for their request. For the latter group, their asking for my assistance in “bugging a phone” is really a case of ignorance in proper terminology. Let’s take a look at some cases that may be perfectly legitimate (if not always legal) reasons for people to record telephone calls and conversations: 1

EXAMPLE 1 Mary recently ended an abusive relationship with a jealous boyfriend – we’ll call him “Mark”. Mark is one of those “if I can’t have her – then nobody can” types and has taken to stalking and harassing Mary. Mary, in her infinite wisdom, went to the local courts and obtained an “Order For Protection” (OFP) to keep Mark from bothering her any more. Unfortunately for Mary – Mark doesn’t “honor” OFPs. Mark continues to call Mary to threaten, intimidate and harass her. Somehow, he thinks this will get Mary back by doing this. Mark’s not too bright. Mary goes to the police instead, and reports that Mark is continuing to call her in violation of the OFP she got. But they do nothing; there is no proof that Mark is calling Mary except for Mary’s statements. They require proof. Mary decides to record her own “conversation” with Mark should he make the mistake of calling her again. Because she has three telephones in the home, she ensures that the recorder can record calls regardless of which phone she picks up. Mary goes on to record a two party conversation of which she is a part. EXAMPLE 2 John and Maggie are the parents of a 16 year old girl. Their daughter, rather unwisely, saw fit to begin dating a twenty-something year old man. The parents demanded that this man stop seeing their daughter, and their daughter assured her parents that the relationship would end. It didn’t. Out of concern for the safety and welfare of their daughter, John and Maggie get an OFP on behalf of (OBO) their daughter precluding the man from having any further contact with her. They install a telephone recorder on an extension line in their bedroom (where their daughter is unlikely to discover it) to document the fact that their daughter and this man are still seeing each other. While neither John nor Maggie will ever be a part of any impending two party conversation between their daughter and this adult male – they believe, whether correctly or otherwise, that they have the right to consent to the recording on behalf of their minor daughter. EXAMPLE 3 Tom is a state licensed Private Detective who routinely takes statements from people by telephone, enters into contractual relationships with his clients who promise to pay him for his services if he just does this or that, and who occasionally calls the very subjects of his investigations (under pretext) to elicit truthful information from them (they wouldn’t provide that information if they knew that he was a Private Detective). Tom wants to record his calls so that he can later transcribe the statements, prove that his client authorized him to conduct another day of surveillance (should the client refuse to pay), and to show that the subject of the investigation admitted to doing this or that. Tom installs a telephone recorder prominently on his desk to accomplish these tasks.

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EXAMPLE 4 Jimmy is a businessman who owns “Jimmy’s Business”. He has three full-time people on his sales staff. After finding out that one of his employees spends the day on the golf course with his buddies, and the other two in the bars drinking their afternoons away, he decides that his sales staff should be making their calls from the office. Things pick up for awhile, but then sales begin to drop. Jimmy can’t figure it out because his sales staff always seems to be busily making calls whenever Jimmy enters the office. To find out what’s going on, Jimmy begins to record the calls made from his office. By doing this, he quickly realizes that, at least some of the time, his staff aren’t actually talking to anyone when he enters the office – “At the tone, the time will be 11:47 a.m.” Jimmy believes that he has the right to record these calls because it’s a business that he owns. EXAMPLE 5 This caller – we’ll call him “Dave”, doesn’t want to record his telephone calls at all; Dave wants to “wear a wire”, so to speak, for his own protection. You see, Dave is recently divorced from a very bitter woman. Dave would be happy to never see this woman again but, because he has young children with her, this is not an option. Dave and his ex are currently litigating their child custody case through the courts. In the meantime, Dave and “Ms. Bitter” get together every Friday afternoon and Sunday evening to “exchange” the children in the parking lot of the local five and dime. Dave tries his best to bite his tongue and remain civil, if only for the children’s sake, and does nothing to fuel the fire burning in Ms. Bitter’s eyes. Unfortunately for Dave, Ms. Bitter isn’t so ethical; one Monday, she reports to her attorney just how abusive Dave is during these “transfers” at the five and dime. “Why”, she tells her attorney, “He threatened to kill me and turn me into hamburger and then make meatloaf out of me and then to have me for dinner and then to….” She goes on. Her attorney stops her and implores her to go to the police to report this assault. Dave does not find it amusing that he cannot prove that he didn’t say these things. Dave decides to discreetly record his conversations with Ms. Bitter during future exchanges. He lives in a state where only one party of a two party conversation needs to be aware of the recording. EXAMPLE 6 Carol rents an apartment and lives alone. She begins to consider that, while she’s at work, somebody’s been coming into her apartment – every once in awhile, things appear moved ever so slightly. She calls the local PI in town to install a video camera to document any unauthorized entry, but quickly learns that installing a video camera system is not an inexpensive proposition – “You see, the camera’s the least of the expense” the PI tells her “It’s the time lapse recorder, cables, power supplies, cable adapters, tapes, shipping and handling expenses to get the equipment here, three to four hours of my time to install and hide the equipment in your apartment, my travel time,

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mileage to and from my office to your place, and state sales taxes on top of that that accounts for the high costs.” Carol isn’t ready to bite this big of a bullet, and she’s heard that the wireless cameras sold at her local stores both compromise her privacy (by broadcasting the signal to neighboring tenants) and are unreliable. Instead, she decides to check first to see if she’s just being paranoid – she uses her “phone recorder” as a regular recorder to monitor sounds in the apartment while she’s away. It’s her place, after all, and nobody else lives there.

SOME IMPORTANT ISSUES TO CONSIDER Are any of the above examples legally justifiable? Can a business owner record his employees making calls on company time and equipment? Can a parent give consent to record on behalf of a minor child? Does knowing that a conversation is being recorded constitute consent to record? I’m not qualified to offer this legal advice, and nothing contained within this ebooklet should be misconstrued to be legal advice. With that said, please allow me to share some non-lawyerly “thoughts” on the matter. Remember Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinski and the wonderful friendship the two of them seemingly had with each other? Apparently (and of course I would have no way of knowing if this were actually true), Ms. Tripp recorded her conversations with Ms. Lewinski and found herself in a world of hurt for doing so. In some states (I have heard) all parties to a conversation need to be made aware of the fact that the conversation is being recorded. So, it’s not good enough for “Dave” (in example # 5 above) or for Ms. Tripp to know that the conversation is being recorded if he or she lives in one of these “all party” states – The two must notify the other party, i.e. “Ms. Bitter” and Ms. Lewinski that they are being recorded. In other states, as well as per federal government statutes (I was once told by somebody who didn’t know anything about anything), only one party (that would be “Dave” and Tripp again) of a two party conversation (that would be “Dave” and “Ms. Bitter” or Tripp and Lewinski) needs to be aware of the recording. The other party does not need to be made aware of the recording or provide consent. Is this all getting confusing? Let me clarify by giving you an example of what I do (correctly or otherwise), as a Private Detective, in my own practice. I feel free to wear a recorder or have one on my telephone to record my own conversations with people here in Minnesota; I do not feel a need to tell people that I am recording them. However, I would neither wear a body-worn recorder, nor record a telephone conversation, that included someone across the border in Wisconsin. Minnesota is a one-party state, and Wisconsin is either a “two-party” or “all party” state. Just in case you feel less confused, let me muddy the waters some more. Federal law and Minnesota law only require one party of a two party conversation be made aware of the recording, but Wisconsin requires all parties be made aware. Which law takes

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precedence when the telephone call crosses state lines such as when I place a call from my office in Minnesota to someone across the border in Wisconsin? Do we rely on Minnesota’s and the federal statutes, or Wisconsin’s? I’ll leave that one, like the others, for you and your attorney to decide. You’ll notice that none of the examples above included a scenario in which one spouse wants to record the conversation that the other spouse may be having with a lover. In that scenario, the recording spouse would be conducting an illegal (so I’m told) wiretap since he or she would be recording a two party conversation in which neither party is aware of the recording. When I try to explain this to the occasional caller who wants to record a spouse’s conversations with another, I’m often hit with one of two “but, but’s” But # 1 “It’s my telephone and I pay the bill” To which I reply, “Your ownership of the telephone, or the fact that you pay the bill, makes no difference. I own a gun, but am not allowed to go out and fire it in the air in my front yard (which I also own). I own my car, but am not allowed to drive 90 in a school zone. I own the shoes I’m wearing on my feet, but can’t take them off and whack somebody upside the head no matter how deserving they are.” The ownership of an item does not allow you to violate somebody’s rights by using that item. But # 2 “I’m not doing it for evil, or for evidentiary reasons, I just want to know what’s going on.” To which I reply, “The laws don’t read, “Unless the perpetrator committing such an offense believes that it’s not evil” or “However, an individual can commit this crime so long as he or she doesn’t try to use it in court or tell anyone else about it.” That would be ludicrous. I hope that anyone reading this ebooklet will understand the need to discuss the matter with an attorney before they find themselves with a raging headache for, even if you do record legally, there are additional issues involving the admissibility in court for such recordings. Remember – I’m not offering any legal advice here; I’m not a lawyer. For all I know, it’s perfectly legal for people to do 90 in a school zone just so long as they own the car. I just won’t be the one doing so.

After asking your attorney, “Is this legal?” ask yourself “What do I need to accomplish? Can I change the batteries in a recorder daily? Where will I put this recorder? Do I need to run the recorder off of batteries because there’s no electrical outlet nearby? Can I plug

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the recorder into an electrical outlet? Am I capable of doing some very light soldering? Do I want to download the recordings to a computer? If I don’t download to a computer, then do I want to make a copy of pertinent conversations by transferring them from a recorder to an audio cassette?” The above questions are a good place to start, but I am not in a position to answer them for you. Only you know what your particular situation and needs entail. You may find it helpful to read this entire ebooklet before committing to some of the questions. INSTALLING A RECORDER ON YOUR TELEPHONE TO RECORD CONVERSATIONS

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Go down to your local Target store and purchase either the Sony ICD-B500 Digital Voice Recorder for $39.00 or the Sony ICD-PS20 Digital Voice Recorder & PC Link for $59.00. If you don’t have a Target store in town, you might find these recorders at an office supply store. The units are virtually identical except that the latter allows you to download your recordings to a computer – a $20.00 option that you obviously don’t need to pay for if you don’t intend to use that option. The maximum recording times vary from 130 hours to 150 hours – so many hours each that I’d consider the difference between the two to be a nonissue.

(The ICD- PS20 on the left and ICD –B500 on the right.)

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Go to Radio Shack and purchase their “Telephone Recording Control” (Item 43228A) unit for $26.99. It’s black, like in the photo shown below. Don’t buy the cheaper model (the one with the telephone cord cable). They have another model that is white; you can purchase that one if the above referenced one is not available. The white model (Item 43-2208) is slightly different, but works the same as the one shown in these pictures.

(The white strip in the center of the black box was put there by the owner to better indicate the “play” and “record” settings.)

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Insert batteries into the recorder, if using batteries, and go ahead and program the recorder according to the directions to show correct time and date. This latter step really is not necessary at all since the recorder will record whether or not the time and date are properly set – much like your VCR that is still blinking 12:00.

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Choose the telephone extension jack that you want to use in your home or office. Verify that it is active and on the same circuit as the phone you want to record conversation on. You can do this by making a call from the phone you want to record conversations from to your cell phone or another telephone where there’ll be conversation to listen to, and then going to the extension phone and listening to ensure that you can hear that call. NOTE: You won’t need a phone at the extension jack to make the recorder work – just to verify that the extension jack is active and on the same line as the phone(s) you want to record conversation from.

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Choose one of the following set-ups according to your particular situation:

“I am going to record from the phone I want to record conversation from, and want to place the recorder either next to or near the telephone.” •

Disconnect the telephone cord from the back of the telephone base (not the handset) and plug it into the recording control unit. (See images below)

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Take the black cord (with the telephone plug on it) on the recording control unit and plug it into the back of the telephone base. (See image below)

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Plug the jack plug (the one that fits) on the recording control unit into the hole with the microphone icon on the top of your recorder. (See image below)

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Skip ahead to the remainder of the directions.

“I am going to record from the phone I want to record conversation from, but am unable to set the recorder either next to or near the telephone.” •

Unplug the telephone cord from the wall. (See images below)

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Insert a 2-Outlet Modular Adapter (Item # 279-407) from Radio Shack for $6.99 into the now empty phone jack. (See images below)

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Plug the telephone cord that you had previously unplugged from the wall, into one side of the 2-outlet modular adapter. (See images below)

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Take the black cord (with the telephone plug on it) on the recording control unit and plug it into the other plug on the 2-outlet modular adapter. (See image below)

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Plug the jack plug on the recording control unit (the one that fits) into the hole with the microphone icon on the top of your recorder. (See image below)

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Skip ahead to the remainder of the directions.

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“I am going to record from an extension jack where there is no telephone.” •

Take the black cord (with the telephone plug on it) on the recording control unit and plug it into the extension jack. (See image below)

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Plug the jack plug on the recording control unit (the one that fits)into the hole with the microphone icon on the top of your recorder. (See image below)

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Notice that there is an empty phone jack in the recording control unit; this is not a problem.

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Skip ahead to the remainder of the directions.

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“I am going to record from an extension jack where there is a telephone.” •

Follow the second set of instructions above.

(CONT’D) •

Set your recorder to LP, SP, or HQ according to how much recording you need / want. I feel, having tested the various settings, that LP (longest recording length) was perfectly acceptable.

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Turn the “Alarm” and “Beep” settings in the recorder to “off”

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Turn the “VOR” setting to “on” (if you want the recorder to automatically record when the phone is picked up.)

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Set the switch on the recording control unit to “Record”

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Press the record button on the recorder

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Test the system by placing outbound calls.

OPTIONS: Virtually any of the digital recorders, being sold today, as well as many of the older tape based systems, will allow you to record telephone calls. If you are unable to find the above referenced recorders, or just want to save some money, you may want to look at some of these other recorders being sold for as little as $29.00 at various electronics, office supply and general purpose stores. I cannot attest to them working only because I have not personally used them. However, I have no reason to believe that they won’t work (perhaps just as well) as the recommended recorder PROVIDED that they have a “microphone input” plug AND allow for Voice Operated Recording (VOR) if that’s of interest to you. The 2-outlet modular adapter, similar to the one referenced above, can be found at virtually any store selling basic telephone supplies. NOTE: Modem noise from a dial-up Internet connection may activate the recorder. DSL use may require the use of a filter. EXTENDING THE MAXIMUM RECORDER OPERATING TIME WITH BATTERIES The Sony ICD-PS20 and ICD-B500 recorders do not come with an AC (electrical outlet) power supply, or even allow you to plug one in. These recorders are intended to run off of 2 triple A (AAA) batteries. While the LCD screen of the recorders are always on, the batteries will last for quite awhile in your recorder on stand-by mode. However, in the

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VOR pause mode, the recorder draws about as much power as if it were actually recording – about 22 hours or so. In other words – if you had the recorder hooked up to a phone line in VOR “on” mode, the recorder would “die” within about a day even if there was nothing to record. To many people, this is not a terrible inconvenience – changing batteries once a day. However, some people may want to continue to use the VOR mode without the hassle or expense of daily battery changes. For them, they can either use larger batteries to extend the “run time” or wire the recorder to run off of AC power (electrical outlet) using an adapter (see taking advantage of your recorder’s maximum recording time by using an AC (electrical outlet) power source). WARNING: Following these instructions may void any warranty you may have with your recorder. There may be other safety concerns, potentially involving fire, of which I am unaware. You must accept responsibility for your own actions, and consider whether or not following the directions below are in your best interest. The Sony ICD-PS20 and ICD-B500, like many recorders of this size, operates on 2 AAA batteries. Triple A (AAA) batteries produce 1.5 volts each, so two of them together produce 3 volts. The recorder doesn’t care where the 3 volts come from, so long as it’s 3 volts. An “AA”, “A”, “C” or “D” battery also produces 1.5 volts each, so two of any of them together also produce 3 volts. If you look at the sizes of these batteries, while keeping in mind that any two of them still only produces 3 volts, it’s easy to grasp that the larger the battery – the more “run time” (mAh) it will power a piece of equipment. Of the four “alternate” sized batteries referenced above, the “D” will produce the most “run time” – about 750% more than a triple A (AAA) battery of equal quality to power the recorder for just over a week in a constant “on” or VOR “pause” mode But your recorder will not accept batteries of a larger size. So, here’s what you do if you want more “run time” without going the way of plugging in the recorder: •

Purchase a battery holder (item # 270-386) from Radio Shack that holds 2 “D” batteries for $1.79. (See image below)

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Insert two “D” sized alkaline batteries

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Check to ensure that you put the batteries in the holder correctly – if you did not, you risk destroying your recorder. Check it again.

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Remove the lid to the battery compartment of your recorder, and remove any batteries contained therein.

WARNING: If you bought a recorder other than the Sony ICD-PS20 and ICD-B500, you’ll want to identify the positive (+) and negative (-) terminals before you follow the instructions below. You will also need to ensure that your recorder runs on 3 volts. Failure to do so may result in critical damage to your recorder that occur (from past experience) faster than you can say, “oops” – that “critical damage” oftentimes accompanies the smell of “something burning”, and frequently results in throwing expensive equipment away in the trash. You may need to do things differently. •

Solder the bare part of the black (negative) wire from the battery holder to the spring (negative) in the battery compartment on the bottom right of the recorder (as you’re looking at the recorder from the rear). (See image below)

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Solder the bare part of the red (positive) wire from the battery holder to the metal piece (positive) in the battery compartment on the bottom left of the recorder (as you’re looking at the recorder from the rear). (See image below)

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Optional: Set the battery compartment lid from the recorder aside, and tape the recorder to the battery holder to diminish the chance that the wires may be pulled loose. (See image below)

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Optional: To allow you to use the battery lid from the battery compartment, consider drilling a small hole in the middle of it (See image below) …..

….to pass the red and black wires through BEFORE you solder the wires to the appropriate terminal post. Replace the lid, taking care not to tug on the wire, and use putty or hot glue to seal the hole in the battery lid around the wires.

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TAKING ADVANTAGE OF YOUR RECORDER’S MAXIMUM RECORDING TIME BY USING AN AC (ELECTRICAL OUTLET) POWER SOURCE WARNING: Following these instructions may void any warranty you may have with your recorder. There may be other safety concerns, potentially involving fire, of which I am unaware. You must accept responsibility for your own actions, and consider whether or not following the directions below are in your best interests, and accept all liability that may come with your decision. The Sony ICD-PS20 and ICD-B500 recorders do not have an “on / off” switch. Their LCD screens remain on at all times, but do not draw much battery power if they go unused. However, in the VOR pause mode, they use about as much power as if they are actually recording and last about 22 hours or so on battery power. In other words – if you had the recorder hooked up to a phone line in VOR “on” mode, the recorder would “die” within about a day even if there were nothing to record. Some people want to continue to use the VOR mode, but don’t want the hassle or expense of changing batteries every day. For them, they can either use larger batteries to extend the “run time” (read “extending the maximum recording time with batteries”) or wire the recorder to run off of AC power (electrical outlet) using an adapter. The Sony ICD-PS20 and ICD-B500, like many recorders of this size, operates on 2 AAA batteries. Triple A (AAA) batteries produce 1.5 volts each, so two of them together produce 3 volts. The recorder doesn’t care where the 3 volts come from, so long as it’s 3 volts. You can use AC (an electrical outlet) to power your recorder to achieve its maximum recording time – between 130 and 150 hours depending on model. But your recorder did not come with an AC wall adapter, and does not have an input jack even if you had one. So, here’s what you do if you want the maximum recording time without dealing with batteries: •

Remove the lid to the battery compartment of your recorder, and remove any batteries contained therein.

WARNING: If you bought a recorder other than the Sony ICD-PS20 and ICD-B500, you’ll want to identify the positive (+) and negative (-) terminals before you follow the instructions below. You will also need to ensure that your recorder operates on 3 volts. You may need to do things differently. Failure to do so may result in critical damage to your recorder that occur (from past experience) faster than you can say, “oops” – that “critical damage” oftentimes accompanies the smell of “something burning”, and usually results in throwing expensive equipment away in the trash. •

Purchase the 3VDC Regulated AC Adapter (Model: MU03-Z1030-A00S) from Radio Shack for $18.99, or purchase an equivalent adapter that provides 3 volts.

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Cut off the end plug of the AC wall adapter. (See image below)

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Separate the wires. (See image below)

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Strip the insulation off the wire ends to expose about a quarter inch of bare wire. (See image below)

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Remove the battery compartment lid from the recorder, and drill a small hole through the middle of the battery compartment lid large enough to be able to thread the wires from the AC wall adapter through the drilled hole. (See image below)

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Thread the AC wall adapter wires through the hole in the battery compartment lid, and slide the lid out of your way up the wire.

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Use a multimeter to identify the positive and negative wires of the AC wall adapter – DON’T make assumptions based on wire coding. (See image below)

WARNING: Failure to confirm the polarity (i.e. which wire is positive, which negative) of the wires, coming from the AC adapter, may result in critical damage to your recorder that occur (from past experience) faster than you can say, “oops” – that “critical damage” oftentimes accompanies the smell of “something burning”, and usually results in throwing expensive equipment away in the trash. •

Solder the bare part of the negative wire from the AC wall adapter to the spring (negative) in the battery compartment on the bottom right of the recorder (as you’re looking at the recorder from the rear). (See image below)

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Solder the bare part of the positive wire from the AC wall adapter to the metal piece (positive) in the battery compartment on the bottom left of the recorder (as you’re looking at the recorder from the rear). (See image to right)

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Replace the lid, being careful not to tug on your soldering, and use some putty or hot glue to seal the hole when finished.

HOW TO USE YOUR RECORDER AS A BODY-WORN “WIRE” / RECORDING DEVICE •

Purchase the Omnidirectional Tie-Clip Microphone (Item Number 33-3013) from Radio Shack for $24.99. (See images below)

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Identify a pocket in your clothing that would best conceal the small recorder that you’re using, and cut a small hole in the bottom of that pocket. (See image below)

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Insert the microphone end of the tie clip microphone through the hole in the pocket (from the pocket side) so that the microphone is under your clothing. (See image below)

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Fish the microphone up to a point somewhere between the second or third button from the top of your shirt. (HINT: You may want to consider wearing a dark shirt – even black). You want it high enough so that it will not be covered by a jacket, but low enough so that an open shirt collar would not risk exposing it.

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Secure the microphone, using a safety pin, to the inside of your shirt on the button side of the shirt. (See image below)

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Insert the plug of the tie clip microphone into the hole at the top of your recorder that has the microphone icon. (See image below)

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Make sure you have a good battery in the small in-line amplifier box, along the cord of the tie clip microphone, and turn the in-line amplifier on.

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Press the record button on your recorder, or set your recorder to VOR “on”, and then slide the “hold” switch on the right side of your recorder (as you’re looking at it from the front) to the upward position. This latter step will help prevent your unintentionally turning the recorder off.

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Put the recorder in your pocket.

SUGGESTIONS: •

Depending on the size of your pocket, you may want to have another object in your pocket to break up the silhouette of the recorder.

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Be careful not to pull or tug on the jack entering the recorder. protection, tape the plug down to the recorder.

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If you’re going to use this set-up in a situation that is likely to cause you stress, consider testing / wearing the equipment through a series of relaxing situations. For example, you might want to test the equipment while out shopping or eating. By doing this, you reassure yourself that other people cannot detect the equipment or otherwise know of its presence. This allows you to focus at the task at hand, when it really counts, without concern for “being caught”.

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Most people move and sway a bit when talking. Be conscious of this movement. When important things are being said - stop moving! The rustling of clothing against the microphone will ruin an otherwise good recording.

For extra

TRANSFERRING YOUR DIGITAL AUDIO TO YOUR TAPE BASED ANALOG RECORDER •

Purchase the Radio Shack 1/8” Audio Cable (Item # 42223) cable for $5.99. (See image to right)

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Connect one end of the cable into the earphone jack at the top of your Sony recorder – i.e. the hole with the headphone icon. (See image below)

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Plug the other end of the cable into the audio-in or mic-in jack of your tape based recorder. (See image below)

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Press the record button on the on the tape based recorder.

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Press the play button on the digital recorder. HOW OTHER PEOPLE MAY HAVE USED THIS VERY SAME EQUIPMENT TO TAP YOUR TELEPHONES – WITHOUT EVER HAVING ENTERED YOUR HOME!

Most people who contact me, do so only because they have a crisis in their life. In the examples given at the start of this ebooklet, we saw that Mary was being stalked by Mark – a lunatic, John and Maggie couldn’t keep an adult male from seeing their minor daughter, Dave was in the middle of a child custody case, Jimmy’s business was suffering because of employees he couldn’t trust, and Carol thought that somebody (the caretaker of her apartment building?) may have been coming into her apartment when she wasn’t home. Now let’s ask ourselves a few final questions: Is Mark such a lunatic that he’d tap Mary’s telephones to see who she’s seeing? Could Dave’s ex wife, or the unprofessional PI she hired to get the goods on Dave, tap Dave’s phones to get information to use against Dave in a child custody case? Could Jimmy, or even Tom the PI, be the victim of eavesdropping by unscrupulous business competitors? Thousands of people are “bugged” every year for a variety of reasons. There’s a chance that if you feel a need to document your own calls, then you too are involved in some kind of crisis. Don’t let yourself be the victim of eavesdropping by those who would use this very same equipment against you. Go outside right now and find what’s known as the Telephone Network Interface (TNI) box that most people have attached to the side of their home. It’s where the telephone company’s wiring reaches your home. Yours may look different from the one shown in the images below.

(The small padlock shown in the above image was put there by the homeowner)

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It’s okay for you to open your side of the box. Notice how you only had to use a screwdriver (if anything at all) to open the box. Notice too that there are phone jacks (or wiring depending on your situation) inside the box that can be exploited / treated as just another telephone extension by an unscrupulous person!

Close and lock this TNI box! The lock you install is not meant to keep anyone out of the box – it’s to let you know if anyone has been inside of it. Finally – look around your property and become familiar with the location of the nearest telephone pedestal. It may be in your own yard down by the curb, or a few houses away. Inside that pedestal are wires that can be exploited just as easily (although the eavesdropper would first need to determine which of the wire pairs goes to your house if the telephone company didn’t already write the phone number next to the proper set of wires) as well. You don’t have a right to go into the box – it’s not your property, but you might want to take a look to ensure that it appears closed. If it’s not, call your telephone company and ask that they come out and secure it. But beware, the boxes can be opened by anyone with a can wrench. (This image shows the simple “lock” on a typical telephone pedestal. It can be locked or unlocked with anyone who has purchased a “can wrench” on the Internet.)

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100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE If, for whatever reason, you are dissatisfied with this ebooklet – please contact me by telephone at 763-323-7324 so that we can discuss your reason(s) for the dissatisfaction. I will NOT try to dissuade you or talk you out of exercising your right to a full refund – I want only to know where the problem lies so that I can address the issue for future buyers. I will refund your payment, but the guarantee requires you to contact me by phone to discuss it. No messages (e.g., “I want my money back”), left at 3:00 a.m. meets my definition of “discussion.” People with questions can e-mail me directly at [email protected]. Because of my schedule, I will not provide directions or take calls by telephone except for those exercising their money back guarantee. Be legal – be safe - be good; Good luck to everyone!

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