Gear Specs With Specs: Yasiya 2.0

An homage to my mentor in Spectral Sightings, this is a device I’m really proud of for a couple reasons. First off, this may be the most effective piece of equipment we use as it serves multiple purposes – audio, visual and communicative efforts are all wired through this device and it easily alerts both of us when we’re on the job. More on that in a bit. Second, the whole thing was built from old electronics I’ve either inherited or bought second-hand, so I have to pat myself on the back for constructions sake. It may not look like much, but looks are so deceiving with the Yasiya.

1. Customized Mamiya C33

The component on the left is an adapted Mamiya C33 – an old medium-format camera my father gave me. I think it was originally made in the ‘60s or something, but it’s best for close-up images. However, it’s been modified so it not only records video, but we ripped out part of its guts to create a new storage and sensor system so it can save files directly to a card. It also works with the middle device to transmit a signal to our headsets that alerts us when apparitions are in the vicinity. This comes in extra handy when we’re on the job and don’t happen to see the apparition ourselves and need to be alerted of its presence.

2. Standard Audio Transmitter

The machine in the middle is a standard audio transmitter, which pretty much just relays messages to us both. Super simple. No modifications made here. The eight dials are for different mics we can sync to the Yasiya in order to bug an entire location. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – this thing saves lives.

3. Yashica Super-8 with Special Edition Film

On the right, we have an old Yashica Super-8 film camera. Also found in my father’s closet – okay, maybe he didn’t exactly gift us these – this is a camera of nearly equal age and similar function. Where digital misses, this thing does not. It’s been reconfigured to shoot a special kind of film that has similar properties to an x-ray machine. While on a mission, this film determines the composition of its subject –whether an apparition or not – and, when we’re back in the lab, we can tell what it was and further investigate. So far, it hasn’t found anything conclusive, but we’re not about to let that stop us.

Typically, the Yasiya is mounted in a central location of the place we’re working and pointed in the direction our client believes to be haunted. Sometimes they’re off, though, which makes our job difficult and sometimes the Yassie (sweet nickname, huh?) misses the apparition entirely. I swear I’ve seen them, but our cameras haven’t captured it…yet. Stay tuned as we’ll be sure to post pics of apparitions as we spot them.