Do not Disturb signs?

[stev4181]

what if you pull up the carpet near the door gap and remove 2 inches of the foam padding so that the recorder can fit without showing a bump?

Most hotels I've stayed in have fitted carpets. Probably look even more suspicious hacking away at a carpet outside someone's room. Having said that if you wear a fluorescent vest and hard hat, you can pretend to be a workman, not sure if you could get away with it at 2 in the morning though....lol

[enigma63]

I think that most DND signs are put out because the people want to sleep, particularly at Airport type hotels.

Having said that I was at a Premier Inn in a (UK) Midlands town last night and my neighbours had put out the "Catching 40 winks" sign but had noisy sex (well she was) at 9:50 and then again at 10:50

[JohnGypsy]

I find that the DND signs are great for hotels that aren't full. If it is a night when the parking lot is fairly empty, the DND signs make it easier to figure out which rooms are occupied, at least.

I've personally had good luck with concentrating on the DND signs, but that's just me.

As far as people leaving their rooms after... In the USA, at least, almost all hotels are now non-smoking. I find that quite a few people DO leave their rooms after sex because they want to go have a smoke outside. I've had a few near-misses picking up a dropped USB recorder after the act because people were leaving their rooms to go have a smoke! So, be alert!

[Auralist]

Someone posted a brilliant idea on here a while ago about DND signs. Take the one from your own room and stick a USB to the back of it, then hang it over the door of the couple you want to listen to. This hides the USB and slows you to walk away. Most poeple don't come out of their rooms once their in them, especially if they're having sex of a night time, so you should bf safe to have it hanging there. Just go back periodically to check

I would absolutely not recommend this as an idea,
in concept yes it seems like a neat covert way to the goal but the real key in placing recorders is having it out of eyeshot. You can even have things look suspicious or very obvious (obviously you don't aim to do this to protect you, them and the recorder) but if things are out of eyeshot people are so much less likely to notice it.
it is easily knocked off, knocked off = picked up, the weight of the recorder itself might even drag it off the handle if its a paper sign, let alone the couple flipping it or any sort of interaction.

I personally find that DND signs tend to be more a case of people sleeping in, not wanting cleaners to enter the room or just an automatic habit to ward everything off (I fall into this category) they're something to make a mental note of but not something with much weight

I find that quite a few people DO leave their rooms after sex because they want to go have a smoke outside. I've had a few near-misses picking up a dropped USB recorder after the act because people were leaving their rooms to go have a smoke! So, be alert!

This too !

[Windowsurfer]

I think DND-signs aren't a sign of what's happening inside, but they nevertheless can be put to an excellent use, like recording action in the rooms next to your own room, if there isn't a good place to hide a USB stick recorder. Just fix the USB recorder at the DND sign, put it on your own doorhandle and voilà. And if, by chance, someone will knock it off and discover the recorder, you're the last person to be suspected of anything

[jinhui]

I think DND-signs aren't a sign of what's happening inside, but they nevertheless can be put to an excellent use, like recording action in the rooms next to your own room, if there isn't a good place to hide a USB stick recorder. Just fix the USB recorder at the DND sign, put it on your own doorhandle and voilà. And if, by chance, someone will knock it off and discover the recorder, you're the last person to be suspected of anything

I'd rather put my recorder in front of my own room door from the inside and record through the door gap. That's safer and probably even better soundquality as you can direct the microphone towards the action. Alternatively I'd use a wired microphone (like this one http://www.microphonemadness.com/mm-msl ... 0-khz.html) and put it under my door gap with the microphone outside the door and the rest of it inside my room.

[M4nden]

Sometimes they turn up gold. Other times nothing. I e quite often seen them used when bringing in prostitutes

[M4nden]

DND Sign - Meaningless
TV - Meaningless
World/Romantic Music played loud - good possibility.

Best bet is walk around earlier like 6-7 when people are getting ready for dinner. Identify Voice of young couple and mark the room number to return.

Late night or early AM walking - hear kissing and the girl giggling - you are now on Red Alert!

Agreed with all of that. Check out the bar area as well or hold in the reception area so you have a good view of the lifts. If a couple walk in, identify the room and pop up shortly afterward to clock the room number.

[Quadrophenia1]

""...hear kissing and the girl giggling - ""

That's the signal some real fun is imminent.

[findu]

Also you really have to consider: If you leave a recorder unattended and someone finds it, he/she might probably call the cops/staff and set-up a trap for you when you come back to pick the recorder up. This happened to several persons and nearly happened to me once. Luckily I had a really weird sound setup that time and the couple who found it didn't know what it is and put it away from their door to the mailboxes of the house. But if they had called the cops to watch out for the package, I would probably not be here now.

Keep it safe guys.
Regards,
jinhui

Yes I have had the cops call on me. The guy even gave a description of me to the copper (he saw me drop the recorder and walk away from his window).
I know because for some scary reason they took the recorder in, talked a bit and then placed it in the same spot where I picked it up the next morning. As some of you will remember, I was shitting myself for a couple days.

In regards to leaving recorders (those usb ones) outside hotel room doors (pushed against the bottom gap), I still do that all the time. In an ideal hotel situation I have at least 4 or 5 of them and will plant them and leave them. I can only stay by one door at a time...

I must've lost at least 30-40 of them over the years, most visits I lose at least one. It always makes me nervous.

I treat DND as slightly better than a random door. My standard routine is being on the phone (whatsapp, whatever) and give every (set of) door(s) a 10-15 second close up listen. Based on what you do and don't hear you decide to mark it, plant it, or leave it..

[Million1]

If you leave a recorder unattended and someone finds it, he/she might probably call the cops/staff and set-up a trap for you when you come back to pick the recorder up.

To be safer, only leave behind recorders that are disguised as something else so that most people won't understand what they really are if they were to be found. They might also be ignored and considered as rubbish if they look like something really cheap, like a plastic pen.

If it looks like a regular usb stick, the finder might still be curious and check what's on it. Encryption or password protection should keep you safe, but if your recorder lacks such features the least you should do is to mark the recorder folder with hidden and system attributes. By doing so the files will no longer be visible, unless the default file visibility settings have been changed.

It only takes a minute to add, just write "attrib +h +s d:\recorder" in the Windows command line.
And "attrib -h -s d:\recorder" if you want them to be visible again.

And obviously, put the recorder in a place where it can't easily be spotted, the further down a hallway the better as fewer people will pass by. I also don't leave recorders around for more than a few hours.

In the hotels I've visited so far, the DND signs haven't been to my advantage.

[reggind]

Interesting idea. My recorder drops it's files into the root of the device. I am not sure if changing that to hidden will work or not. Each time you turn it on it starts a new file so unless you can change that attributes of an open file I don't think you are going to have much luck there. Truthfully I have never tried changing the attributes of an open file so it may be possible. Have you found an inexpensive USB recorder that encrypts the files in realtime? That is something I have also never seem.

[Million1]

My recorder drops it's files into the root of the device. I am not sure if changing that to hidden will work or not. Each time you turn it on it starts a new file so unless you can change that attributes of an open file I don't think you are going to have much luck there. Truthfully I have never tried changing the attributes of an open file so it may be possible. Have you found an inexpensive USB recorder that encrypts the files in realtime? That is something I have also never seem.

Sorry, I don't think it's possible if the files are created in the root.

Right, encrypted recorders are more expensive. They also consume the battery faster.

[jazzlikeattorney1988]

Ive personally never had luck with DND signs. I put them up when staying at hotels just so I dont get disturbed so dont take much notice of others.

Im always hesitant leaving things behind anywhere and loitering in corridors especially in hotels. No guarentees of a result + the risk if found.
If i hear something while passing by a scouted location or location where there is good cover, then yes its worth dropping one off. Timing is difficult most of the time.

My main style is setting up situations that provide the best chance of a result with least amount of risk. Asking for specific room locations, scouting etc.

Im currently looking for a rental and one of my criteria on a unit block is good recording opportunities with reduced risk.

[jinhui]

I must've lost at least 30-40 of them over the years, most visits I lose at least one. It always makes me nervous.

In my opinion each lost recorder adds to the risk of persons being more and more aware of hidden recordings. That will make it harder and risky to record those people in the future. That's why I would never do that.

Best regards,
jinhui