Advice on type of electronic device and equipment to locate it

[Juno]

Could someone please advise on the type of equipment needed to locate what we think is a malicious device that emits, more often than not, a high pitched whine and sometimes a gurgly hum at night. It seems calculated to ensure that we wake, sometimes hourly, sometimes more often, sometimes less. However, it is not the noise that does the awakening as we are still woken when the noise is covered over with another. We assume the device emits a vibration or pulse or wave that we cannot prevent having this awakening impact on us, even from deep sleep. We would be grateful for any help, suggestions or advice that will get us out of this nightmare.

[David]

Difficult to diagnose at a distance.
I suggest that you check for electrical equipment in the house which would normally be left on all night - for example fridges, deep freeze, central heating and anything else you can think of. Do you live in a semi? if so, your neighbour may have (for example) an old fridge adjacent to your bedroom.
Try recording the noise, for analysis later.

[Juno]

Actually, there is a long history to this, it started eight years ago and we've moved house 3 times but it follows us, hence the belief that it is malicious; that and the fact that when it first happened we were not on good terms with a neighbour. If we don't find it soon we're going to have to move house yet again. We've turned off electricty for a week, water overnight, tried to record the sound it emits but are unable to do so. We sleep in separate rooms and wear smart bands to record our heart rate charts which show that "something" is waking us at around the same times each night. We've bought cheap electromagnetic and radio wave detectors to try to locate it but don't really know what we're doing. We've been advised to "get the experts in" but who are the experts? What sort of device can have this impact? (Thank you David for showing an interest and offering some advice).

[David]

Before you move house again, have you tried going away to a hotel, or going camping in the wilds just to get away from other people, to see if the noises cease? I have no knowledge of the type of electronic equipment needed to check up on these type of noises, but I have sent you a pm with a further thought.

[Juno]

That's exactly what we currently do. Last week we stayed in a holiday let just a few roads away and slept so much better than we do at home. We're at this moment considering renting a small flat (it will be a great effort financially but possibly worth it) just so that we can sleep there and then we'll have the energy to try and locate the source of our problem. We're giving it six months and if we haven't found it then we'll put our house on the market. We'll have to move a long way away to avoid the problem recurring if it is, as we think, malicious. Last nigh we were woken several times and a whine, rather like the sound central heating can make (ours was off), filled the air each time.