TR
What would probably have been more valuable, is an Office Voice Recorder!
In June 1990, when AMSO's policy to run down airworthiness funding and activities was really beginning to bite, I was given very good advice by an officer who later became an Admiral. If someone lies to you, record all subsequent conversations.
This was at a meeting I'd convened to arbitrate between the RN Operators (FONAC staff) and RAF suppliers (i.e. the non-engineers who had been allowed to overrule engineering safety decisions, alluded to later in the CHART report). The former were furious that the latter had refused funding to investigate smoke in cockpits that resulted in aircrew being hospitalised following heavy landings. (They were ok). AMSO stood their ground, insisting the RN simply ground their entire fleet and come back next year, beg for a few pennies and take their chances. The senior RN officer slapped a tape recorder on the table. The suppliers demonstrated the top-cover they had (DGSM) by standing their ground.
I cancelled a non-safety related RAF contract (Hoffman LW TACAN if I recall) to generate funding to make safe the RN aircraft. This was a routine occurrence at the time. The advice stood me in good stead, but just be wary of the cheapo audio/mic jammers MoD use. Best to use a "modern" digital recorder (MD or flash). If you use a tape recorder the background noise sounds like an old Gestetner copying machine.