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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Recent content by Jon.Bryant

  1. J

    Small (But Good?) Part 6

    Yes I did. The order was processed very quickly and the parabola arrived in less than a week. Import charges were a bit of a shock. Theses were levied by FedEx who paid the VAT prior to delivery and then billed me for 20% plus a flat rate admin fee.
  2. J

    DIY Stereo Field Dish Microphone (WIP)

    Just to throw another spanner in the works. I note that if you buy a stereo parabola, the mics are matched. All mics have a sensitivity of + or - so many dB. The HighSound I recently bought had a certificate to say that the mics were tested and had matching sensitivity. I think this means you...
  3. J

    Small (But Good?) Part 6

    33cm wide, 14cm high and 8cm deep. Obviously there will not be as much gain as a Telinga 45cm diameter dish (gain is proportional to area). This dish is a bit like a 33cm dish with the top and bottom cut off, so reducing the area even further!. Also it is not going to apply gain to very low...
  4. J

    Small (But Good?) Part 6

    Being a techno junky, I finally succumbed and bought the Dodotronics Hi Sound Compact parabola. The idea is to have a highly portable bit of kit, but with more ‘range’ than the MKE400 and Tentacle Track E, which is my ‘carry everywhere’ solution. First problem is that the High Sound Compact...
  5. J

    Camargue France

    Do you mean a local guide? The Camargue is very easy to bird by yourself if you have a rental car. If you can find a copy of ‘A Birdwatching Guide to South of the Loire including Corsica (J.Crozier)’, it covers the Camargue (and you can always checkout the maps with a look at Google Earth)...
  6. J

    32 bit float recorders

    I don't think things are not quite that simple. To use a poor analogy, we could consider that a mic is like a camera lens, where the sensitivity equate to the focal length and the directional performance of the mic, the field of view. In this analogy, gain could be considered to be like...
  7. J

    32 bit float recorders

    It is really hard to judge how ‘good’ recorders with built in mics will be. The bottom line is that most companies (including Tascam) are pretty quite in their specifications about mic sensitivity etc. Most devices are designed to record music or vocals from close to, so generally don’t have...
  8. J

    Tascam DR-07 & parabolic mic

    I don’t use the Tascam, but I would have thought that there are only a few things that could be wrong. Firstly, have you selected the input as an external mic? The manual is a bit sketchy, but it suggests that you press the menu button, then the + and - to select the Rec Settings to then set...
  9. J

    Zoom F3 and Sennheiser ME66

    Hi, For question 1 you should be able to select ‘mic’ as the input rather than ‘mic (+48v)’. So you have a choice… simple mic input and powering of the mic via the K6, or phantom power with no need for the K6 to provide power. Not sure what you mean for question 2. There is volume on the...
  10. J

    Recording noc-mig direct to laptop

    Are you looking to check the forecast and only deploy when suitable? A bumblebee cover will protect against some wind, but my main concern would be rain. I don’t think the EM272 foam or bumblebee covers really make the mic fully weatherproof. I have previously used the Wildlife Acoustics SM4...
  11. J

    Recording noc-mig direct to laptop

    Making things complicated, but the computer mic input must also provide Plug-in-Power - I am pretty sure that it will do this. PiP is not an absolute standard - I have recorders that provide 2.5V and others that can provide 5.0V. I believe that the standard allows voltages in the range of...
  12. J

    Swift spp ID, Cornwall, UK

    Just refreshed my memory by re-reading the article in Dutch Birding on the birds discovered in Spain. The features they used to confirm the ID were rather limited, and were 1/ Lack of pale throat. Interest they mention that worn Common Swifts occasionally also have a dark throat - but according...
  13. J

    Equipment discussion: to blimp or not to blimp

    Yes. I think this is easy to fix. If you are referring to my comments about making sure the kit is compatible, I was more referring to making sure that the clips in the suspension system are the right size. For example an Rode NTG5 is 19mm diameter, whereas a old Sennheisser ME67 is 22.5mm...
  14. J

    Advices on recorder and microphone

    Recording more distant birds is always difficult - use a more sensitive mic, or apply more gain, and you also will also boost unwanted noise (ambient and/or equipment self noise). Having a good signal to noise ratio (by being close), is generally the trick to better recordings. I would advise...
  15. J

    Equipment discussion: to blimp or not to blimp

    A proper blimp will provide the best protection against wind noise, as you are creating a ‘cushion’ of air around the mic. Also a suspension system is great for minimising and handling noise. The only problem can be the connection cable to the mic. Some systems come with an XLR connection...
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