On Sun, 26 Aug 2001, Robert Read wrote:
> I attempted to copy a few bird calls from the Simpson and Day CD to a =
> portable cassete recorder, for personal use in the field .
>
> I tried what seemed to me the logical method of connecting a cable from =
> the speaker outlet on the computer to the microphone inlet on the =
> recorder. The result was the bird calls plus a howling noise in the =
> background.
The best way to do this is to connect the "line-out" output of your
computer's sound card to the "line-in" input of your cassette recorder.
At least part of your problem is the voltages, the speaker output of
your computer sound card may produce ~10V but the mic input of your
cassette recorder is expecting perhaps 0.01V. The "line-out" output
will produce roughly 1V which, is what the "line-in" input of your
cassette recorder expects.
Mic inputs on cheaper cassette recorders (and many computer sound cards)
are best avoided if possible.
The "howling sound" might also indicate a grounding problem, one
cause of which might be a faulty cable.
And to add some bird content - I was swooped by a Magpie ion a run
through Redfern on Friday - its primaries flicking my ear coincided
with an impressive bill snap. Not as notable as Keith Brandwood's
first Sydney Sharp-tailed Sandpipers of the season but also I guess
a sign of spring's imminence.
Andrew Taylor
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
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