"Holly Farmer" wrote:
> ...how to prevent my equipment from getting damaged in the
> humidity of the rainforest. I have a SONY DAT TCD-D8...
Holly,
The DAT recording system is not well suited for rainforest recording.
DAT uses the same recording mechanism as a MiniDV digital video
recorder. Proper recording depends on a very small air gap in the
magnetic record head. This gap is measured in microns. It's very
easy for the air gap to become contaminated by dust, as well as by
debris from the recording tape itself. In the dusty, humid
environment of the rainforest, contamination is practically guaranted.
Daily maintenance of
your equipment is recommended to avoid failure at the least opportune
moment (I speak from experience on this last point!)
I recommend that you replace the DAT recorder with a Hi-MD minidisc
recorder. Minidiscs have a distinguished history of reliable
performance under rainforest conditions.
Hi-MD gear produces very high quality recordings. See group message
25509 for a link to Rob Danielson's comparison of a $200 Hi-MD
recorder and a $2350 Sound Devices 722.
Hi-MD recorders use the Sony HMD1GL minidisc. These have a retail
price of $7 each, but often can be found for less than $4 with a
little searching online. This disc holds 94 minutes of 16/44.1 WAV
recording, or almost 8 hours of Hi-SP ATRAC3 tracks.
The disc uses a magneto-optical recording system, which is different
from the optical recording technique used for CDs and DVDs.
Magneto-optical is very long-lasting, so you can have confidence that
your original recordings will be preserved. If you prefer to transfer
the recordings to a computer for archiving, the Hi-MD disc can be
erased and re-used hundreds of times.
Sony's current Hi-MD model is the MZ-RH1, price about $325. The RH1
has several advantages over earlier Hi-MD models:
--Date and time stamp for each track you record
--manual record settings are remembered for the next session
(other Hi-MDs default to automatic gain control at power-up)
--aluminum body is more durable than plastic
--OLED display is very easy to read in dim light
--controls and display are on the top edge of the recorder, making the
recorder easy to monitor when it's standing upright in a pocket,
clipped to a belt, or in a shoulder bag.
--Mini-USB connector makes powering from external source simple (see
below)
The Sony MZ-RH1 uses a rechargeable lithium ion battery called the
Sony LIP-4WM. The battery is about the size of a stack of three
sticks of chewing gum. The battery will power the recorder for about
5 hours of WAV recording or 8 hours of Hi-SP recording. Replacement
batteries cost about $15 on eBay, so it's easy and relatively
inexpensive to carry several days' worth of battery power in your pocket.
Unfortunately I am not aware of any way to recharge the LIP-4WM
battery outside the Hi-MD recorder. It may not be practical to
recharge the batteries one at a time in the recorder at the end of a
long day in the forest. So you might consider powering the recorder
from a small external battery that uses AA cells.
The MZ-RH1 can be powered through its Mini-USB connector. This is the
same connector used by the popular Motorola Razr cell phone line. Any
external battery designed for the Razr should work OK with the MZ-RH1.
Here's a link to a discussion of this topic
http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=3D16982&st=3D0
I think a waterproof Fuerte SE-120 case, with inside dimensions of
Message: 7.
Subject: 30" x 5.0" x 3.23", would be a good choice for protecting the
recorder and external battery from the elements. Fuerte has an
advantage over Pelican or Otter Box because Fuerte can install
watertight wire seals in the side of the case. The seal permits the
cable from your mic to pass through to the recorder inside without
compromising the waterproof nature of the case. The seals are
watertight to a depth of 300ft. See www.fuertecases.com for details.
A recorder that uses flash memory is an alternative to the minidisc
machine. Unfortunately, the less expensive flash memory recorders
like the Edirol R-09, Zoom H4 and M-Audio Microtrack 2496 produce
recordings that have a lot more self-noise (similar to tape hiss) than
the Hi-MD recorder does when the recorder's preamp gain is turned up.
Today you'll have to spend more than $700 to find a flash memory
recorder that sounds as good as the Sony Hi-MD.
In addition, flash memory is too expensive to consider as a long-term
storage medium. So you'll need some way to copy the tracks you record,
then erase and re-use the flash memory.
On balance, I'd recommend the Sony MZ-RH1 Hi-MD recorder for your
rainforest recording.
--oryoki
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