Posted by: "Rich Peet"
> The SD7XX recorders allow time on and time off at not a lot of power
> savings. But for power saving, recorder allows setting a Record on a
> Power applied feature.
>
> Hopefully next week we will have the software upgrade for Flac and Mp3
> which will also be on powerup.
>
> So about the only features missing for "froglogging" are for multiple
> times recording and record on a volume event (VOX).
Actually there is one other "feature" that's missing for using the SD7XX
recorders as frogloggers, that one is cost. Froglogging goes on for a
long time, the froglogger may be in place for months. It's attended only
enough to bring new batteries (usually a car battery) and change the
recording media as necessary. You want the service interval to be long,
these things might be at a site that's hundreds of miles away from your
base. And you really want to have multiples of them to cover more than
one site. The GA DNR right now has a half dozen frogloggers out that I
know of, that would be quite a cost using the SD recorders. (and there
is the risk of theft)
The Portadisc has VOX, I've used it a few times, but it's not as
valuable as it might seem. It does not get the initial increase in
sound. It could probably be set up as a froglogger but that's a
expensive thing to tie up.
And, yes, we are talking multiple times for a froglogger. Cassette
recorders have the advantage that turning them to record is a mechanical
locking switch, so by simply turning the power on and off to them you
can do record intervals. The newer machines that are software controlled
have a problem with this. For a simple build you want either a set of
relay contacts and/or supplying power to be all it takes to both start
and stop recording for each interval.
In one way the newer equipment is a little easier, it can timestamp each
interval easily. With the cassette usually a audio announced time is
recorded on one channel and the other records the site in mono. The time
announcements are extra equipment in that design.
Walt
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