My computer (Outlook Express) shows this message as being sent yesterday,
but it has not appeared among the naturerecordists messages that I've
received, so I try again. I apologise if you're receiving it a second time=
.
---------
Hello Justin,
I know the advice that you need, but I'm not sure whether I can
describe it sufficiently well - sorry for the long posting.
I have been researching the vocal behaviour of Albert's Lyrebirds since
Message: 1968.
Subject: The species is so shy that when I commenced work there had not been =
a
single photograph ever taken of a mature bird in the wild, and the nature o=
f
their display platforms was unknown. To get clean, accurate recordings I
had to discover where the birds performed and then place a mic at the
display point with a long cable back to a place of concealment. I opted fo=
r
50 metres of cable. And yes, great scope for entanglement, but with care
tangles are easily avoided.
Imagine the cable extended and lying on the ground. Grasp the cable about
30 cm from the end with the left hand, and hold loosely with the right hand=
.
extend both arms full length, grip the cable with the right hand and bring
it to the left, to form a loop held in the left hand. Repeat, moving the
right hand along the cable while extending both arms. Bring hands together
again to from a second loop. And so on.
Get into the swing of it: your left arm and the loops already formed swing
back and forth with every new loop you make.
You finish up with the cable in nice even coils (about 1.5 m length in each
coil) held in your left hand. Now the difficult part to describe.
Assuming you are right-handed, transfer the coiled cable to your right hand=
.
Hold it up so that the coils droop down on both sides of your hand, grasp
the lot with your left hand, just comfortably below your r. hand. Let go
with your right hand. You now have all the coils bunched in your left hand
and forming a neat loop above your left hand.
Take the end of your cable (the last coil you made, letting it loose as
necessary) and starting a metre or more from the end, wind this firmly and
neatly around the bunched coils about 5 times working away from the short
loop of the coils, then 3 times back.
You need to have half a metre or so of free cable left. Form this into a
small loop, push it through the looped coils, then open it out enough to
bring it back over the outside of them. Pull the end tight. If my
description is good enough to follow you end up with the cable neatly and
firmly coiled, without any need for additional ties, reels, etc., and with
no knots that could eventually cause wires to break.
Equally important in avoiding tangles, is how you use it in the field.
If you have reasonably open vegetation, and are happy to let the cable lie
on the ground, then all you need do, is undo the end, drop it on the ground
and walk away feeding the cable out of your hand, coil by coil as you walk.
BUT MAKE SURE YOU FEED THEM IN THE CORRECT ORDER. With practice, and makin=
g
each coil a double arm span, the coils will be all the same length and
generally will automatically feed out in the reverse order. But if in
transport one loop happens to feed through another this might not happen.
Always make sure before letting go of it that it is the next in order.
Albert's Lyrebirds inhabit dense forest usually with thick undergrowth, and
walking while uncoiling is not on. Furthermore, much of my recording is
done at dawn, and I need to have the cable installed overnight. If lying o=
n
the ground, native rodents chew the insulation. It must be suspended from
the vegetation. So my installation practice is a little different.
I choose a clear space a couple of metres across on the floor of the forest=
,
making sure it is totally free of any small sticks. Then I undo the coil o=
f
cable and feed it onto the ground, just letting it fall as it will. When I
come to the end, I can simply drag it through the forest, feeding over smal=
l
limbs, etc., to keep it off the ground. Providing there are no sticks or
other material to impede it where I've dropped it on the ground, it always
feeds out without any tangles.
One further point. It sometimes happens that I've located a spot for my
mic., and am about to run the cable out from it, only to find that when it'=
s
uncoiled onto the ground, it is the mic end that I have in my hand to pull
through the bush. If that happens never ever be tempted to try to pull the
other end from the bottom of the heap: tangle for sure. Simply select a
second clear space nearby, and feed the cable to it from the first heap to
reverse its direction.
One final point. When describing how I coil up my cables, I wrote that for
fastening the coiled cable:
"You need to have half a metre or so of free cable left. Form this int=
o
a small loop, push it through the looped coils, then open it out enough to
bring it back over the outside of them."
Note that if you are using a 50 m cable and an occasion arises where you
need only say 20 m, you can unwind the 20 m and then tie off the coiled
remainder in just the same way - small loop through, over and pull tight,
even thought it is the middle of the cable.
I wish you good luck in interpreting my description.
Cheers
Syd (Australia)
> From: "justinasia" <>
> Reply-To:
> Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:48:36 -0000
> To:
> Subject: [Nature Recordists] Cable care
>
> I went ahead and got a 40m extension cable (2.5mm)for my earphones. It's
> really great, works fine. However, from my firs trip with it it is now in=
a
> real tangled mess! I doubted my cable folding skills so luckily had tied =
up
> half of it which I didn't extend, so that's still fine. Will be some work=
to
> free the rest! Does anyone have any tips on how to fold up a cable well, =
and
> how to care for it so it won't get tangled?
>
> Thanks!
> Justin
>
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