Hi Paul,
Thank you for your response...
At 02:14 PM 7/16/2010 +1000, you wrote:
>You might need to consider a parabolic dish if you are intending long
>range recordings. Shotgun mics will attenuate sound from side and rear
>but won't do to anything improve the level of signal captured. A parabolic
>dish captures sound over a far larger area than the diaphragm of the mic
>and focuses the sound onto the mic giving you a much stronger signal. This
>allows you to capture sounds at usable levels from a far greater distance
>than is possible with a shotgun. I've tried recording waders (aka
>shorebirds) with a shotgun mic in the past and it's a pretty thankless task.
A parabolic dish reflector is part of the plan. I have spent some time on
the Internet searching and so far I have struck out as to finding any ready
made that look like the correct shape or material. Most of the ones I find
are designed for SOLAR cookers or satelitte antennas and they look like too
long a focal length to me. My brother used to work for a company here in
Eastern Massachusetts that specialized in fiberglass layup of such shapes
for DOD contractor companies however that was many years ago and I need to
find out if they are still in business...
However, its not the fabricating of the dish that concerns me, its
determining what would be the ideal shape and focal length that is my
primary interest and first step. The process of making a dish if it comes
to that would probably be as difficult as taking what I decide is the right
shaped mold to one of the boatyards about a mile from me and letting them
do it during their off season. I also have plastic vacuum molding
equipment available to me and could heat a sheet of polycarbonate and pull
it down on a mold when the time comes...
So, yes, I'm very interested in using a parabolic reflector of some sort,
that is definitely one consideration.
>The other thing you might try is tripod mounting a shotgun mic in a
>camouflaged windshield close to where you expect the target birds to be
>and then run a long (100ft+) mic lead back far enough that you won't
>disturb the birds.
I suspect you are right on target with this concept and that is also being
considered however for where I'm planning to be using this, often, a
outboard boat or Kayak and a spool of underwater cable would be required
but impractical. More likely a environmentally sealed container or small
NEMA type weatherproof box and remote operation would be more practical and
also more in keeping with some of my past work in oceanography which shades
my thinking often. Most locations around here where wildlife is left
undisturbed (the Cape being primarily a tourist area) is some type of small
island or sand spit with limited to no accessibility. Its these areas that
interest me mostly...
Thanks for your input, it is highly valued as usual...
--
Thanks,
Mitch & Shadow...
http://www.4shared.com/dir/UTASxktL/wildlife.html
Shadow's area: http://www.4shared.com/dir/ecfWjyZb/Shadow.html
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