I have wanted to make wing mic for some time, being attracted by its appare=
nt simplicity.
I completed construction yesterday, some photos are here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/G0SBW.PM/WingMicBasedOnCurtOlsonSDesigns
The main block is 5 inches wide and the "wing bits" are 2.5 inches wide and=
2.5 inches tall. The faces of the 3032s are 2 inches from the front. Th=
e wood is 40 years old Meranti (poor man's Mahogany) so the resulting mic i=
s very heavy. The rather strange shape is due to the sizes of the wood I h=
ad available. It reminds me of the reverse gull wing shape of some of the =
WWII fighter aircraft, the Chance Vought F4U Corsair was one of them IIRC. =
Maybe I should give this particular incarnation of Curt's design the nickn=
ame "Gull Wing Mic" :-)
It had its first outing early (4am) this morning to record the dawn chorus.=
The weather was ideal with clear sky, and very little wind in my relative=
ly sheltered garden. In the open the wind was 7 to 9 miles per hour. Ther=
e was almost no traffic noise and the first aircraft only made an appearanc=
e at 4:45; so I was relatively free of unwanted noise.
Most of the 75 minute recording was monopolised by two blackbirds trying to=
out sing each other. Unfortunately they were at 9 o' clock and 3 o' clock=
relative to the direction the mic was pointing and about 80 metres apart -=
the mic being in the centre between them. Here is a snippet
http://soundcloud.com/g0sbw/olson-wing-dawn-chorussnippet
Listening to this it is possible to get the idea there is a bit of a hole c=
entre stage.
The following, taken towards the end of the recording session when garden b=
ird activity is returning to normal, gives a better impression of the sound=
field (although now a bit light on the left).
http://soundcloud.com/g0sbw/olson-wing-dawn-chorus-snippet
You can probably hear the continuous background sound to the right. This i=
s the sound of waves breaking on a sand/shingle beach half a mile away.
I am quite pleased with this first result. Maybe some refinement of dimens=
ions and further tests are on the schedule.
Last, but not least, my thanks to Curt Olson and others for sharing their e=
xperience
Cheers, TomR
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