My SASS-Lite DIY head with two EM172s per channel has served me well
for many years and saw a lot of rugged use in various weathers. Then
I had a static problem in one channel, Peter suggested Deoxit gold and
this seemed to solve the problem, all my gear was working well before
I headed off on a trip outback. After one particularly bad section of
corrugated road, the right channel no longer worked, in either of two
recorders I had taken with me. OK so the work around was to use
Telinga clip-on mics tied on the SASS head.
Now that I am home I have pulled everything apart and it looks like
the capsules are still fine but the lead had developed a fault, so I
will snip and rejoin the capsules to a new lead. I really did think
the capsules must have had it, but they are apparently still fighting
fit :-)
Vicki Powys
Australia
On 27/07/2015, at 9:58 AM, 'Gene W5DOR'
[naturerecordists] wrote:
>
>
> Actually the strain reliefs are a part of the seal. I epoxy the
> EM172 inside the strain relief and then when you mount it in the
> wall of your enclosure you use a sealant on the mounting threads and
> o-ring. This method relies on the moisture-proof seal on the
> capsule. While I don't recommend it for use as a hydrophone our
> experience shows it is good protection from the weather.
>
> I used it with a froglogger years ago mounting it in a pvc tube and
> then in a 2-liter coke bottle for additional protection. We then
> glued foam rubber on top of the 2-liter plastic bottle to dampen the
> noise from the raindrops.&nb sp; Then it was mounted in a tree in
> the Spring of 2008. A few months later we suffered a direct hit from
> hurricane Ike. It was mounted in a tree near a stock pond on my
> son's horse farm. He lost 42 large trees due to the hurricane but
> the tree the mic was in was spared. I just retrieved that mic a
> couple of months ago because they we enlarging the stock pond and
> had to cut down the tree the mic was mounted in. It's a little
> discolored but still works all these years later. I haven't run any
> tests in the lab but it sounds good just like the day it was
> installed.
|