Friday, August 1, 2014

Results Of Friday Night's Field Trip...

My Brother-in-law, Nelson, took me for a drive last Friday night; up to a woodland area - So that I could do some serious bat recording. We had fun!

I got an excellent assortment of bat species, and numbers of recordings, for the short time we stayed. The moths were also plentiful, and very cool! I spotted at least one Underwing (Catocala Sp.) - Among my favorites! 
Below, are the results from the "shoot-out". I've included Wiki-Links to the bats.
I'm not prepared to list the main competitors from the "shoot-out" at this time. For now, they will only be known as Detector A & Detector B. 

The identifications of bat species, from the various (.wav file) recordings, was made possible by the "Magic" of Kaleidoscope software, from Wildlife Acoustics. I don't know what I would do without it!

From Detector A: ...OK, the "identity" of Detector A is not important; and shall remain unknown... Suffice to say, that it was a high-end detector, which was held in the hand during testing.

Total: 42 Bat passes

35 - Evening Bats

3  -  Eastern Red Bats

2  -  Big Brown Bats

1  -  Silver-Haired Bat

1  -  Hoary Bat

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From Detector B: Detector B...Was The MiniMIC from Binary Acoustic Technology

Total: 96 Bat passes

66 - Evening Bats

17 - Eastern Red Bats

4   - Big Brown Bats

9  -  Silver-Haired Bats

0  -  Hoary Bat  ...Zero Hoary Bats, but Detector A confirmed one...Interesting...

The MiniMIC produced excellent results - even when placed in less-than-ideal positions...

​Well, next up, will be Part 2 Of 2 of my BAT MiniMIC, from Binary Acoustic Technology. Which will address the typical use of the MiniMIC, as well as my thoughts on the unique software applications. There is still so much more to cover/discuss in regards to The MiniMIC...Again, it also needs to go back to Binary Acoustic Technology very soon... 

Some unexpected results of last night's (short) "Shoot-out":
SM3BAT - 5 Bats confirmed (ID'd) 
MiniMIC  - 6 Bats confirmed (ID'd)  
{The SM3BAT was being used in Zero-Crossing mode, as an experiment}

I've also been testing one of the first prototypes, of a brand-new, top secret bat detector. It's output is heterodyne; and it performs wonderfully in the field. I love it :) Due to be released ~ September of this year. I'm sorry that is all I can say for now.
In other news...A brand new (large) software update will be released very soon for The Echo Meter Touch.
Also, a wonderful, new passive monitoring solution is in the works (from another company). It is also currently confidential. It brings me lots of joy, knowing that manufacturers are hard-at-work to bring us wonderful new bat detectors!
I'm also proud to say, that many of them ask me to share my thoughts on their designs, and how I believe they may be improved.

Happy bat detecting!

Fledermauserfassungsglück!
 
Bat détection heureux! 

7 comments:

  1. I am looking forward to all these exciting novelties.

    However, in Germany, you don't need three words. You could just wish us "Fledermauserfassungsglück", that's enough.

    Best, Stefan in Baden-Württemberg

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Stefan,

    I'm looking forward to announcing them here!

    Thank you soo much - I've made the change :)

    Fledermauserfassungsglück!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Finally I know how to dress for bat detecting. Clothes are key for birding: no loud colors, and the clothes shouldn't make much noise. It must be basically the same with bats, your shoes are probably silent in the 12-130 kHz range.

    Stefan

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Stefan,

    Actually, I was in a hurry (had just rolled-out of bed, basically) and didn't get the chance to dress appropriately. I used to go Birding a lot too - So, am familiar with habit of not wearing loud colours. If I had the chance, I would've chosen darker clothes. I would agree, the same guidelines for how to dress for Birding - Work very well for "Bating" or Bat Walks.

    Thanks!

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  5. Thanks. - I am looking forward to part 2 of the MiniMic review. After reading many of your fine reviews, it is still hard to decide what to buy. Probably a small detector ~ EUR 200 is all I need for my first steps. On the other side, knowing myself, I am pretty sure that it will be just like birding: you never get enough. The attraction of the EM Touch was immense, but I'd MUCH prefer a Windows tablet to an ipad mini. Few of my family or friends own an ipad. It is different in the United States, of course. The MiniMic could save me from the fate of social isolation as an ipad owner.

    Thanks again for your great work, Stefan

    ReplyDelete
  6. What was the general area of your detecting?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not very far from here: http://www.untermyergardens.org/

      Delete

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