Still Fully Committed to DIY Bat Detectors!

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things:

Of shoes-and ships-and sealing-wax- 

Of cabbages-and kings-

And why the sea is boiling hot-

And whether pigs have wings."

The PiPPYG Version 1.1b - The early days

I just want to take this opportunity, to talk about DIY bat detector kits. I'm still fully involved, and still assembling them. I've mainly moved on to The PiPPYG by Phil Atkin (Ver. 2.3). Although, I still have a TeensyBat 4.1 kit here (currently unbuilt).

I'm happy to report, I've been following The PiPPYG's development and progress very closely, since the beginning (~Version 1.1b). It's been very cool to learn of the improvements, and advancements of this fascinating unit - As they were implemented by it's creator Phil Atkin (England). As I type this, The PiPPYG is currently at version 2.5!

This is a fascinating image representing the components

used during assembly (early version of PiPPYG) 

Created by Phil Atkin.

I also did a very small poll on Twitter. Basically asking whether or not I should continue spending time on the DIY bat detector kits... In a 72 hour period, only a handful of replies/responses came through, but the end result was:

80% voted to spend more time discussing the DIY Detector kits. Namely, The TeensyBat 4.1, and The PiPPYG 2.3. 20% voted for me to move on to the next project.

I will continue to build, test, and share my findings here on the blog. I'm also planning on creating some short "How To" videos, to place on my YouTube channel.

From left to right: 

Solder stencil/mask, PiPPYG 2.3 PCB's, π•Pipistrelle PCB's

What better way to celebrate Pi Day (3.14) than to have Phil Atkin (creator of the π•Pipistrelle & PiPPYG) as our guest, on The BatAbility Club?

It was great!

The recorded version, will soon be made available to BatAbility Club Members, for viewing at their convenience.

Note: Phil Atkin has been updating and putting the finishing touches on the PiPPYG User Manual - And It's looking great!!

The original V2.0's:

Front - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Back

A full review of the PiPPYG is currently in progress, and will be posted here on the blog, in the near future. 

In the meantime, members of The BatAbility Club will be in for a treat tomorrow:

Phil Atkin, the creator of The PiPPYG will be Neil Middleton's guest! 

Exciting stuff!

I'll be there to share my thoughts and experiences as well.

The next off the shelf, bat detector to be reviewed (after the PiPPYG) will be The Ultramic 384k Evo from Dodotronic. Preliminary tests sound promising—It's very nice to be able to record both ultrasound and audible sound at the same time!

Until next time,

Happy Bat Detecting!