General Thoughts About Active (handheld) Bat Detectors Part 2 of 2

General thoughts & Considerations About Bat Detectors Part 2 of 2

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,

Or what's a heaven for?"

-Robert Browning

What happened was: Once I had The SSF BAT3, and The TeensyBat 4.1 both up and operational:

From left to right: 

SSF BAT3, TeensyBat 4.1, EM Touch 2 Pro (on Kindle tablet).

It occurred to me, that there's one detector which would "fit right in" - The EM Touch 2 Pro.

However, having reviewed The Pro 2 here once before, meant I'd have to make a nuisance of myself - by reaching out to Wildlife Acoustics again, and explaining my intentions... Luckily, they agreed to send me a loaner.

SSF BAT3, EM Touch 2 Pro, TeensyBat 4.1 kit

 

Again, the line-up consisted of: The SSF BAT3, The TeensyBay 4.1, and The Echo Meter Touch Pro 2.

Bottom line: In the end, I decided that The EM Touch 2 Pro from Wildlife Acoustics comes out the overall winner.

The fundamental reasons why are:

• Excellent performing microphone (sensitive, accurate, and good range).
• Auto ID of bat species.
• GPS tracking.
• Stores full spectrum recordings for later analysis. 
• It's as dependable as the device it's attached to (cell phone/tablet).
• Recordings of particular interest, may be accessed & sent to your laptop, for in-depth analysis (fairly quickly & easily).

Performance-wise: 

The Echo Meter Touch 2 Pro from Wildlife Acoustics provides a comfortable listening experience - Featuring the choice of listening with either: RTE (Real Time Expansion), Het (Heterodyne), or TE (Time Expansion).

Microphone sensitivity, pick-up range, and ability to produce good/clear (legible) spectrograms:

The TeensyBat 4.1 was easily the equal of The EM Touch 2 Pro; which is impressive. 

In addition, it's ability to pick-up ultrasounds off-axis was superior (to either of the other two detectors).

The TeensyBat 4.1 also has a fairly unique 'Live Time Expansion' mode - Which is interesting, as well as pleasing to monitor (via ext. speaker). Especially if you're a fan of using time expansion mode. I won't go into it here (you'll have to wait for the TeensyBat review); but I felt compelled to mention it.

Now: Having said all that - Why exactly was The EM Touch 2 Pro the clear winner?

Well, in addition to the 6 bullet points which I listed above...There is a matter of an inconvenient drawback, on the part of The TeensyBat: It cannot record bat passes unattended. Not in a neat, automatic, and orderly fashion anyway.

Explained in another way: A TeensyBat user must be ready to press the Record button when a bat pass is being picked-up, and press the button again to stop the recording. 

In other words, a user needs to continuously attend to the Record button. If not, you can easily end up with very long (and large) recordings; with bat passes being few & far-between. I don't have to further explain how frustrating this can be when you're back at your laptop.

This is in contrast to The EM Touch 2 Pro's ability to: Automatically record a bat pass, stop when the bat is gone, save it, and go back to active monitoring. 

This results in a collection of neat recordings. With those having recorded ("confirmed") bat passes being conveniently marked with the yellow bat icon, which many of us are familiar with.

So, what happened after all these tests? I remembered that there's another, excellent (USB-based) bat detector - which would be an awesome prospect for this comparison! The U384 from Pettersson - It also fits in with it's affordable price point, as well as it's wonderful performance!

The U384 - USB based Bat Detector

As I'd received it for review

(directly from Pettersson)

     

A closer look at The U384, 

   with the 

included USB adapter.

As you can tell, this topic of discussion has the potential to get out-of-hand! All I'll say at this point in time, is that I recall the excellent performance of this Pettersson unit when I reviewed it. And I firmly believe that The U384 would do very well if it were a part of this detector comparison. I may elaborate on this in the future.

As a side-note: I've been doing quite a bit of experimenting with several external ultrasonic microphones. I'll be sharing all the geeky goodness here on the blog, in the future via Pics, etc. 

Just a sneak peek for now!

😊

So...I'm looking forward to ordering myself an AudioMoth 1.2.0, in the near future. They aren't in stock/available at the time of this writing, but have patience...

*Note: The Echo Meter Touch 2 Pro's are back in stock at Wildlife Acoustics.

Also, at the time of this writing, TeensyBat 4.1 kits are also back in stock.

Spectrograms will be added to this post in the near future. As alluded to earlier: Locating bat calls to create spectrograms of (from TeensyBat recordings) has been rather time-consuming... 

Until next time,

Happy bat recording analysis!

Unless you're enjoying the unseasonably warm Winter The British Isles is having - In which case: Happy bat detecting!

 

General Considerations About Active (handheld) Bat Detectors Part 1 of 2

In this 2-part post, we'll address the question: Which bat detector to get?

More specifically...Which detector for under $400 / €400?

Recently, there was a period of about 2-3 weeks, when I actually found myself without a single bat detector! Yikes! It didn't take very long for me to begin panicking...My thoughts turned to - which bat detector should I buy for myself?

So, in an effort to compensate (?) I ended-up ordering two, within a very short time frame. ...Fast forward about two weeks (for the small parcels to clear Customs, etc.): And I'm now working on finishing up the testing, and reviewing, of both The SSF BAT3 and The Teensybat 4.1...

...Now, these 2 detectors needed to be purchased by me, (at full retail price) using my own funds. For those who missed earlier posts, the reason why is: Both organizations are not-for-profit. 

This added an interesting element to the entire process. And allowed me to fully consider the question of: Which bat detector would I want to own myself? So, first let's get something out of the way - I'm not a professional Bat Worker (yet! - we all need goals...). As much as I sometimes like to imagine myself as a Professional Bat Researcher, I'm not. 

I'm a hobbyist (perhaps a rather advanced hobbyist) but a hobbyist none-the-less. So, exactly which bat detector would I like to actually own? - Or, eventually own (if I had the patience to save up some money). 

So you hobbyists, and advanced-level hobbyists out there: This post should be of great interest to you!

Sensitivity & Pick-up range:

The TeensyBat 4.1 Kit on the left - The SSF BAT3 on the right.

Aside from having two new, and interesting bat detectors to review for my readers. There was a serendipitous consequence as well: I was actually "forced" to take a hard look at exactly which bat detector I found to be most desirable; when considering one for regular nightly use.

To address this fairly, I had to carefully consider bat detectors which were priced at about $400 US dollars or below. Just for grins, let's also imagine (for a moment) that I had resigned myself to owning just one detector (a crazy thought, I agree!).

I will share the first considerations which came to my mind:

• It needs to be robust and dependable.
• It should provide recordings which can be analyzed later, to confirm species.
• It should be of good quality/good microphone, with excellent pick-up range.
• Further to the above: Good sensitivity, adjustable gain, and at least one filter.
• GPS tracking would really be nice.

The bat detectors which I carefully considered were:

• The SSF BAT3   --- Approx. $400 USD
• The Teensybat 4.1 kit (needed to build it first)   --- Approx. $200 USD
• The Echo Meter Touch 2 Pro   --- Approx. $349 (+ any shipping)
• The Pettersson U384*   --- Approx. $321 USD (with shipping to The US)

*Consideration of The Pettersson U384 USB-based detector came much later on. More on this later in Part 2 of this Post...

In this particular post, I won't go into a lot of specifics, or detailed comparisons, etc. (which will be addressed in the Post following this one). What I will state, is that I gave each of these a lot of careful consideration.

To be continued...

Until next time,

Happy bat detecting!

The 2 New Bat Detectors Are Here!

 So, the two (new to me) bat detectors arrived on time/as expected (on October 6th). The SSF BAT3 from Germany and The Teensybat 4.1 from The Netherlands.

As always, here is a pic of how the units arrived, to me here on the East coast of North America:

The Teensybat 4.1 kit on the left, The SSF BAT3 on the right

Unboxing The SSF BAT3 - Just a peek!

The SSF BAT3 is a factory-assembled, ready-to-use detector. So, I got to charging the battery immediately. 

It's battery life is stated as being about 3-6 hours. Initial charge time for the new battery (before 1st use) was stated as 8 hours in the user manual. I was able to achieve full charge in about half that time...

Pros:

• Uses a nice, sensitive, electret microphone element. It deems to perform as well as many other pro level detector microphones. 
• It's tiny! If someone were in the market for a James Bond-sized/secret/full featured bat detector, this would be it.
• It has the potential to be very loud - Plenty of audio, even for a large-sized group to hear on a bat walk.
• It has a built-in torch - LED. Which features an auto shut-off.

Cons: 

• It seems to be based on a (Nokia?) cell phone platform. It's not very robust, in fact I might describe it as closer to delicate.
• The included wrist strap would be a must!
• It's only a heterodyne detector, although it does have an Auto-Het tuning feature (which is nice).
• The door which holds the micro SD card, is the most delicate one I've ever encountered. 

Having worked in the technology field for many years, I've probably opened/closed hundreds of these types of slots (from many different manufacturers)...When I went to insert the micro SD card, the metal door came right off in my fingers - Yikes! I got it back on, and locked the SD card in place.

It has a few neat little informative "pages" (screens) about bats, bat calls, sonograms, etc., - Like a micro encyclopedia (for lack of a better description). I'll share pics of these screens in the full review. It's available in both the German or English language. Something to look at during lulls in bat activity.

All in all, I like it so far. Mainly because it packs so many features into such a tiny package. I also purchased the belt loop carrying case.

First opening of Teensbat 4.1 kit

Major components of The Teensbat 4.1 detector kit

I think it's very interesting to look at both this detector, and The Teensybat - which I've already started to assemble... I made sure that I had every last component ready to go, so that when the detectors arrived - No time would be wasted!

Until next time,

Happy bat detecting!

The Two New Detectors En Route - A Trivial Status Update

Just an unexciting update on the ETA of the 2 new bat detectors.

I've been watching them closely, anxiously awaiting their arrival.

It  looks like they will both be arriving sometime before the end of this week. So, it took about 2 weeks for them to arrive. All good things to those who wait, and all that...

Now, I would like to share some useful tidbits of information (chiefly for anyone ordering either one of these units): 

• If you live on the East coast of North America, you can expect the delivery to take approximately 8-14 business days (without counting Sundays).
• If you live in Europe, you'll only wait a fraction of that time - Probably about 3 days, would be my guess (mostly likely as short as 1-2 days!).

So, I can't really do much more than to share a couple of random updates:

• The post just prior to this, was a brief review of a book (I was interested in it for a while) titled 'Is That a Bat?' By Neil Middleton. An awesome book, anyway you slice it. It would be especially enjoyed by anyone recording bats in the field; as well as those involved with wildlife sound recording in general.
• I'm also happy to report that I will be reviewing another book on bats here, in the near future. It is titled 'A Miscellany of Bats' by M. Brock Fenton, and Jens Rydell.
• This is also a good time to point out a new book which is scheduled to come out early next year, written by Nils Boulliard. It's title is 'Big Bat Year'

Thinking about these books again, just served to remind me: Pelagic Publishing happens to publish the most desirable books on bats (in the English language) to be found anywhere!

...Ahh...I feel compelled to go on a bit of a tangent here: Okay, there was a time (long ago) when I became very keen on the subject of Falconry. In the very beginning I did have intentions of becoming fully involved with the sport. As I began to learn a lot more, about everything that is involved, etc. - My enthusiasm with respect to the actual hunting waned. 

This was not before having read several good books, and purchasing more than one (VHS tape!) on the subject. Naturally, as with all things which interest me, the tapes were from The UK.

However, studying/following the ancient history of the sport, which goes back thousands of years, is undeniably fascinating.

Since we're already off the path here, let's go just a bit further - As I'm fond of mentioning (to anyone who will listen): All of my favorite avocations happen to have a rich history (and large following) in the British isles:

• Fly fishing / Fly tying
• Birding
• Bat detecting
• Wildlife Sound Recording
• Microscopy

Okay, we will find our way out of this little rabbit hole, in just a moment...

The interesting point that I wanted to bring up, has to do with would-be/beginning falconers: Apprentice Level (where one begins).

Falconry as a sport is steeped in tradition. And by far the most important factor to establish, when considering a new member, was their commitment to this unique sport.

 

Candidates were sometimes (often) "judged" by how many books they'd read on the subject.

In other words Master Falconers, those who would take you under their wing 😀 Could potentially gauge how serious and committed you were, by how many books you owned on the subject.

 

This was a "barometer" to your level of seriousness and dedication. I also distinctly remember reading about (more than one) enthusiastic, potential falconer who owned 250 books! More than enough to secure his entry into the guild I'd say!

And I just couldn't help but think: imagine if we gauged the dedication and commitment of potential Bat Workers by how many books they owned on bats?? 

😀 I'm just trying to be funny of course!  But, if someone wanted to jump start their collection of books, on the analysis of bat calls: They would do well to buy up the collection of offerings now featured at Pelagic Publishing.

As for me...the very latest update (checking status online) is that both detectors The SSF BAT3 and The Teensybat kit/parts, are "out for delivery" today. Yay!

Very exciting news!

•Update: I'm happy to report that both detectors arrived today, as expected. Both have arrived safe and sound, without any damage...... They went through quite a lot on their journey from Europe to the US.

Next post will be some brief 1st impressions!

Until next time, Happy bat detecting!

Two Wonderful Bat Detectors Are On Their Way!

Just a quick post for now - I'm excited to announce that two unique bat detectors are currently on their way here!

To make it more fun, I'll only share a few clues and hints (for now): 

• They each have lovely, colour touch screen displays, featuring live spectrograms!
• One from the Netherlands, the other from Germany.
• Both from non profit entities (I had to purchase them).
• Chances are, you've never even heard of, or seen either of them.
• The one from the Netherlands, is a DIY kit which will require soldering.
• I've been wanting to get the one from Germany since at least 2019.

The DIY bat detector kit from the Netherlands, is currently out of stock - With no ETA as to when kits will be available again. So, there's no point in discussing it any further at this point in time. 

The bat detector from Germany is in stock & available for purchase. So, I'll tell you a little bit about it:

It's The SSF BAT-3 from Microelectronic Volkmann 

The very neat-looking SSF BAT3

Check out the All About Bats page - Originally in the German language; most of the related web pages are (using the Google Chrome browser provides auto-translate).

The SSF BAT3 provides live spectrograms

in a very compact size

That's it for now! Of course there will be lots more to share over the next few days!  Including more pictures, and links!

Happy bat detecting!