Last March I asked for ideas on how to knock up a low cost parabolic
reflector for recording birdsong on my MiniDisc recorder. Lots of ideas
came in and thanks to the warmer weather I've now taken advantage of
Maplin's special offer on their 700W Nikkai radiant heater which was going
at my local shop for £3.98.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/images/133/44913i0.jpg

I removed the wiring, heating element & support, rear plastic cover and
front wire grill; and used one of the now surplus screwed rods as a mount
for my microphone. First results in my local wood were very encouraging.
Pointing it at the tops of trees, I could pick up the noise of wind rustling
the leaves whilst pointing horizontally the rustling noise was absent. Got
some quite impressive (to me!) bird song recordings on my first outing. Not
bad for £4 and more goodies to go in my junk box.
--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm

"Malcolm Stewart" wrote in
message ...
Last March I asked for ideas on how to knock up a low cost parabolic
reflector for recording birdsong on my MiniDisc recorder. Lots of ideas
came in and thanks to the warmer weather I've now taken advantage of
Maplin's special offer on their 700W Nikkai radiant heater which was going
at my local shop for £3.98.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/images/133/44913i0.jpg

I removed the wiring, heating element & support, rear plastic cover and
front wire grill; and used one of the now surplus screwed rods as a mount
for my microphone. First results in my local wood were very encouraging.
Pointing it at the tops of trees, I could pick up the noise of wind
rustling
the leaves whilst pointing horizontally the rustling noise was absent.
Got
some quite impressive (to me!) bird song recordings on my first outing.
Not
bad for £4 and more goodies to go in my junk box.

M Stewart

How did you find the focal point for the microphone position? Did you know
a good way is to shine a light on the dish and watch for the point where the
light reflects to. It gives a rough idea of where to put the tip of the
mic' so it actually picks up more accurately from the dish reflection.

Great idea though, and, at that price, you can't complain. :-)

Good hunting.

Fantastic idea. I'm currently looking to do the same thing. I will
implement and get back to you with any results.

Groovy

S

In article ,
BigWallop wrote:
How did you find the focal point for the microphone position? Did you
know a good way is to shine a light on the dish and watch for the point
where the light reflects to. It gives a rough idea of where to put the
tip of the mic' so it actually picks up more accurately from the dish
reflection.

It's normal to have it clamped in rubber so you just listen to the output
and slide it in or out for maximum level.

--
*Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
BigWallop wrote:
How did you find the focal point for the microphone position? Did you
know a good way is to shine a light on the dish and watch for the point
where the light reflects to. It gives a rough idea of where to put the
tip of the mic' so it actually picks up more accurately from the dish
reflection.

It's normal to have it clamped in rubber so you just listen to the output
and slide it in or out for maximum level.


Dave Plowman

But shining a light on to a reflective surface will give a rough idea of
where the focal point is. It is not exact, but it gives a good round'a'bout
area to place the mic' in the first place.

For none shiny surfaces you can use a speaker on low and then set the mic'
to the point where is picks up the best sound level. Place the speaker
around two or three metres away from the dish, put a very low level sound on
to it, then set the dish to point at it.

In article ,
BigWallop wrote:
For none shiny surfaces you can use a speaker on low and then set the
mic' to the point where is picks up the best sound level. Place the
speaker around two or three metres away from the dish, put a very low
level sound on to it, then set the dish to point at it.

It's a long time since I played with a pro one, but IIRC it's best
adjusted for the distance it's going to be used at.

--
*We are born naked, wet, and hungry. Then things get worse.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.