Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 13:44:59 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM> Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM> From: Tyler Bell <Bell@ACNATSCI.ORG> Subject: Fwd: [BIRDCHAT] new birding enhancement device Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline This came across BirdChat. Perhaps some of you out there might want to buy = something like this to help with digging out those elusive FIDS during = atlas work! http://www.ramphastos.com/html/orbitor.html Tyler Bell bell@acnatsci.org California, MD Wave that flag...wave it wide and high! Grateful Dead, U.S. Blues >>> "D. Heindel" <birdfish@earthlink.net> 04/22/02 01:35PM >>> tchip! chatters I want to share with you some preliminary results of my experiences with something new that REALLY is AMAZING, and will enhance anybody and everybodys birding experiences. First I'll state I have no vested interest in the product, own no stock, receive no compensation, am not on the board of directors, etc., etc..... The product is called the Orbitor 308X. It is billed on the box as a "Nature Observing, Recording, and Play Back Dish". It is a small extrememly lightweight 8" parabola. I think it weighs a pound or so.... It has a 8x monocular built in to it, which of course as birders we wouldn't have much use for. It's the sound gathering capabilities that are of value to us. It is in a word, ASTOUNDING! I'm one of the nerds who ID's virtually anything by sound, and am often told "I didn't hear that", when I call something by call. My ears are my eyes. No brag, just fact. Well, it is a new world with the Orbitor! Point this into the marsh, and hear 3,4, or 5 times as much as you were without it, no matter how good your ears are. I can survey habitat far out of the range of my ears. Every flit, chip, rustle of leaves, all loud and clear. It says "hear sounds over 300' away", which is no bull. It has a hard chip in it to record about 12 seconds of sound, but automatically erases it when recorded over. I plugged it into a Sony (TCM-50DV) compact cassette recorder's mic jack, and the headset it comes with into the ear jack. Now I can monitor while I record, and record continuously. I made some tapes so I have a half hour of 20 species of migrants belting out in full song at once, no voices, no interruptions.....it's unbelievable! I made a coastal sagescrub tape, a marsh tape, etc., so when I'm at my desk, it doesn't sound like it! It bills itself as "not professional quality recording", but I've heard worse! An hour with this on is like a multi-day vacation! A friend who is hard of hearing put it on, and I had to point to show him where to point as he couldn't hear the stuff to know which way to aim. He was blown away. He went from near deaf to acute hearing in a moment. His expression said it all, when he was hearing this entire world he hadn't been hearing. Kid in a candy store.... As my friend Dr. Richard Bradley pointed out, the 8" size is a de facto filter, with low frequencies filtered out due to wave length size, so it might not be good with doves, grouse, or low-pitched owls, say..... I haven't gone owling with it yet.......but I will..... It does have a built in frequency modulator to very effectively control background noise. I could hear a W.Scrub Jay singing that beautiful under-the-breath song from 50' ! We wouldn't go birding without binocs, and I think this makes a bigger difference than they do. Likewise the difference between a Nikon Fieldscope III and some expensive fitzyfancy model is miniscule compared to the difference between using your ears and this. Plus, for documenting a record, which is easier, taping or photographing a singing White-eyed Vireo? The current price is about $80! You can order it at 1-888-221-2473. It is sold by the folks who do the "feeder birds", "yard birds", etc. software, Ramphastos. I think it even comes with one of the programs at that price. Now I just need to get my wife to fashion some kind of holster for it! wichity wichity wichity Mitch Mitch Heindel Torrance,CA birdfish@earthlink.net=20 http://www.angelfire.com/ca5/pelagics=20 For BirdChat guidelines, go to http://www.ksu.edu/audubon/chatguidelines.html=20 For BirdChat archives or to change your subscription options, go to http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdchat.html=20 To contact a listowner, send a message to mailto:birdchat-request@listserv.arizona.edu =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================