Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 05:16:00 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Norm Saunders Subject: Re: Backyard monitor systems MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jim Speicher writes, regarding outdoor monitors: > ANS (Audubon Naturalist Society, @Chevy Chase in Montgomery County) > discontinued this item. It seems that customers were returning them because > they were not satisfied. They (ANS) contacted the supplier and were told > they only work in rural areas. ANS speculates that the many radio waves in > urban areas interfere with the operation of the monitor. We have one from The First Years company, a 900MHz version with two channels. There must be some overlap with publically available frequencies since when I set the monitor up this spring I received two guys talking back and forth (CB, VHF???) on channel A, but channel B was fine and remained fine all weekend. Anyway, details are: The First Years, model no. BN015035, approx $55. Another monitor I've seen that looks interesting is the Sony NTM-910. Also operating on 900MHz, this radio provides 9 channels so that finding an interference-free one may be easier, even in busy urban areas. It seems to be selling for $40-55 on various baby websites. I looked up that "Mother Nature's Monitor" and it is designed to be received over a standard FM radio, which means if a radio station happens to share the same frequency then you are SOL. Stick with a baby monitor! For even better operation, I'm contemplating building a windscreen for my transmitter. See the plans for an outdoor microphone and windscreen on: http://www.oldbird.org/ This is Bill Evan's website talking about flight calls of migrating birds but it has some fascinating plans for building your own monitor from relatively cheap Radio Shack parts. Best, Norm Saunders Colesville & West Ocean City, MD marshhawk@att.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================