This kit uses quality components to make a detector which is very good value for money. It functions well and is ideal for beginners. Yep. Wildlife Acoustics has created their free batdetectorapp for both iOS and Android devices that works in conjunction with their Echo Meter Touch 2 (or Touch 2 Pro) ultrasonic microphone. Nope, the apps can’t detect bat sounds without the ultrasonic microphone module attached, but you can import and replay recordings from other devices without it. Using the bat detector app on an Android phone Listed below is some great kit and books to get you started or develop your knowledge on bat detecting and bat watching: This interesting and absorbing kit helps to detect study and identify bats. It is a "heterodyne" circuit which mixes a tuneable oscillator with ultrasound emitted by bats, to produce an audible output. Thus the ultrasound is processed to generate audio signals which the human ear can detect. 20 to 110kHz tuning range. Front facing loudspeaker output.

There is also the opportunity to make your own heterodyne bat detector, if you feel so inclined. Haynes have produced a build your own ultrasonic detector kit. Making your own bat detector is a really fun activity and a great way to understand the workings of a bat detectors. However, the features available on a DIY detectors are more limited. Broadband bat detectors

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Let’s use North America as an example. Based on the most recent Classifier Performance Table we can see that using the “ Sensitive” setting you’ll receive an accurate ID about 70% of the time on average. However, some species tend to get confused more easily, while others have more distinct echolocation calls. You’ll get an accurate ID about 97% of the time if it’s a Spotted Bat ( Euderma maculatum) and only 31% of the time if it’s a Cave Myotis ( Myotis velifer). Bats use calls for communication, navigation and hunting but these are at frequencies above that of most human hearing. So even if you’re watching dozens of bats above you, you’re unlikely to be able to hear their calls. Bat detectors are devices that convert these ultrasonic calls into audible sounds and because different bat species call at different frequencies, bat detectors can even help you identify which bat is calling. Bat detectors are great fun to use and can help you learn a lot about bats. There are several different types of bat detectors on the market, at varying prices and with varying features. We’ve highlighted some of our favourite, entry-level bat detectors below. Magenta 4& Magenta 5– Heterodyne Now that it is summer in the Northern hemisphere we can often enjoy an evening in the garden. Around dusk is the perfect time for a chat with the neighbours, having a coffee or a beer. These are great entry level detectors which are ideal for detecting bats in real time in the field. Heterodyne bat detectors are also the least expensive detectors on the market. However, you are limited in the number of bat species that you can survey at any one time and there is no facility to record or analyse the sounds. We have both the Magneta Bat 4 and Magneta Bat 5 and have had many hours of fun as bat detectives using both of these models.

The step down ratio could be adjusted by changing the output pin from the 4024 ripple counter. I have never tried this. Converts bats' inaudible ultra-sonic sounds to frequencies in the range of human hearing, and allows you to identify which species of bats are present. Another issue with this kit which uses an ultrasonic receiver is the sensitivity range of the receiver, which has a peak around 40kHz, but again it works well over a very wide range of input signals as the analog signal is converted into a digital pulse train. A series of sharp, descending chirps, repeated in clusters. Someone was preparing to exit the box! I hit the manual recording button (which starts recording 5 seconds in the past so you don’t miss anything) and looked up. The chirps became louder and faster and then, right before my eyes, a bat descended from the box and swooped up over my head into the gloomy dusk. Woo hoo!

Instructions

I hope that helps – basically this is a simple and low cost unit which will probably loose the fine detail of the Bat signals, but has worked very well in practice. When I build it I decided to use the dividing method of detection. With that methode you amplify the sounds of the bats so much that it is clipped. It transforms from a sinewave to a squarewave. This squarewave still has the frequency that the bats use. Bats use ecolocation to develop a sound picture of the local area and by tuning into these high pitched sounds with a bat detector their presence can be detected. Bat detectors convert the ultrasoinc calls of bats into audible sounds that can detected by the human ear, There two main types of bat detector on the market: heterodyne bat detectors and broadband bat detectors. Heterodyne bat detectors: Magenta Range In our region (North Carolina mountains in the United States) bats hibernate in the winter because there are few insects around. But on warm days they may ‘wake up’ for short periods and became chatty with their neighbors. These social sounds are mostly within the range of human hearing. That’s what we could hear coming from the bat house.

In early April, when sunset temperatures were climbing steadily above 60 degrees, I started parking myself in a chair near the bat house while the sun went down. I placed the ultrasonic microphone module in the charge port of my phone (I use a pretty run-of-the-mill Android model) and started the app. This handy rechargeable headtorch will help to keep your hands free when you’re trying to change settings or navigate in the dark. The Nebo Mycro has a bright, clean 150 lumen beam with easy-to-use mode and power buttons. The circuit board was designed to fit into easily available 40mm push-fit plumbing fittings as shown here: My favorite flying bat photo I’ve ever taken (below) is of a Jamaican fruit-eating bat ( Artibeus jamaicensis) which is one of the only fruit-eating bats that occur in the United States (found only in the Florida Keys). But ironically, it is also one of the only species that Kaleidoscope doesn’t yet have a classifier for in the North American list. Even though it’s a fruit eater, it still uses echolocation. Previously thought to be a “whispering bat” it has since been proven that their echolocations are extremely loud! I photographed this one under a Maya ruin in Tikal, Guatemala. While the Jamaican fruit eating bat can be found in the Florida keys, you won’t yet find a classifier for it in the Echo Meter Touch 2 app The Batscanner is one of the easiest detectors to use, automatically scanning the whole frequency range and adjusting accordingly when it detects a bat, displaying the peak frequency on the digital display. This means you don’t have to tune anything and you won’t miss a bat because you’re tuned to the wrong frequency. The call output is clear and the Batscanner intelligently filters out non-bat low frequency calls giving you a clean, noise-free output. Baton& Duet– Frequency DivisionBat detectors are mostly sold online. A web search of "bat detector" will bring up links to the major retailers. There are also a few generous retailers who donate a proportion of their sales of some products (including bat detectors) to BCT which you can find here. When choosing a bat detector the two key factors will be your budget and what you want to use the bat detector for. This is not a simple kit and to build it successfully you should have soldering and electronics skills and be able to understand circuit diagrams Depending on where you live there will be many or few bats. I live in an urban area where there aren't that many (unfortunately). To prevent having to watch an almost always empty sky, I made this bat-detector to warn me when the bats are around, now I can watch the sky and be sure that they are there.

A bat signal at 40 kHz thus is divided to 2500 Hz which is perfectly audible. And even a bat that produces sounds at 100 kHz can be heard at 6250 Hz. The completed bat detector is powered by a 9V battery (not included) which will provide up to 25 hours listening time.FSC’s ‘A Guide to British Bats’ is a fold out, laminated guide to help you identify bats through physical appearance and call frequency. So just how accurate are the identifications given by this bat detector kit? The short answer is you get an accurate ID about 80% of the time. But the more complete answer is that it depends on two factors: the species and the Auto ID Sensitivity setting you use during recording. It’s easy to add a note to a recording by typing it or simply recording your voice. I use it to add info about where I recorded it like “Super 8, Barstow, CA”.