Getting ready to deploy your wildlife recorders for the season? Here are three key steps to ensure your equipment is properly tuned up and ready to record.
Thoroughly clean and inspect your equipment to ensure it is free from dirt, debris, and other contaminants that could compromise its weatherproof seal or interfere with the recording quality. You’ll want to carefully examine the recorder's casing, ports, gaskets, fittings, battery, and cables to ensure they are in good condition and damage-free.
Pro Tip: If it’s been a while since your last deployment, you can reacquaint yourself with the location of these parts by watching our brief Song Meter Video Tutorials.
Though we recommend doing this as updates are released, now is a great time to check if you need to update your recorder’s firmware. Keeping up to date will ensure that your equipment has the latest features, functions, and bug fixes that may have been added since your last deployment.
Pro Tip: To view and download firmware updates, visit our Downloads page and log in with your Wildlife Acoustics account information. Then, select your recorder from the product gallery, click the “View” button next to its firmware update, and click “Download.” For easy instructions on how to install the firmware update, refer to your recorder’s User Guide.
Last, but certainly not least, perform a test recording in the field or a controlled environment. Here you are looking at microphone sensitivity, recording quality, and battery life.
Pro Tip: Acoustic microphones can be tested by recording your voice and playing it back with Kaleidoscope sound analysis software. If you can hear your voice clearly, the mic is working fine. Be sure to test both internal mics and any external ones that you may own. Ultrasonic microphones should be tested using our Ultrasonic Calibrator (found on our Accessories page). Complete instructions for this procedure are available in our User Guides.
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Should you come across any damage that needs repair or have any questions about the maintenance of your Song Meter recorders, our Support Team is here and prepared to help. We wish you a successful recording season!
Wildlife Acoustics, Inc.
3 Mill and Main Place, Suite 110
Maynard, MA 01754-2657 USA
+1 (978) 369-5225
+1 (888) 733-0200