Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Weekend Projects – Squirrel-Baffle Spy Microphone”.
Hi, i’m david with make, and if you want to listen to faint faraway, sounds you’re going to need a bigger ear. Parabolic microphones are already popular with nature lovers for listening to bird songs and distant wildlife, they’re also great for listening into far away conversations like making sure an enemy spy doesn’t get the drop on you, no matter how you use today’s weekend, project by mario philippe you’ll, Be able to hear more of the world around you just by repurposing, a squirrel baffle, a dish used to deter squirrels and other small animals from getting into your bird feeder. You’Ll need the following parts: to complete this build. Many of these components can be picked up online or at your local radio. Shack you’ll also need a fairly comprehensive set of tools. Most basic workshops have these, but you might need a few specialty tools. You’Ll want to set aside a weekend to complete this project.
A parabolic microphone works in the exact same way that a satellite dish does the large surface area of the squirrel. Baffle collects a lot more sound waves than your unaided ear. Can the parabolic shape of the dish then reflects the sound waves to a central focus point which is where we’ll place our microphone to further amplify the sound? We want to listen to start by building the dish handle from pvc pipe and fittings. You’Ll want the handle long enough to grip with your hand comfortably when you’re holding the parabolic dish.
On the other hand, don’t cut it too long or it will be tap heavy when mounted on a tripod. Speaking of mounting the dish to a tripod, you’ll need to add a metal coupling nut to the pvc cap head on over to the project page for some tips. On making this connection and properly adhering the nut to the pvc with epoxy assemble the handle by gluing. The pvc couplings the short length of pvc pipe and the cap together using any suitable pvc glue now you’ll construct the parabolic reflector lightly sand the hole in the squirrel baffle and the mating surface of the pvc elbow place. The 90 degree pvc elbow in the baffle hole verify the pvc sits level on the baffle and glue it into place, be sure to allow ample time for this joint to cure next glue.
The pvc handle to the elbow make certain the pipe is firmly pushed into the elbow and fits straight now. Drill a hole on the back of the elbow for routing the audio cable. Now, to make a mount for the sound amplifier kit on the unthreaded side of the female pvc adapter use a straight edge and mark both sides of the pipe place, the adapter in a vise and cut a groove along your marks.
Add a strip of foam as a small spacer to the elbow inside the baffle, then gently screw in the pvc adapter feed the audio cable through the hole in the pvc and pull it through to the inside of the dish. Now it’s time to build the sound amplifier kit it takes about an hour to assemble and only requires a few basic soldering tools, but don’t solder. The battery pack leads to the kit. Yet next cut a piece of acrylic to use as a mounting plate for the microphone kit mount the pcb to the acrylic. Using a few machine screws now orient the two microphones on the pcb toward the inside of the scroll baffle and slide the acrylic plate into the grooves of the pvc mount the battery holder supplied with the kit to the back of the baffle in a convenient location, Drill a small hole near the wires and feed them through the inside of the baffle and solder them to the pcb. The last step is to add the batteries and plug the audio cable.
To the pcb. That’S it now. You can use your squirrel baffle spy microphone for your listening pleasure you’ll want to test it out using your headphones and maybe even fine tune it with a digital, sound meter. You can learn how to do this and share your own build over on the project page. You .