This week I've been in conversation with Rycote - if you haven't heard of them, next time you watch the tennis on TV, check out the labeles on all of the microphones setup around the court. Those big fluffy 'dead cats' are products that Rycote specialise in. I started buying Rycote windshields and also microphone handles a couple years ago and also purchase my first 'blimp' modular system that completely surrounded my shotgun microphone and they worked so well! The wind noise was drastically improved. So much so, that I had a big shock when trying out my new Microphone from a company called Telinga. You may have heard already but I've recently made the jump to a Parabolic Dish setup instead of a shotgun Microphone. The dish enables me to record at much greater distances and with natural amplification rather than digital gain. This will get me better recordings theoritcally in conjunction with a higher quality mic. The problem is though, a dish also gathers a lot of wind which of course isn't good for the microphone.
In light of this, I contacted Rycote to see if they had a product that could improve the wind reduction with this setup. They didn't actually have anything manufactured other than what I had already purchased (small fleece) but instead of leaving me completely helpless they were kind enough to send me a large off cut piece of fur!!
They even sent it special delivery for free! I was very impressed and I've already put the fur to good use. I'm certainly not brilliant at sewing but check this out :)
(Folded twice over)
Cut 3 inches around dish size
Stitched the fur to my existing fleece
Folded and stitched the edges for a nice seamless edging
Finished!
I'm really looking forward to trying it out in the field so see how much the fur reduces the wind noise. I'm sure it will make a difference and I'm hoping that it is enough to get me through a winters birding on the mountain tops.
Massive thanks again Rycote and Telinga for their great customer service.
I even have enough fur to make one for my smaller compact dish which I'll also use for grasshopper and crickets in the summer.
many thanks