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I wasn't looking at email when this discussion started but am now going over
all the posts.
One thing that has not been mentions is RF interference FROM the digital
recording device. A laptop is more likely to introduce noise / spurious
signals than small hand-held recorders.
Old-school cassette recorders even had some degree of trouble with bias
harmonics (much like old-school TV sweep harmonics on ~15.7 kHz multiples). In
tough situations, however, cassette recorders may still be worth considering.
Maybe it's not too much of a stretch to think about keeping a battery-operated
portable one in any serious DXpedition kit. Run its output into the Total
Recorder, Audacity etc. equipped laptop later on.
Those who use Ultralights will seldom be using a PC-based recording set-up
because of the RFI issue.
>From Gary DeBock's numerous DXpedition posts, I have gleaned that, at various
>times, Edirol R09 and Sony ICDSX68 have been mentioned. Many of the reports
>don't say much about how audio was recorded. Not sure what mp3's were via
>patch cable or via speaker-to-mike.
If you look on Amazon you'll see that Sony makes quite a few recorders with the
"ICD" prefix. There are also several worthwhile models by Olympus, Archos,
Tascam, Marantz, and others.
Edirol is a more professional brand (aimed at musicians), with a price to
match. Its R-09 and R-05 clock in around $200 to $300 so probably overkill for
most applications.
As Bruce mentioned, the CC Witness and Pogo LX are completely usable for DX
recording. I have both.
This 2006 recording of Saudi Arabia 1521 made at Granite Pier (Rockport, MA)
was with the Pogo LX and is among the first direct-to-digital (i.e. no cassette
intermediary) DX recordings made in the car. Receiver was the Drake R8A.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/w913oj2m1m3qpas/dx_saudi_arabia-1521_20060503_2300z.mp3
The next year I got my first SDR (RFSpace SDR-IQ) followed by the Perseus in
'09 so the Pogo sort of went into mothballs.
The audio does sound slightly "artifacty" (for lack of a better term) but hey,
we're talking DX here, not the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
For me there are still some niche uses for portable digital recorders.
One of these is recording speech, music, and wildlife sounds from built-in
microphone(s). One model that I used successfully is the Zoom H2. It did
quite well when set up outside here on a humid late summer night when the tree
frogs, cicadas, crickets, and birds were making a ruckus.
The Zoom H2 can also be used for DX recording. This is still a necessary use
when conventional radios are employed. The radio could be an Ultralight, some
other portable, or a traditional desktop model. Even when an SDR is expected
to be the DX work horse, you should have a back-up plan in case the SDR or
laptop goes down. I like to have my Sony ICF-2010 or Palstar R30 with extra
batteries in my DXpedition kit just in case. That bit of redundancy planning
would also include a portable digital recorder and maybe the old cassette
recorder as well.
Unlike some units, the Zoom H2/H2N gives a choice between automatic audio
levelling (compression) and full (uncompressed) dynamic range where you adjust
the setting (on its "meter" display) for peaks thereby getting a truer
reproduction of the original source.
https://www.amazon.com/Zoom-H2N-H2n-Handy-Recorder/dp/B005CQ2ZY6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472916567&sr=8-1&keywords=h2n+zoom
Ability to record uncompressed is certainly important for musicians and those
making field recordings of nature's sounds. Maybe not quite as important for
DX.
Bruce mentioned the CC Witness. I used mine successfully in 2013 on a
quick-sneak-away-for-DX during a family trip to South Carolina.
As the following WBZ from SC recording shows, the unit does the job:
http://chowdanet.com/markc/dx_audio/wbz-1030_heard_in_sc_20131226_2315z.mp3
Receiver was the Kaito KA1103 connected via patch cord. Using a nearby PC to
record probably would have drowned the signal in RFI.
But going back to the subject of PC-based recording, there are numerous
outboard audio-to-USB solutions. Manhattan and Honestech are two brands I know
about. Some of the devices even include their own audio recording and editing
software. They're also handy for taking AV video from a camcorder, VCR, cable
box, etc. to create video files on your PC. As use of such devices by devotees
of YouTube are popular, there are quite a few out there from which to choose.
On the lower tech side there's just the simple expedient of a radio-to-PC patch
cable with a resistive divider in the middle to convert the computer's mike
input to the gain equivalent of a line level input. Not exactly rocket science.
I have reconnected several messages on this thread for continuity since not
everything went to both the IRCA and CapeDX list.
There will likely be other thoughts from the West Coast crowd. After all, that
hotbed-of-DXing area gave us the "High Tech DXpeditioning" article way back in
2003.
http://www.dswci.org/specials/tech/hitechdx/hitechdx.html
Mark Connelly, WA1ION
South Yarmouth, MA
===========
... I would recommend the C.Crane Witness mp3 player/recorder. I have its
predecessor, the Pogo LX mp3 player/recorder, now some 15 years (?) old and
still in use here for converting analog to digital (and for music during long
training runs). I've been able to plug it into the headphone output of various
devices that don't have line-level out, and no problems with overload.
--
Bruce Conti
B.A.Conti Photography www.baconti.com
¡BAMLog! www.bamlog.com
>>
-----Original Message-----
From: 'Bill Nollman' billc...@comcast.net [CapeDX] <cap...@yahoogroups.com>
To: CapeDX <cap...@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: irca <irca@hard-core-dx.com>
Sent: Fri, Sep 2, 2016 5:55 pm
Subject: RE: [CapeDX] Mobile DX Recording Question
I like the non MKII version of the DR07 because it had the best levels when
switching between Line In and MIC. IIRC I would have to adjust the rotary 0-10
knob when doing that with the MKII. But with the older DR07 I never had to. If
that doesn’t matter then just about any Tascam digital recorder should work
well for you. Audio quality is amazing.
Bill
From: cap...@yahoogroups.com [mailto:cap...@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2016 4:53 PM
To: cap...@yahoogroups.com
Cc: irca@hard-core-dx.com
Subject: [CapeDX] Mobile DX Recording Question
Looks great, Bill. I think I'll go with something brand new, possibly the
DR07. Nice to get such a large & quick response. DXers are the best!
TTYL.
Marc DeLorenzo
South Dennis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
http://forums.wtfda.org/showthread.php?228-DeLorenzo-s-Classic-DX
-----Original Message-----
From: 'Bill Nollman' billc...@comcast.net [CapeDX] <cap...@yahoogroups.com>
To: CapeDX <cap...@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: irca <irca@hard-core-dx.com>
Sent: Fri, Sep 2, 2016 4:42 pm
Subject: RE: [CapeDX] Mobile DX Recording Question
The Turtle Beach (long discontinued) is external. Plugs into a USB port, load
the software and switch your default sound card to it. I’ve done it 1000 times
but unfortunately now have mostly Windows 10 computers. You’d think I would
have sold it already but can’t bear to part with technology that was so good.
Here’s a picture and some details -
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/562210-REG/Turtle_Beach_TBS_1131_Audio_Advantage_SRM_External.html
Bill
From: cap...@yahoogroups.com [mailto:cap...@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2016 4:26 PM
To: cap...@yahoogroups.com
Cc: irca@hard-core-dx.com
Subject: [CapeDX] Mobile DX Recording Question
OK, Thanks Bill. Yes, the Laptop has Windows 7. I will look for the Tascam
DR07. Does the Turtle Beach sound card work as an "outboard" device or does it
need to be installed internally?
Marc DeLorenzo
South Dennis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
http://forums.wtfda.org/showthread.php?228-DeLorenzo-s-Classic-DX
-----Original Message-----
From: 'Bill Nollman' billc...@comcast.net [CapeDX] <cap...@yahoogroups.com>
To: CapeDX <cap...@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: irca <irca@hard-core-dx.com>
Sent: Fri, Sep 2, 2016 4:11 pm
Subject: RE: [CapeDX] Mobile DX Recording Question
Mark, audio recording with a laptop or digital device. One of my favorite
topics.
Option #1 - I’ll assume the laptop is Windows 7 or lower – in which case I have
a Turtle Beach USB sound card (looks like a small pager, no drivers for Win8 or
10) that I’ve been debating putting on eBay. Audio input is excellent and has a
built in microphone and switch on the device if you want to add comments as you
record.
Option #2 – digital recorder. Tons of options really expensive right down to
cheap. I prefer somewhere in the middle. My favorite digital recorder is the
Tascam DR07 (the older DR07 not the DR07 mkII). Recording quality is amazing
and with a 2GB card you can record for hours at 256kbps MP3. With a 16GB card
you probably can’t fill it up ever. Quality is excellent, controls are
excellent. The built in mic is good as well although a bit trickier to switch
over to than the USB “card”.
Option #3 – you can probably find dirt cheap mp3 recorders from Hong Kong for
under $10. IMHO you get what you pay for in this category. But for some peoples
ears it’s more than perfect.
Bill Nollman
Farmington, CT.
From: cap...@yahoogroups.com [mailto:cap...@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2016 3:34 PM
To: cap...@yahoogroups.com
Cc: irca@hard-core-dx.com
Subject: [CapeDX] Mobile DX Recording Question
Mark Connelly has built for me an amplified whip antenna with magnetic base
that I can mount on the roof of my car for oceanfront DXpeditions. We tested
it in an RFI quiet zone - the local cemetery! - and it works fine with my JRC
NRD-525 receiver.
The problem is recording DX using Total Recorder on my laptop. The laptop
does not have an audio "line in" jack so I have been trying to use the
microphone jack. It records but the audio playback is quite distorted. On the
laptop I get the following message from Total Recorder:
"The level of the source signal is too high. Possibly the characteristics of
the sound source do not match those of the soundboard input (e.g. instead of
soundboard's line-in connector, the microphone-in connector is used.)
Recording is possible, but the quality of the recorded sound may be low."
Right. I noticed that. 8-) The question is what is the solution to the
problem. 20 years ago I had an "attenuating cable" from Radio Shack that might
solve the problem. But, like a dummy, I through it away thinking that, "I'll
never have any use for that." I doubt that RS still carries this product.
So, is there a Total Recorder setting that might work? Or, should I scrap
Total Recorder and buy a portable digital recorder? If so, which one? A
digital recorder (with a line-in jack of course) would be better in that it is
smaller and would take up less space in the car.
Any help appreciated.
Marc DeLorenzo
South Dennis, MA
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