Recording ID's (1 Viewer)

Greetings,

The topic of carrying a notebook came up in another thread and I was wondering how many people carry recorders instead of paper and pencil. I'm not an artist so I find it much easier to simply record what I see and then write it down later. I can actually record while viewing, which is a real advantage.

I need to replace my heavy, old-style tape recorder with a digital version. If anyone has a recommendation in this area I'd appreciate your comments.

John

Digital Voice recorder

Hi John

I've got a refurbished Olympus VN 3600 digital voice recorder.

They're being advertised on Amazon in the US for $45 - although I got mine from a UK supplier and it was 99.9% "as new" - about half the price compared to when it was in the shops here.

Although it doesn't have a USB connection (I don't need to save copies of messages on disc), it has a decent amount of recording time in standard quality mode (forget the long play mode - awful sound) and the quality is very good - better than a higher spec. Sony ICD P28 model that boasts over 15 hours recording time (will you really need that much...?) and which is around double the price of the Olympus.

The Olympus is nice and small, so it's very "pocketable".

I suggest you read the reviews on Amazon to get some more input.

Hope this helps...

Regards

Jeff.

I use a fairly old dictaphone when I'm doing patch work, mainly because I tend to lose count of Blue Tits, Woodpigeons etc if I don't.

I used to use it wherever I went because I liked to record all the birds I saw; but I once made the mistake of taking it on a twitch. After the jibes I got from the rest of the crew I felt so mortified that I've never used it in company since!

Personally I always have my note book with me but also often carry a digital recorder. I find that in some situations the digital recorder is very useful - especially in poor weather when the note book starts to get a bit too damp. I use a Sanyo ICR-B28, it can record over an hour on high quality setting (which is always far more than I need) and over three and a half in long play mode - which is still fairly decent quality.
The digital recorder is very useful, but will never replace my note book as I cannot make sketches on it... perhaps I should start using an Ipaq.

I use a microcassette recorder, about $25 at any WalMart. Never have to look at it to operate, so my eyes are never off the field or away from my bins. I also use this method of recording for formal bird survey work, then transcribe everything to the data forms when home. A real time-saver, and the additional notes I dictate are more detailed than if I took time to scribble them down on paper. It's also invaluable to record calls I can't ID in the field (assuming the bird is close enough -- the mic isn't all *that* great ) but can then find on my birdcall CDs later. Again, faint recordings are better than hand-written spectrograph-type notations on paper in the field.

notebook first - no substitute for a good sketch

have used a little recorder abroad for stange calls

now have an MP3 player (for music mainly) but it can be used for recording and playback and could hold an amazing amount of data.