Our physical offices will be closed on Monday, September 2nd for the Labor Day holiday. Please contact our sales department with any questions.
Avoid mounting microphones on tall plastic masts (e.g. fiberglass, nylon, etc.) for deployments in dry conditions because a breeze flowing over the plastic can build up a sizeable electrical charge much like rubbing a balloon. Eventually, the electric charge will be strong enough to discharge with an attraction to the mass of metal in the mic cable, resulting in a spark that could damage the microphone or recorder. Instead, use wood or metal masts.
If electrical storm activity is a possibility, you need to protect the microphone and equipment from damage from electrical discharge. If the best path to ground is through the microphone and/or Song Meter, then the microphone and/or Song Meter can be severely damaged. To protect against this, like a lightning rod, you need to create a better and safer alternate path to ground. One way to do this is to use a pipe clamp to clamp a heavy gauge (18AWG) wire from the microphone to ground (e.g. by securing the other end of the wire to the metal frame of a grounded tower structure, or securing the wire to a metal pipe planted 2 meters into the earth). The connections must be electrically strong, with low resistance. A local electrician might be able to help you with a specific installation. Additionally, it is better to not ground the Song Meter or its power source so there is not a clear path to ground through the Song Meter.
Wildlife Acoustics, Inc.
3 Mill and Main Place, Suite 110
Maynard, MA 01754-2657 USA
+1 (978) 369-5225
+1 (888) 733-0200