Some people call me a space cowboy, some people call me. . . Well no one even calls me Maurice. But hey, what I have been called is, turbo nerd, and geek. Tonight, I elevate it to the next level. I’ve been really into this wildlife photography stuff, if you couldn’t guess. But one thing it’s been missing is the ability to capture a little more then still imagery.

So I started experimenting with with my little camcorder to see what I could get. Video wise it was o.k., as one would expect from a consumer grade miniDV cam. Audio, is where I was really lacking. So I started looking online for technique. What I found was this gentleman’s plans for a parabolic microphone. So of course, I had to give it a try!

With print outs of parts I needed I stopped in at the local Radio Shack on the way home from work, and picked up the electronics I needed to make two of these microphones. Since they are mono, I’ll need two for stereophonic recordings for the camera machine. I’ll only make one paraboloid which will give me very targeted audio. I may use the second when in the field for ambient sound.

It was a fairly simple electronics project requiring reading the previously mentioned gentleman’s wiring diagram. Total cost so far for the parts is $45, which leaves me with 2 condesnser microphones, and a few extra parts for future projects.

So basically, I followed the wiring diagram above and made a few minor modifications. I housed the mic in a housing of opportunity, otherwise known as an empty pill bottle. I drilled a 3/8″ hole in the cap to hold the mic, and a smaller hole in the back to allow the mono wire through.

I then cut a small groove down the side of the bottle to allow the 9-volt connector and switch to be outside the bottle. I twisted the wires together and ran a functional test prior to soldering to ensure that everything was working. Then a little electrical tape over the cooled solder to make sure I wouldn’t get any shorts, and I assembled the rig. Some more tape and we were done.

This is purely a functional test, once I get a paraboloid built, we’ll run a test to ensure that I like the results, and I’ll build the second mic a little better to mount on the ‘super ear.’

I’ll have audio samples published tomorrow night. Google video is being a real bugger right now and its time for me to stop futzing with this stuff for the night.