Pro Bat Recorders - Active
These are pro hand-held bat recorders that record to an SD card within the device (or device attached to).
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These bat recorders are listed according to price, with the most affordable at the top.
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​Note that you get a free extra year's warranty with all bat detectors from us, plus a free book or voucher with selected bat detectors!
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Echo Meter Touch 2 for Android
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The Echo Meter Touch has all the tools you need to identify species in the field:
Stunning, full colour, zoomable spectrograms. Ability to listen to bats in real time with unparalleled fidelity. Recordings that match detectors costing hundreds of pounds more. Onboard bat auto-identification using Kaleidoscope algorithms. The number crunching power to (try to) identify a bat to species in seconds. GPS tracking that tags all recordings with location information. Free Auto-ID app. The Echo Meter Touch 2 works with compatible Android devices.
Now available in two models, for hobbyists and professionals.
Price includes the EM Touch module, but not the Android device.
You will need an additional app for recording and auto-ID (free) from Google Play.
A great low-cost Pro option and with a cheaper model for those less serious about bats and their identification.
For professional work, the Pro version is the one to get (obviously!)
Pettersson M500
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The M500 microphone is easily used with a tablet PC or laptop to record bat calls and other ultrasonic signals with the highest quality.
The M500 USB Ultrasound Microphone comes in a small and durable aluminium enclosure. It utilizes the same advanced electret microphone technology as the well-known D500X detector and can be used both in directional and omnidirectional modes (with or without the directional horn).
Please note that the tablet and cable are only shown as reference. The tablet is not included with the M500-384 and the supplied cable is a USB Mini-B/USB-A type.
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A very nice microphone if you already have a suitable device to plug it into.
Pettersson M500-384
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The M500-384 USB Ultrasound Microphone enables you to make high-quality, full spectrum recordings of bat calls or other ultrasonic signals with a wide variety of computers/laptops/tablets/smartphones, using the sound recording software of your choice. The M500-384 uses standard sound device drivers and does not require installation of any custom drivers.
Like the M500, the M500-384 comes in a slim and durable aluminium enclosure and utilizes the same advanced electret microphone technology as the well-known D500X detector.
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A cracking bit of kit, for use with Android, Linux, OSX, iOS or Windows devices.
Anabat Scout
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The Anabat Scout is an easy-to-use unit that can play heterodyne, auto-heterodyne and frequency division audio through earphones or the built-in speaker. But it's not limited to live listening, you can record full spectrum and zero crossing files to an SD card, with every file geo-tagged. You can even record voice notes to the SD Card. It also has an in/out bat counter which time stamps and geotags every count.
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A very popular bat recorder, with the useful addition of a bat counter for emergence surveys.
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Pettersson D240X
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
Very popular heterodyne and time expansion detector with backlit, large digit, accurate digital display, showing the tuned frequency in the heterodyne mode. The frequency and volume controls are on the side of the case, making it easy to adjust. Using stereo headphones, the heterodyne signal is heard on the left channel and the time expansion signal on the right channel. When the built-in speaker is used, a switch is used to select the heterodyne or time expansion signal.
A digital recorder can be connected to the D240X to record the time expanded calls for analysis on a PC. If the recorder has a "voice activated" recording mode, a fully automatic bat recording system is obtained, which can be left in the field for unattended recording of bat calls.
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This is a fantastic bit of kit and a favourite of many professional bat workers. Pettersson units are top quality.
Batlogger M2
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The Batlogger M2 is the new incarnation of the very popular Batlogger M.
Giving you a hand-held detector with all the features of the Batlogger M, but improved.
Now with USB charging and file transfer, a tripod-mounting socket, voice microphone, protected repairable and replaceable microphone, great grip and useful buttons.
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"Have done 5 transects back to back. Very impressed with performance, and find the ability to upload a transect path to the batlogger to follow a great asset for the unit (saves having follow transect on phone or tablet). The additional environmental info is really useful too." Jon
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Free extra year's warranty, plus a free book or voucher worth £35!
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Anabat Walkabout
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The full colour five inch LCD touchscreen displays both full spectrum and zero crossing calls in real time, enabling you to monitor and review your sonograms in the field.
The detector uses the FG Knowles microphone which is known for its robustness & sensitivity. This omnidirectional microphone can be easily converted to directional using the included unobtrusive cone attachment. Saving your recordings is also a breeze with a built-in file management system for easy storage and play back, as well as metadata linking for adding all your species labels, voice recordings, maps and more. A built-in GPS and mapping system allows you to tag your calls and log your path as you go. Maps can also be saved for offline viewing.
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This is a very capable unit if you want a full-screen sonogram.
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Free extra year's warranty, plus a free book or voucher worth £35!
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Batlogger M
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The Elekon Batlogger M is the 'bench-mark' for hand-held full spectrum ultrasonic recorders, with extreme sensitivity allowing detection of bats up to 30m away (depending on species).
Data logger to record the ultrasonic sounds of bats with live monitoring.
Recorded signals, as well as a number of additional meta-information (GPS-Position, temperature, time, ...), are saved on SDHC-cards.
The BATLOGGER is an appealing solution for professional bat monitoring and all people interested in bat protection alike.
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Possibly my favourite bat detector, well made, very easy to use and producing great recordings.
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Free extra year's warranty, plus a free book or voucher worth £35!
Sony Headphones
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
These headphones are comfortable and good quality, ideal for use with bat detectors as well as MP3 players and other portable units. Has 30mm drivers for excellent sound reproduction.
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I use these myself, both with bat detectors and for other stuff. Good value.
Bat Detective Book & CD
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
This book, together with the accompanying CD, provides an essential reference for bat enthusiasts who would like to gain or improve their skills in identifying British bats, using a bat detector. The material is suitable for those who have just acquired a bat detector as well as for more experienced bat workers. The sounds of 13 bat species are included in the 48 tracks of the CD. This is the first ever comprehensive compilation of British bat recordings on compact disc.
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With recordings of what the bats sound like on a heterodyne bat detector, this makes it much easier to work out which species you're listening to. If you know the peak frequency of the bat and the 'pattern' of the call, with this guide you can identify many of our commonest bats to species level. Others are a little harder!
British Bat Calls
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
Knowledge of bat echolocation, calls and identification using bat detectors and programs such as BatSound has grown significantly in the last decade. In this practical guide Jon Russ and contributors (Kate Barlow, Philip Briggs & Sandie Sowler) present the latest data in a clear and concise manner.
The book covers topics such as the properties of sound; how bats use sound; bat detection methods; recording devices; analysis software; recording techniques and call analysis. For each species found in the British Isles, information is given on distribution; emergence times; flight and foraging behaviour; habitat; and echolocation including parameters for common measurements.
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If you want to get further 'into' bats and their calls, this is an essential addition to your bookshelf.
Social Calls of the Bats of Britain and Ireland
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
Bats are fascinating mammals about which we still have much to learn. As well as using ultrasonic echolocation calls for orientation and while foraging, they also have a complex array of vocalisations for communication. These are known as social calls and are an essential component of their colonial lifestyle.
This book brings together the current state of knowledge of social calls relating to the bat species occurring within Britain and Ireland, with some additional examples from species represented elsewhere in Europe. It includes access to a downloadable library of calls to be used in conjunction with the book.
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When you've mastered echolocation calls it's time to dive (swoop?) into social calls and this book, or the one below, is the place to start.
Social Calls of the Bats of Britain and Ireland (second edition)
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
This updated and expanded edition includes additional information and new examples not found in the first edition (further down this page). The call library now includes full spectrum sound files, as well as many new examples. Survey guidelines are included in the book.
The social calls of bats are an area about which relatively little is known, with more research still required to expand our understanding. This book summarises what is understood so far about social calls of the bat species occurring in Britain and Ireland, and north-west Europe.
This new edition contains: foreward by Michel Barataud, author of Acoustic Ecology of European Bats; almost double the number of figures and tables as the first edition; completely overhauled call library, all in full spectrum, with new examples; three entirely new chapters, covering bat-related acoustics, settings for social interactions, and survey guidelines.
An excellent update on the first edition.
Bat Calls of Britain and Europe
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
A comprehensive guide to the calls of the 44 species of bat currently known to occur in Europe. Following on from the popular British Bat Calls by Jon Russ, this new book draws on the expertise of more than forty specialist authors to substantially update all sections, further expanding the volume to include sound analysis and species identification of all European bats.
Written by Jon Russ, a well-respected bat worker and author of British Bat Calls.
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Expanding the focus into bats on the European mainland and substantially updating all sections of British Bat Calls, this is an excellent book.
The Handbook of Acoustic Bat Detection
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
An accessible and comprehensive guide to all things acoustic bat detection. This highly illustrated handbook provides an in-depth understanding of acoustic detection principles, study planning, data handling, properties of bat calls, manual identification of species, automatic species recognition, analysis of results, quality assurance and the background physics of sound.
Written by Volker Runkel, Guido Gerding & Ulrich Marckmann and translated by Iain Macmillan.
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Essential reading if you want to understand the fundamentals of bat detection and call analysis.
Is That a Bat?
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The occurrence of non-bat sounds during bat surveys can be distracting, intriguing or annoying. Recordings can include difficult to ID species of bat but also sounds not related to bats. This can be especially true when noise triggers such as insects, small mammals or birds look like bat-related noise. Therefore, only knowing what bats sound like is not enough. It's extremely useful to know what other sources of noise look and sound like within the same soundscape. This book will help bat workers, in whatever environment they're in, to be more confident in recognising, categorising and dismissing other sounds. The book includes a substantial downloadable sound library (.wav format) that readers can listen to by ear or process through sound analysis software.
Written by Neil Middleton, a well-respected bat worker and author of Social Calls of the Bats of Britain & Ireland, as well as The Effective Ecologist.
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Essential reading if you want to avoid confusion with non-bat sounds.
Bats of Britain and Europe
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
This concise and definitive guide presents all 45 bat species that regularly occur in Europe (of which 17 are known to breed in the British Isles). The extensive introduction details the remarkable biology of bats and explores the latest findings in bat evolution, behaviour and echolocation.
This is followed by in-depth species accounts covering life history, conservation status and identification, including echolocation characteristics, and complemented by accurate distribution maps, with the book illustrated throughout with superb colour photography.
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A really good introduction to the bats that are regularly found in Europe, including the British Isles, with distribution maps so you know which you're likely to be hearing.
