Haynes HBD2766 Bat Detector Construction Kit, Black

After using a borrowed bat detector on a night-time walk with our local ranger, I wanted to buy one of my own. The problem is that most are priced in the £80-£120 range. Not too great if it is discarded after a couple of night-time walks!This little kit is much more reasonably priced.Pros:o Does actually worko Excellent value for moneyo Easy to assemble (no soldering, just plug some parts together)o Could relatively easily be transferred to a plastic box if desired.o Built-in loudspeakero Runs on easily obtained 9V batteryCons:o Cardboard enclosure, so not ruggedo Battery not secure in boxo No headphone socketo Frequency is uncalibrated *o Battery not included* Even some of the expensive ones don't have a frequency readout.For the uninitiated: this consists of an ultrasonic microphone and amplifier followed by a mixer. The output of an ultrasonic CW oscillator is mixed with the (amplified) incoming signal to heterodyne it down to audio frequencies. It is then amplified and fed to a loudspeaker.Bats emit short bursts (not continuous shrieks) otherwise they would not hear the echoes coming back. So, as long as the oscillator is roughly in the right range, the bat's call will sound like a click when mixed down anywhere in the audible range. With a calibrated oscillator (which this does not have) you MIGHT be able to identify the type of bat based on the frequency setting - however I suspect that the bat's flight and other characteristics are possibly more telling anyway.

Could do with some indication of the frequency you are “looking at” as knowing that helps in identification of individual species. Gen v basic but works quite well when you get the hang of it

To be fair I have absolutely no idea if it will detect bats as I brought it in the winter and they are all hibernating ( which of course I didn't think of ) I wanted a kit that I could put into a nicer box so turned one up out of hardwood and slotted the board in , looks good . The components all look high quality and just clip together , the book is interesting and nothing is difficult . Mine has been picking some things up . Only issue , the 9V battery holder is very difficult to get off and I suspect when I need to change the battery it may not survive the processwell worth getting

I bought this because I couldn't find a "proper" bat detector in stock anywhere. It was quite easy to assemble and to be honest, it does the trick. The only downside is that it's difficult to work out the frequency of sound it's picking up and as such it's difficult to know what type of bat you're detecting.That aside, it's great fun, works well for the price and is ideal for youngsters and people dipping their toe into bat detecting for the first time.

A cheap functioning bat detector to identify bats. Changes the frequency of the bats to frequencies audible to humans which you must then look up to identify the type of bat. This is nice if you are curios to find out which bats live, say, in your garden.However, it is not very sturdy built in a cardboard box and feels flimsy/cheaply built which is expected for the price. However within one day the motherboard started smoking and ceased to function. It is unfortunate that it is so tatty/short term use.

It took me less than 5 minutes total build, good starter kit, its all plug together assembly, no soldering but seems to work well, needs 9 volt battery. Update (10 Aug 2021), i finally heard the bats around 9 pm just before dark, its very loud and clear, i wish i could give this 10 stars, the frequency dial was set to over half way, now thinking of fitting an external pickup transducer and mains power so i know when to look outside, there is no annoying fuzz when there is no bats, 3.5mm jack socket for pickup, screened two core cable, 9volt mains adapter to a socket

So disappointed with this, the case is made of cardboard and the overall quality is poor. Does it work ? well I had bats flying around me and the detector was making a crackling noise, but changing the frequency button made no difference. There is no way of knowing what frequency you are on, so even if it worked better, you still wouldn't be able to identify what type of bats you're detecting. My advice if you want a bat detector is send the extra money on a Magenta Bat Detector 4, that's what I had used a couple of nights ago, and they are great.

For the money, this should get 5 stars but there are a couple of improvements that could easily be made. Very easy to assemble and get running in no time at all. The cardboard box is sturdier than expected. Even though it's the end of September, I detected bats on the first evening. Be careful when assembling the mic - the connecters can push the terminals into the mic if they are too tight. I pulled them out and it still worked thankfully. What is needed is a calibration on the frequency dial. Also, it seems that for e.g. a pipistrelle can be detected across the frequency spectrum and this needs more explanation. How can you select for different species. But overall, very satisfied for the money.

Received it today. Assembly takes five minutes if you take your time and do it for the first time. Nothing to it. The best thing? It works! We located bats this evening in our back yard. We did not know we had any. Once we heard them with the device, we could also occasionally spot them. Well worth the low price of admission. Make sure you have a 9V block battery handy and I used a little bit of double sided take to hold the battery in place in the box, so it doesn't slide around. Five stars!

I bought this for listening to my pet rats ultrasonic vocalizations. It works. There is no numbers in the dials so you have to guess where to set the knob, but it does work.

Lätt att sätta ihop och vi kunde äntligen identifiera den där fladdermusen som flyger runt vårt hus om nätterna.Riktning på micken kunde varit bättre, men överlag en billig rolig sak för att lyssna på fladdermöss.vad jag skulle önska för att ge fem stjärnor är en mer exakt frekvens-inställning.

Super

Einfaches Prinzip aber funktioniert sehr gut. Ist ein einfacher NF Direktmischer. Empfangene NF-Ultraschallfrequenzen werden mit einer einstellbaren NF-Ultraschallfrequenz vom internen Oszillator gemischt und man hört die Differenzfrequenzen wenn diese im Bereich von ca. 0,5 bis ca. 10 khz liegen. Das gleiche Prinzip wie bei einem einfachen Direktmischempfänger aus dem Amateurfunk-Bereich. (Dort sind es eben nur HF Frequenzen)Fledermäuse hab ich hier keine aber ich kann mit diesem Gerät meine KFZ - Marderabwehr Geräte überprüfen ob sie Ultraschalltöne abgeben oder nicht, und auch wie diese eine Frequenzumschaltung usw. vollziehen. Klappt prima.Sollte also auch bei Fledermäusen funktionieren. Die Bandbreite von ca. 10 Khz ist halt ein bisschen schmal für Fledermäuse, geht zBsp. von 20 Khz - 30 Khz, 25 Khz - 35 Khz, 30 Khz – 40 Khz oder auch 80 Khz – 90 Khz usw…. je nach Oszillatoreinstellung. Geht bei dem hier verwendeten einfachen Frequenz-Mischprinzip halt nicht anders.Fledermäuse haben natürlich eine wesentlich größere Bandbreite als die hier möglichen 10 Khz (Die Frequenzen der Fledermäuse können von ca. 20 Khz bis ca. 140 Khz reichen, je nach Fledermausart und Flugsituation) Also eine Bandbreite von bis zu 120 Khz. Da kann man mit diesem Gerät eben immer nur einen sehr kleinen Bereich gleichzeitig abdecken, aber man kann die Töne hörbar machen.Profigeräte arbeiten mit Dehnung der Wellenlängen der empfangenen Ultraschall-Frequenzen (ähnlich einem Frequenzteiler) Dadurch können nicht nur die Frequenzen verringert werden sondern gleichzeitig auch die Bandbreite. Damit kann man dann den gesamten Bereich von 20 Khz – 140 Khz in einen hörbaren Bereich von 1 Khz – 7 Khz (gleichzeitig) umsetzen (Dehnung bzw. Teilung 1 zu 20) und dadurch auch gleichzeitig hörbar machen ohne dass man einen Oszillator o.ä. einstellen müsste. Aber solche Geräte kosten dann auch enorm viel mehr….. Ich bin von diesem einfachen Gerät begeistert und kann es in Anbetracht des Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnisses gut weiter empfehlen. (zur Zeit ca. 25 Euro + Versandkosten)