PeerSonic Ultrasound Microphone Tester

The Peersonic Ultrasound Microphone Tester

The microphone tester will emit a series of frequencies over the ultrasonic spectrum to give a reasonable check that equipment is operating satisfactorally before deployment in the field. Microphones can degrade, mainly due to humidity or direct saturation, although they can recover by drying, there is a tendency for the response to diminish at higher frequencies.

Other testers available elsewhere simply let you know the microphone receives a signal. Testing at a fixed frequency, eg 40 or 60kHz alone is not sufficient and can inadvertently send you to the field with partially working microphones that heavily bias your results. You can pretty much forget about confirming some high frequency species such as Northern long-ear bats in this situation. 

This tester can be used with -all- brands of bat detectors including Binary Acoustics, Elekon, Pettersson, Titley, Wildlife Acoustics, and any other detector that records sound files, zero-cross or full spectrum. 

The Peersonic ultrasound tester is a PIC processor driven approximate sine wave generator. It will generate a series of frequencies that will give assurance that equipment is ready for the field.

The circuit is programmable and some simulated bat sound patterns have been added. These give a general additional assurance that the equipment will receive bat sound. The simulations are not intended for lures or professional training, but are useful when educating total novices on bat walks on how to use their new equipment.

Download the manual for the PeerSonic Ultrasound Microphone Tester here.