Author: legallyblindbirding

The Physics of Roof Prisms and Phase Coatings, Simplified: Part I

August 18, 2023

Introduction Some time ago, I began a fruitless search for a detailed treatment of the performance losses endemic to roof prisms, and the so-called “phase coatings” that rectify the problem. Optics manufacturers tout the advantages of their proprietary coatings, but provide few specifics regarding the effect that their technology solves, or how their solution works. … More The Physics of Roof Prisms and Phase Coatings, Simplified: Part I

The Physics of Roof Prisms and Phase Coatings

July 22, 2023

I’ve written a technical article on the topic of why the roof prisms used in binoculars require specialized coatings in order to improve their performance. I was prompted to pull this together because I couldn’t find a single reference that traced through this interesting problem in a non-trivial way. The article includes a derivation of … More The Physics of Roof Prisms and Phase Coatings

I Went Parabolic and Now There is No Going Back

July 17, 2023

Edit: I recently added an article on the physics of parabolic microphone gain: LINK. When I was twelve I discovered astronomy and made my first optics purchase, a cheap, awful refracting telescope made by the K-mart subsidiary Focal. I knew I needed a more serious instrument, and soon became obsessed with something called the Dynascope … More I Went Parabolic and Now There is No Going Back

Making a More Convenient Shotgun Microphone Recording Rig

May 18, 2023

(Update: I changed microphones.) During the winter I made the jump to 32-bit audio recording with the Zoom F3 field recorder. I couple this with a Sennheiser MKH 416 shotgun microphone. I’d originally purchased the Rode NTG5, but it was horribly noisy. I soon learned that I wasn’t the only person that had trouble with … More Making a More Convenient Shotgun Microphone Recording Rig

Raspberry Pi Automated Bird Recording System, Improved

February 12, 2023

Edit: For a very thorough article on setting up a Raspberry Pi for this project, see this excellent post by Rich Hoeg. I invested in a better USB microphone to replace the $18 Cmteck desktop unit that I used for my first swag at the BirdNET Pi. I wanted an omnidirectional microphone with a 24-bit, … More Raspberry Pi Automated Bird Recording System, Improved

An Automated Bird Recognition System Using The Raspberry Pi

February 4, 2023

Edit: For a very thorough article on setting up a Raspberry Pi for this project, see this excellent post by Rich Hoeg. I have a Raspberry Pi that I’ve been tinkering with for years, learning its personality while looking for a useful, novel application for it. I can now report that it is employed full-time … More An Automated Bird Recognition System Using The Raspberry Pi

Birding the Drake Passage and the Antarctic Peninsula

January 3, 2023

After a few days of birding in Tierra del Fuego, we took a nine-day cruise from Ushuaia, Argentina, to the South Shetland Islands and Antarctica. The trip was organized by Albatros Expeditions and the ship was the Ocean Victory, a mid-sized vessel that carried about 160 passengers and 80 crew for our particular voyage, starting … More Birding the Drake Passage and the Antarctic Peninsula

Back To Peru

December 28, 2021

This was our Return To Peru Trip: to finish an adventure that the March 2020 COVID-19 lockdown had wiped out. In March of 2020, we flew to Peru with the intention of doing a long, two-part birding tour: the first half based out of Iquitos, in the Amazon region, and the second starting in Tarapoto … More Back To Peru