bat detectors

Bat detectors are basically electronic gadgets that can translate the high-pitched sounds that bats use to fly in the dark and feed into sounds within our range of hearing. The three most common methods of converting ultrasound into sound that we can hear are 'heterodyning', 'frequency division', and 'time-expansion'.

There are a wide range of bat detectors available (pdf 54Kb). Some just use one method to detect bat calls whereas others can switch between two or even three different types of ultrasound conversion. The cheapest models specialize in one method, either heterodying or frequency division. Time expansion detectors have more complex electronics to replicate the bat calls more faithfully and this pushes the price up.

Below is a selection of those available, grouped by manufacturer, with prices starting around £40.

Magenta Mk II heterodyne (Magenta Electronics Ltd) The Original MkII Bat Detector Kit – the original self-assembly kit for the electronics constructor – now easier to build with a ready drilled case (Kit 861). Suppliers: Magenta Electronics Alana Ecology	Magenta Mk IIb heterodyne (Magenta Electronics Ltd) pdf (590Kb) Suppliers: Magenta Electronics Alana Ecology
Magenta Mk III heterodyne (Magenta Electronics Ltd) pdf (590Kb) Suppliers: Magenta Electronics Alana Ecology
Batbox III heterodyne (Stag Electronics) Suppliers: Stag Electronics Alana Ecology	Microbat heterodyne (Stag Electronics) This small detector uses 2 membrane switches. One toggles between high and low frequencies to pick up different bats, the other is the power on/off. Suppliers: Stag Electronics Alana Ecology
Batbox Duet heterodyne & frequency division (Stag Electronics) Suppliers: Stag Electronics Alana Ecology
Mini-3 heterodyne (Ultra Sound Advice) Suppliers: Ultra Sound Advice Alana Ecology	U30 heterodyne (Ultra Sound Advice) Suppliers: Ultra Sound Advice
TD 15-2 heterodyne (Laar Bioacustic Equipment) pdf 26Kb Suppliers: Laar Bioacustic Equipment	PX1 heterodyne (Laar Bioacustic Equipment) (pdf 27Kb) Suppliers: Laar Bioacustic Equipment
Explorer II time expansion (Laar Bioacustic Equipment) pdf 26Kb Suppliers: Laar Bioacustic Equipment	TR 25 time expansion (Laar Bioacustic Equipment) pdf 57Kb Suppliers: Laar Bioacustic Equipment
TR 30 time expansion (Laar Bioacustic Equipment) pdf 30Kb Suppliers: Laar Bioacustic Equipment
D100 heterodyne (Petterson Electronik) Suppliers: Petterson Electronik Alana Ecology	D200 heterodyne (Petterson Electronik) Suppliers: Petterson Electronik Alana Ecology
D230 heterodyne & frequency division (Pettersson Electronik) Suppliers: Petterson Electronik	D240x heterodyne & time expansion (Pettersson Electronik) Suppliers: Petterson Electronik
D1000x heterodyne & frequency division & time expansion (Pettersson Electronik) Suppliers: Petterson Electronik
Anabat II frequency division Suppliers: Alana Ecology	Anabat SD1 frequency division Suppliers: Alana Ecology
CSE (mono) heterodyne (CSE-Lenk) Suppliers: CSE-Lenk	CSE (stereo) heterodyne (CSE-Lenk) Suppliers: CSE-Lenk
CDB101 (stereo) heterodyne (Ciel Electronique) Suppliers: Ciel Electronique	CDB103 (stereo) heterodyne (Ciel Electronique) Suppliers: Ciel Electronique
CDB105 (mono) heterodyne (Ciel Electronique) Suppliers: Ciel Electronique	CDB205 (mono) frequency division (Ciel Electronique) Suppliers: Ciel Electronique
CDB301 (mono) heterodyne/frequency division Suppliers: Ciel Electronique	coming soon from Ciel Electronique ... CDB203 (mono) frequency division

page last updated: 29 March, 2007