Whats the best Lapel Mic 2 use to record cockpit chatter + ATC onto a digital camera?
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Whats the best Lapel Mic 2 use to record cockpit chatter + ATC onto a digital camera?
Hi folks, i've been reading a lot on here about using different ways of hooking into the radios to get a recording of the ATC and cockpit chatter for a digital camera video. Because im rubbish with electrics and i fly in my freind's PA-28 Warrior i dont want to hardwire or plug anything directly into the radios as i dont want to fry anything! So i want to go down the Lapel Mic route. I'm doing a lot of flights this summer both at home and abroad and would like to get some cockpit chatter on my video's instead of the drone of an engine (although a little engine noise would be nice) I have attempted this trick already and bought this lapel Mic bought from Maplin's........
Mini Tie-Clip Microphone : Electret Condenser Mics : Maplin
i have used it both with the battery thing connected and on its own and got no cockpit chatter at all. Just engine noise. I know its working as i tryed it at home and it picks up the sound, its just not happening in the aircraft. I have the sound on my headset turned up to max, but nothing. My headset is the standard Dave Clark H10-13.4 (If that makes a difference) So i have come to the conclusion that this particular Lapel Mic is not strong enough to be able to capture the sound's of us and ATC. So, is so many of you seam to have got good results out of your lapel mics i was wondering if you could point me in the direction of where you got them from and possibly give me the link to them if its online.
I have found some other lapel mics on Maplin's website (there may be more), but wouldnt have a clue which ones are best (if any?!) so i thought id include these links too for you guys and gals to have a look at if you could help, any other websites/different lapel mic's i'd consider those too, thanks!
Stereo Tie Clip Microphone : Electret Condenser Mics : Maplin
Electret Tie-Clip Microphone : Electret Condenser Mics : Maplin
Electret Tie-Clip Microphone : Electret Condenser Mics : Maplin
Nigel.
Mini Tie-Clip Microphone : Electret Condenser Mics : Maplin
i have used it both with the battery thing connected and on its own and got no cockpit chatter at all. Just engine noise. I know its working as i tryed it at home and it picks up the sound, its just not happening in the aircraft. I have the sound on my headset turned up to max, but nothing. My headset is the standard Dave Clark H10-13.4 (If that makes a difference) So i have come to the conclusion that this particular Lapel Mic is not strong enough to be able to capture the sound's of us and ATC. So, is so many of you seam to have got good results out of your lapel mics i was wondering if you could point me in the direction of where you got them from and possibly give me the link to them if its online.
I have found some other lapel mics on Maplin's website (there may be more), but wouldnt have a clue which ones are best (if any?!) so i thought id include these links too for you guys and gals to have a look at if you could help, any other websites/different lapel mic's i'd consider those too, thanks!
Stereo Tie Clip Microphone : Electret Condenser Mics : Maplin
Electret Tie-Clip Microphone : Electret Condenser Mics : Maplin
Electret Tie-Clip Microphone : Electret Condenser Mics : Maplin
Nigel.
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Acting on information supplied on here.... I went for a Telephone Pick-Up Coil plugged into my dictaphone. Works a treat. Should plug into the same socket as your lapel mike on your camcorder.
Again, available from Maplin at £4.99 Telephone Pick-Up Coil : Electret Condenser Mics : Maplin
Just a bit of tape to hold it in place on the outside of my DC - picks up ATC and intercom very clearly.
HTH
DD
Again, available from Maplin at £4.99 Telephone Pick-Up Coil : Electret Condenser Mics : Maplin
Just a bit of tape to hold it in place on the outside of my DC - picks up ATC and intercom very clearly.
HTH
DD
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Duchess - yeah i did see that, exactly how big is it though, kinda hard to tell really, would it "fill out" the cup on your headset? Still need to hear everything myself as well as record.
Screetch - i wouldnt have a clue, but either way i dont have a camcorder only a 7.1 megapixel digital camera, i'm guessing the sound pickup on a camcorder would be better than a digital camera but that what i have so i have to talior anything to fit what i already have unfortunatly.
Anyone else any other suggestion's/what they use what the same setup as me? I'd like to weigh up all the options first before i decide. (I dont want to waste money again like i did on the last one! BTW anyone know why the one i already have is not/won't pick up the chatter?)
Nigel.
Screetch - i wouldnt have a clue, but either way i dont have a camcorder only a 7.1 megapixel digital camera, i'm guessing the sound pickup on a camcorder would be better than a digital camera but that what i have so i have to talior anything to fit what i already have unfortunatly.
Anyone else any other suggestion's/what they use what the same setup as me? I'd like to weigh up all the options first before i decide. (I dont want to waste money again like i did on the last one! BTW anyone know why the one i already have is not/won't pick up the chatter?)
Nigel.
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Nigey, it sounds (s'cuse the pun) like the microphone is working fine but may I ask if you wore it as a lapel mic? If you did, there's little wonder it picked up ambient cockpit noise. Try (if you haven't already) attaching it to the boom of your headset in very close proximity to the headset's microphone. Hope that helps.
None of the Maplin mics are high quality- unfortunately high quality lapel mics cost £150-£200. You need a cardioid mic, not an omnidirectional one, for obvious reasons.
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This topic comes up often.
Basically, sticking a microphone up into the headset earcup does the job fine.
Obviously it needs to be a small one. A few years ago I bought such a mike from the USA, complete with a pre-amp, and this is used to feed a camcorder which has a manual audio level control. This is a "semi pro" kit and wasn't terribly cheap. I posted the full details of the stuff here back then - no idea how you would search for it now...
A different approach is to connect a camcorder's mike input direct into the intercom, via a fake headset plug. This also works, with some fiddling with attenuation resistors, and does away with having the mike stuck up one's headset. The one gotcha is that some audio (e.g. autopilot announciations) may not appear on the rear seat headsets, so if you are flying two-up already, you have nowhere to plug the thing in where you get all the audio.
Basically, sticking a microphone up into the headset earcup does the job fine.
Obviously it needs to be a small one. A few years ago I bought such a mike from the USA, complete with a pre-amp, and this is used to feed a camcorder which has a manual audio level control. This is a "semi pro" kit and wasn't terribly cheap. I posted the full details of the stuff here back then - no idea how you would search for it now...
A different approach is to connect a camcorder's mike input direct into the intercom, via a fake headset plug. This also works, with some fiddling with attenuation resistors, and does away with having the mike stuck up one's headset. The one gotcha is that some audio (e.g. autopilot announciations) may not appear on the rear seat headsets, so if you are flying two-up already, you have nowhere to plug the thing in where you get all the audio.
Leaving aside the issue that an enquiry written in txtspk is less likely to get a sensible answer, putting a mic of any sort into a light aircraft cockpit is unlikely to give any useful output, particularly received audio from ATC.
Hopefully there is a spare tel. socket in the aircraft, and a simple tel plug to 3.5mm plug (or 2.5mm depending on the device you are feeding the info to) will have the desired audio feed. If there isn't a spare socket, the tel splitters are readily available to allow this. This works on Senecas, so I have no reason to suppose it won't work on anything else.
Hopefully there is a spare tel. socket in the aircraft, and a simple tel plug to 3.5mm plug (or 2.5mm depending on the device you are feeding the info to) will have the desired audio feed. If there isn't a spare socket, the tel splitters are readily available to allow this. This works on Senecas, so I have no reason to suppose it won't work on anything else.
I've been doing this for years for flight testing.
Small tie-clip microphones inside the headset work well, the Maplin telephone pick-up coil on the outside of the headset (or with casing removed then a bit of mic-sock-tape around it inside) works much better because it is just picking up the headset side-tone, which is exactly what you want.
True cockpit noise will swamp a microphone actually in the cockpit.
The other advantage of the Maplin pickup coil (as I discovered to my embarrassement a while ago) is that it still works after it's been through the washing machine in your flying suit pocket.
G
Small tie-clip microphones inside the headset work well, the Maplin telephone pick-up coil on the outside of the headset (or with casing removed then a bit of mic-sock-tape around it inside) works much better because it is just picking up the headset side-tone, which is exactly what you want.
True cockpit noise will swamp a microphone actually in the cockpit.
The other advantage of the Maplin pickup coil (as I discovered to my embarrassement a while ago) is that it still works after it's been through the washing machine in your flying suit pocket.
G
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I know you have stated that you would like a small mic to go in the ear cup etc, but I have used my technique of a personal minidisc recorder a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable with a 1/4" jack connector on the end. This has worked fine in the following aircraft:
DA40
TB20
C150
C172
Piper Aztec
Piper Chieftain
Piper PA28
And doesn't interfere in the slightest. I have to then match up the audio with my film (because the hd camcorder doesn't have mic input)
DA40
TB20
C150
C172
Piper Aztec
Piper Chieftain
Piper PA28
And doesn't interfere in the slightest. I have to then match up the audio with my film (because the hd camcorder doesn't have mic input)
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Nigel,
You'll retain audio quality using a suitable direct connection (if at all possible).
This or similar may help:
Buy Pilot Products JB-22 Video Recorder Adapter GA/Helicopter
Mike
You'll retain audio quality using a suitable direct connection (if at all possible).
This or similar may help:
Buy Pilot Products JB-22 Video Recorder Adapter GA/Helicopter
Mike
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hey guys, sorry about the late reply, been in canada with work, still am actually, back friday though. Some good suggestions on here, going to try and find the best one for me and test a few, lets try and keep this thread going a little, if anyone else uses/finds any simlar equipment that can do the job (i mean nothing that you have to wire into the aircraft radios) then i'll be interested to know. I'll report back soon when i do a bit of testing in the next month or so, thanks folks!
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Buy Pilot Products JB-22 Video Recorder Adapter GA/Helicopter
I looked at this, but it does not give a lot of information.
Would you not need to record both input and output to capture your mic and the ATC?
This looks like its a splitter which you plug into your intercom and your headset into the splitter. The 3rd cable you plug into a recording device. However you can only capture your voice or the one of the controller.. however both plugs have a difference size dont they? so which one is it?
I looked at this, but it does not give a lot of information.
Would you not need to record both input and output to capture your mic and the ATC?
This looks like its a splitter which you plug into your intercom and your headset into the splitter. The 3rd cable you plug into a recording device. However you can only capture your voice or the one of the controller.. however both plugs have a difference size dont they? so which one is it?
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The jack for the headset earpieces is a quarter inch (6.35mm) in diameter, whereas the mic jack is smaller at 5.23mm. Being an electronics engineer in a past life I can only surmise that the connecting lead mentioned links the recorder to the quarter inch which has both the mic audio as 'sidetone' and the received audio to the earpieces.
Disclaimer - I'm no expert on aircraft electronics and the above is merely guesswork
Disclaimer - I'm no expert on aircraft electronics and the above is merely guesswork
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Sound recording
In order to record everything that is said in the cockpit, I connect the audio with a Video Recorder Adapter -GA/Helicopter, from Aircraft Spruce - HEADSET ADAPTERS AND EXTENSIONS from Aircraft Spruce.
It goes into your planes headphone socket and splits the feed so that you can get the sound into your camcorder/recorder's mic socket.
You can connect it to the rear passenger sockets - if you have any - to keep the cables out of the way.
Have a listen to the sound on one of my flights:
YouTube - Flight from Barton to Caernarfon
or the second half of this video:
YouTube - Flight from White Waltham
It goes into your planes headphone socket and splits the feed so that you can get the sound into your camcorder/recorder's mic socket.
You can connect it to the rear passenger sockets - if you have any - to keep the cables out of the way.
Have a listen to the sound on one of my flights:
YouTube - Flight from Barton to Caernarfon
or the second half of this video:
YouTube - Flight from White Waltham
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Sorry for the late response....
The Telephone pick-up isn't obtrusive in anyway at all. The sucker to stick it is no bigger than those sticky child arrows you had with your kiddies bow and arrow set. The disadvantage is that it needs some duct tape to keep it in place, but the quality is certainly good enough to use in debriefs and videos.
DD
The Telephone pick-up isn't obtrusive in anyway at all. The sucker to stick it is no bigger than those sticky child arrows you had with your kiddies bow and arrow set. The disadvantage is that it needs some duct tape to keep it in place, but the quality is certainly good enough to use in debriefs and videos.
DD
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Seems to me this is being a bit overcomplicated; I have an old sony-ericsson mobile I no longer use - it has a voice recorder; many contemporary phones have a similar function. In the past i've just stuck the mic part of the handsfree under the earcup, and left the phone in a pocket (in flight mode of course). Worked perfectly nicely, cost nothing, KISS principle applies..
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I've used a simple mini-mic made for recording telephone calls. It fits into your ear and records everything your hear and some background engine noise. Pretty much a perfect blend for a video.
Check it out here:
Olympus Mini Tele-Recording Device - RadioShack.com
Its the Olympus TP7
Cheers!
Check it out here:
Olympus Mini Tele-Recording Device - RadioShack.com
Its the Olympus TP7
Cheers!
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when you have a splitter cable for the speaker line you could connect the recorder to it, could you not? However does this allow you to record incoming and outgoing transmissions?
