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Resonant Frequency On The Road

Some of you may have noticed that a few of the more recent episodes of Resonant Frequency have been a little more raw that shows in the past. That is because I have been trying to get more content into the feed but have less time that I had before. So I have started recording some of the episodes while I am at work. I had a change in employment a few months back and now I have the time at work to record a small episode here and there.

You might ask how I do this. Well I currently am idle at work unless something happens and in true amateur radio operator fashion I decided to to take advantage of it. I have installed both mobile VHF/UHF and HF stations in my truck. I have a laptop available and am working towards mobile broadband.

But what about recording? Well since the listeners of the show have always said the prefer a a show that is less scripted I decided to take a cue from another podcaster. Dave Yates at the Lotta Linux Links podcast records all of his shows mobile from his Honda Civic on his way home from work. he has a pretty good setup and even does interviews while on the road.

So I thought I would give it a try. Some time back I purchased an in expensive Sony digital audio recorder for the purposes of recording interviews outside of the studio. Any of you that have listened to the first Field Day show I did a couple of years back have heard audio taken with that device. I really wasn't pleased with the audio quality of that recorder. I also have three Sansa Clip audio players that are capable of recording audio files. I decided to use one of the Sansas. The Sansa Clips have very sensitive microphones but are a little bit directional. They tend to pick up little noises made by movement like pops from the clip on the back if you are holding them in your hand. So I found the sensitivity setting and set it on low. I then clipped it to my shirt about a foot from my mouth and this gave me a reasonable quality sound.

As I said before most of the listeners have indicated that they like a show that doesn't sound scripted. The only negative comments I here about another popular Ham podcast is that it sounds to mechanical. So I try to do most shows off au natural or just me talking. So I just pick a topic and talk. It is nice to have a little experience in the hobby to fall back on.

Well there you go. Studio 1M is the wifes van and is quiet enough for me to record in motion. Studio 2M is my truck and I have to be sitting still to record there. This is my solution to getting more content into the feed for you folks. When  I get the website to the point I can post a few pictures I will get some on here so you can see the equipment.

Thanks for listening and it is great to be back in business.

Richard KB5JBV