The Thermopolis transmitter of Wyoming Public Radio was off-air. To fix it they needed to get up past three feet of snowdrifts, over three inches of ice, and into 40-mph winds blowing snow sideways across a cloud-covered hilltop. A four-wheel drive wouldn’t make it; a rental Sno-Cat would have taken days to find; and snowmobile travel would have been dangerous with the weight and bulk of the gear and parts needing transport. So how did Chief Engineer Reid Fletcher and Program Director Roger Adams make their mid-winter ascent? Hint: “Giddyup.”

Been using the FR-2 Field Memory Recorder for a few months now. Really like the sound of the mic pre-amps, and the internal phantom power also seems to drive my mic-of-choice well (ShureVP-88 Stereo Condenser). Net result is a noticeably cleaner sound, especially compared to the consumer mini-dat ‘chines I’d been using as back-up and on bike trips.

It’s about the size of a thick hardcover book; bigger than I thot — funny how even tho I read the specs, 206 x 132x 57 mm (8.1 x 5.2 x 2.2 inches), my desire for a small machine still made me think this thing would be more compact. Also it has internal stereo mics and speaker, neither features I wanted. But it is light, has a speedy USB2.0 post, and other flash-recorders had more serious probs for me.*

One tragic flaw: The Fostex back battery case cover is a pain-in-ass and doomed to bust someday; cuz the batteries have to be placed just right or they stick out and keep cover from closing properly.

So it’s a fine machine, sounds great, is rugged (except battery cover). But: I paid $500 for my Fostex, and it’s now $600; so at that price the Oade Bros Marantz 660 mod may be the better deal.

Here’s some recordings, the first with the VP88 of some close relatives, currently incarcerated, “Cognitive Evo Group, Univ of LA- External Mic”
(0:34 mp3):

Continuing the incarceration theme, when internationally known producer Scott Carrier came to visit, it wasn’t long before I was off to the cop-shop to bail Scott outta jail. So I brought my recorder along and taped his coerced confession, using the internal stereo mics. The Fostex was just sitting on the truck seat and picked up pretty well, “Car Talk- Internal mics” (0:30 mp3):

And again with the internal mics, here’s the gate thru which we later DID NOT trespass, when the criminal returned to the scene of the crime, “Gate Swing- Internal mics” (0:32 mp3):

Scott sez he’s learned his lesson. We at HV remain skeptical, having heard this declaration from him before.

*My probs w/ other $400-600 recorders: The Zoom H4 is a piece of plastic shit, w/ no vol dial– just a switch w/ three level presets (haven’t seen H2 yet). The M-Audio Microtrack only has an internal battery, which rules it out for long road trips w/o frequent AC, especially on bikes. Edirol R-09 is hissy; as is, the outta-box non-Oade Marantz 660 (see: Transom review).

Riding at night will never be the same: the SpokePOV Kit.

As the recent victim of a bike theft, this story in today’s Washington Post was particularly poignant:

As Web Fuels Bike Thefts, Victims Turn Vigilantes

Favourite Quote:

“You steal someone’s bike, and God have mercy on you if they ever find you,” he said. “It’s something so insanely personal. People have a more personal connection to their bikes than their iPod.”

and, this admittedly depressing closer:

“He posted to the site startlingly clear photos of a man riding what he said was his bike, and he filed a police report. Police have followed up on his tips to no avail, McKenna said.”

Doug Kaye of The Conversations Network has posted on his Blogarithms an in-depth guide to Recording Skype Interviews, which he sez can now exceed the audio quality of a high-end telephone hybrid.

1 Day before video from Podtech’s Micheal Johnson:

I’m kinda lucky to have
HeadRoom, the large net/mail headphone retailer, right in my hometown (Bozeman MT). When I need cans I just cruise by and buy whatever they recommend: they’re audiophile fanatics and listen critically to everything they sell.

In the field I use ear canal headphones (don’t call ‘em “earbuds,” sez HR). They sound good, they seat well (i.e., don’t fall out), and they’re small, so you don’t look like a Martian when approaching folk outta-the-blue to interview them. I usually pay between $100 and $200 for a really good, but not top-o-line pair.

I used a Shure E4 with an Etymotic ER6 as backup. The Shure sounded better and had a thicker cord. I say “had” cuz I recently broke both (abuse), leaving me field phone-less.

So I swung by HeadRoom for new Shures, but Shure’s new E’s have much thinner cords. “Anything else as good?” asks I.

Guy pulls out the Ultimate Ears super.fi 5 Pro ($180). I buy sans listen; take ‘em home and am impressed. For the first time I hear a decent bass response from ear-canals. People say both the Shure and Etymotics have good bass, but I never thot so, even when I had the in-ear seal as tight as a [fill in offensive simile here]. But these UE’s go low, likely cuz of their dual drivers, one just for bass. (Caveat: HR mentioned the crossover could be a prob as it occurs at in vocal mid-range, but probs for them and usually out of my range of perception.)

Bass is important not just for the funk-in-recordings but also for field recording as most of the wind and plosive overdrives occur in the lower freqs, lower than most open-ear phones go. So you could be wrecking your recording and not know (hear) it. Haven’t taken the UE’s into field yet, tho, I’ll report back after I do.

Latest High Country News has a profile on a pocatello graphic designer who also makes bikes to give away — when he’s not teaching folks how to fix their own bikes… Seems to be currying a sort of low-key activist stance on fighting urban sprawl.

here’s the web teaser.