Audio Equipment

Bat Detectors

Bat detectors provide a relatively inexpensive means of listening to and recording bat vocalizations. These ultrasonic signals are way above the range of human hearing and general use audio recording equipment. The bat detector electronically converts the ultra high-frequency sounds down into the range where humans can hear and audio recorders can capture. There are many, many models on the market. Our hands-on field experience with a Laar model BB-XL detector, coupled to an R-DAT machine, has produced stunning results.

A special thank you to Karsten Passior passior@nexgo.de. He has gone to enormous lengths to compile the most complete bat detector comparison listing to date. Through his kind generosity we are able provide this in-depth comparison. This chart is a subset of a much larger list of detectors. It contains detectors that are currently available as well as those recently discontinued. Practical factors like the availability of a frequency display light (LED or LCD), one or two hand operation, weight, basic noise, sensitivity, filtering technique, power requirements etc. are used to compare models.

Bat detector comparison subset
	Laar Tranquility II	Laar Classic NG	Laar 3 P	Laar BB S	Laar BB L	Laar BB XL	Laar Explorer	Laar PX1	ELV Bat Detector	Stag Bat Box III	Stag Microbat
Heterodyne	X	X	X					X	X	X	X
Panorama system			X	X	X	X	X
Frequency division
Time expansion	10 + 32 times			10 times	10 times	10 times	10 times
Storage time	1,28 s			1,5 + 2,6 s	3 + 5 s	5 + 10 s	2 s
Self scanning heterodyne system				memory 512 kB	memory 1 MB	memory 1 MB	memory 512 kB
Built-in loud speaker	X	X	X							X	X
Headphone socket	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
LF output	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X
HF output		X	X							X
Comment switch
Frequency display	digital	digital	digital					digital	analog	analog	low/high
Frequency display light	LED	LED	LED					LED		X	LED
Frequency range	10 - 200 kHz	15 - 150 kHz	15 - 150 kHz	15 - 160 kHz	15 - 160 kHz	15 - 160 kHz	15 - 120 kHz	15 - 160 kHz	10 - 100 kHz	20 - 120 kHz	26 / 46 kHz
Bandwidth	± 3 kHz	± 5 kHz	± 5 kHz					± 5 kHz	?	± 8 kHz	?
Bandspread	?
Band-pass filter
Accuracy	± 0,2 kHz	?	?	?	?	?	?	100%	?	?	?
Sensitivity	133%	133%	133%	115%	115%	115%	100%	133%	100%	100%	100%
Basic noise	low	very low	very low	low	low	low	low	very low	standard	standard	standard
Power supply voltage	4x1,5V AA	2x9V	2x9V	2x9V	2x9V	2x9V	9V	9V	9V	9V	9V
Working time	?	8 h by accu	8 h by accu	8 h by accu	8 h by accu	8 h by accu	8 h by accu	8 h by accu	6 h by accu	8 h by accu	8 h by accu
Size (l x b x h) mm	155 x 90 x 48	196 x 100 x 54	196 x 100 x 54	196 x 100 x 54	196 x 100 x 54	196 x 100 x 54	157 x 84 x 30	157 x 84 x 30	140 x 90 x 48	120 x 67 x 32	106 x 62 x 24
Weight	?	490 g	520 g	520 g	520 g	520 g	490 g	490 g	180 g	230 g	118 g
Handling	two hand	two hand	two hand	two hand	two hand	two hand	one hand	one hand	one hand	one hand	one hand
Accessories		head phone	head phone	head phone	head phone	head phone	head phone	head phone
Price ca.	966€	898€	1124€	1378€	1508€	1686€	827€	456€	71€	231€	101€
Vendor	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2, 7	1, 2, 7
Notes		not available	not available	remote input	remote input	remote input	with CD-rom	with CD-rom			good for children

Bat detector vendor contacts:
http://www.juedes-ultraschall.de
http://www.vonlaarmedia.de
http://www.batbox.com