Real working bat detector!

My home made bat detectors will let you listen to bat activity around you. They can hear bats to a distance of about 100 feet away. They will easily sense bats around you. We use them often at home and while camping or on the water kayaking. I have been making and using bat detectors for more than 6 years. This is one of my latest versions, packaged in a copper clad FR4 glass/epoxy box (printed circuit board material). This bat detector is a bit more expensive than my others due to the copper clad box. The copper is not treated and will gain a darker patina with age and handling.

This bat detector was made August, 2024. The unit you see in the photos is exactly what you will receive. This bat detector has been tested with real bats at our house. It works great.

Bats use a system called echolocation to hunt for insects in the dark. Echolocation works in a similar way to sonar. Bats make calls as they fly and listen to the returning echoes. A bat can tell how far away something is by how long it takes the sound to return to them. These calls are usually at a frequency too high for humans to hear. This detector digitally divides that high frequency so that humans can hear it. Just set it on a table outside at dusk and listen. In the early evening, you can normally see the bats that are detected. Fun to hold in your hand while you are walking.

Following is a video of three bat detectors operating at the same time. The audio is not great, turn your volume control up to hear the detected bats. In person, the bat detectors are easy to hear. You can also see the LEDs light up when bat sounds are detected. This bat detector is not in the video

Using the bat detector is easy.

There are two switches and a volume control. One switch controls the power, the other is a dimmer for the LED. This version includes the option to turn the LED off, sometimes nice when it is very dark outside. To use, turn the detector on, adjust the volume control, point where you expect bats. It is good to place the detector standing upright on a flat surface. Holding in your hand also works well, but you must keep a firm grip on the detector to avoid making noise. Audio from this bat detector is not loud! It is plenty for a few people together who may be talking but maybe not so good for a party. You will notice that your detector can hear sounds other than bats. There are insects that will become audible with the detector, as well as man made sounds. I understand that pet rat giggles can be heard with bat detectors, not tested but sounds interesting! Look here for info on rat giggles: www.scientificamerican.com/video/eavesdrop-on-ultrasonic-rat-giggles/ 

If you would like a lower cost bat detector, please look at my other listings. I sell bat detectors packaged in a commercial plastic box for less money.

There is a standard 9 volt battery inside. Battery should last at least 12 hours, maybe up to about 30 hours. Any kind of "9 volt" rechargeable or one time use battery should work fine. Battery included. Instructions included.

How does this bat detector work?

This bat detector works by picking up the ultrasonic sounds made by bats (also other creatures and things) via a microphone, the sound then goes through two stages of amplification with a little high pass filtering. The signal then goes to a digital chip which divides the audio by 16 resulting in a sound that can be heard by humans. That signal then goes through a filter to make it sound a bit better and remove some of the high frequency sound to avoid feedback. After that a volume control, then a standard amplifier drives the speaker.

• Please note, returns of working bat detector will incur a $40 fee, you pay postage both ways. You will not receive a full refund if you return a working bat detector.