amplifiers & power horns

[Skitterbug]

My hubby wants to play "The Dawn Song" to attract purple martins. We want to play it for a set amount of time and we want to play it near the nesting site. So I think that if I have a power horn, wiring, amplifier and a computer box for the music track, I ought to be okay. Now my question - what size amplifier plays what size power horn? If I get a 40 watt amplifier, what size of a power horn will that handle? Or reverse it and if I would get a 100 watt power horn, what size amplifier would I need? I know nothing about sound systems.......can you tell?

Thanks for any help offered!

[viking33]

My hubby wants to play "The Dawn Song" to attract purple martins. We want to play it for a set amount of time and we want to play it near the nesting site. So I think that if I have a power horn, wiring, amplifier and a computer box for the music track, I ought to be okay. Now my question - what size amplifier plays what size power horn? If I get a 40 watt amplifier, what size of a power horn will that handle? Or reverse it and if I would get a 100 watt power horn, what size amplifier would I need? I know nothing about sound systems.......can you tell?

Thanks for any help offered!

Skitter,
That's a LOT of sound for attracting birds. If you have nearby neighbors you may attract the local police with a citation for excessive noise!
Seriously though, The wattage rating for either of them are the maximum power they can safely handle, so running a 40 watt amp into a 100 watt horn is OK but it IS going to be loud. I think the birds will go in the opposite direction instead of being attracted to it. For what you are proposing, a much smaller setup would be fine unless you have other plans for their use later on.

[Skitterbug]

My hubby wants to play "The Dawn Song" to attract purple martins. We want to play it for a set amount of time and we want to play it near the nesting site. So I think that if I have a power horn, wiring, amplifier and a computer box for the music track, I ought to be okay. Now my question - what size amplifier plays what size power horn? If I get a 40 watt amplifier, what size of a power horn will that handle? Or reverse it and if I would get a 100 watt power horn, what size amplifier would I need? I know nothing about sound systems.......can you tell?

Thanks for any help offered!

Skitter,
That's a LOT of sound for attracting birds. If you have nearby neighbors you may attract the local police with a citation for excessive noise!
Seriously though, The wattage rating for either of them are the maximum power they can safely handle, so running a 40 watt amp into a 100 watt horn is OK but it IS going to be loud. I think the birds will go in the opposite direction instead of being attracted to it. For what you are proposing, a much smaller setup would be fine unless you have other plans for their use later on.

I did say I did not know a thing about how sound systems worked!

So anyway, I offered the examples above as items that could be used so I could get the ball rolling on a discussion. Now pretty tell me what size amplifier and what size power horn would work? The computer that will be generating the song may be about 100 feet from the power horn. I don't know if this makes any difference in size of the amplifier and the power horn. Keep the humor and the feedback coming! And thanks!

[StuartR]

Your power horn should have a higher rating than your amplifier. If the amplifier has the higher rating then it is possible for someone to turn the volume up until it damages the power horn.

I also think that you only need something very low powered for this usage.

[steveh]

Hi Skitter

There is not much here about a sound system but some other practical advice on attracting purple martins http://purplemartin.org/main/mgt.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; maybe this will help alongside the sound. I did not realise they were of the swallow family, you learn something new everyday!

[Skitterbug]

Your power horn should have a higher rating than your amplifier. If the amplifier has the higher rating then it is possible for someone to turn the volume up until it damages the power horn.

I also think that you only need something very low powered for this usage.

So a 50 watt horn would get on well with a 40 watt amplifier - if I understand you correctly? And yes, I do agree that I wouldn't want to blast the martins out of the air with the volume!
Thank you for your reply!

[Skitterbug]

Hi Skitter

There is not much here about a sound system but some other practical advice on attracting purple martins http://purplemartin.org/main/mgt.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; maybe this will help alongside the sound. I did not realise they were of the swallow family, you learn something new everyday!

Hi Steve!

Actually, I've been all through the Purple Martin site and also the forum but nothing ever quite explained how to get from point A <the computer> to point B <the horn> or exactly what the watts should be for the horn and amplifier. Some people use boom boxes or stereo home systems, etc. We tried a little boom box last year but it quickly wore out! And even if we replaced it, it could not sit outside in the weather! We want something to get the sound closer to the nesting boxes.
So that's why I turned to the lounge - because I knew that I'd get help here!
Thank you for taking time to hunt down the link to the Purple Martin site!

[viking33]

So a 50 watt horn would get on well with a 40 watt amplifier - if I understand you correctly? And yes, I do agree that I wouldn't want to blast the martins out of the air with the volume!
__________________________________________________________
Sure should be OK. As mentioned, keep the volume control down low. 40 watts can be quite loud at full volume.
( I'll keep my eyes on the headlines from Ohio. "BIRDS BLOWN FROM SKY BY SONIC BOOM." )

[ChrisGreaves]

"BIRDS BLOWN FROM SKY BY SONIC BOOM."

Thanks Bob.
I quite like the new name.
It has much more impact than "Skitterbug"!

[BobH]

Hi Skitterbug!

Why don't you consider wireless speakers designed for outdoor use? Here is one link but I'm certain that google will find many more for you. I'm sure any of those sites can tell you about how to power them and what decibel levels they can achieve.


Outdoor speakers

[Skitterbug]

So a 50 watt horn would get on well with a 40 watt amplifier - if I understand you correctly? And yes, I do agree that I wouldn't want to blast the martins out of the air with the volume!
__________________________________________________________
Sure should be OK. As mentioned, keep the volume control down low. 40 watts can be quite loud at full volume.
( I'll keep my eyes on the headlines from Ohio. "BIRDS BLOWN FROM SKY BY SONIC BOOM." )

Ha ha ha! Have you thought about your own stand up comic presentation? Just teasing, of course!
We have the parts now. The next step is assembly and implementation. I'll definitely let the group know how this project turns out.

[Skitterbug]

Hi Skitterbug!
Why don't you consider wireless speakers designed for outdoor use? Here is one link but I'm certain that google will find many more for you. I'm sure any of those sites can tell you about how to power them and what decibel levels they can achieve.
Outdoor speakers

Thanks Bob - for the link to an interesting concept. I won't go this direction for now since it took me quite awhile to get our current idea figured out. As mentioned in my post to Bob <viking33>, we've purchased what we think we need. Trying to figure out all this sound stuff seems a lot more complicated to me than fixing up an XP box when it has errors or broken parts...........

To Chris: Sonic Boom, eh? I could really level the playing field with that one! I think I'll stick with Skitterbug!

[viking33]

So a 50 watt horn would get on well with a 40 watt amplifier - if I understand you correctly? And yes, I do agree that I wouldn't want to blast the martins out of the air with the volume!
__________________________________________________________
Sure should be OK. As mentioned, keep the volume control down low. 40 watts can be quite loud at full volume.
( I'll keep my eyes on the headlines from Ohio. "BIRDS BLOWN FROM SKY BY SONIC BOOM." )

Ha ha ha! Have you thought about your own stand up comic presentation? Just teasing, of course!
We have the parts now. The next step is assembly and implementation. I'll definitely let the group know how this project turns out.

Good luck, Skitterbug. I think you'll find the project to be easier than you expect. Shouldn't be a big deal! ( it says here in fine print. )

[Skitterbug]

Good luck, Skitterbug. I think you'll find the project to be easier than you expect. Shouldn't be a big deal! ( it says here in fine print. )

I have "Daytime Martin Chatter" going on right now after a lot of messing about. I thought I'd use the Win98 box that I had but for some reason, even though it would let sound come through the computer speakers, it wouldn't allow sound to come through the amplifier/power horn. So I moved along to the XP box. It worked as expected! I have the task manager set up to start the "Dawn Song" tomorrow morning. It should run for 4 hours and then the "Daytime Chatter" should start.

BTW, we don't have any close neighbors so no problems bothering anyone with the noise - which isn't as loud as I expected it to be. This is probably because of the length of wire we used in our project - over 100 feet worth!
You are correct - thanks to all the advise offered - it ended up being a fairly simple task once I understood the concept, had the "stuff" and got it all hooked up!

Now let's hope some martins get curious and decide to come check out our "apartments"! The rent is "cheep"!

[viking33]

Good luck, Skitterbug. I think you'll find the project to be easier than you expect. Shouldn't be a big deal! ( it says here in fine print. )

I have "Daytime Martin Chatter" going on right now after a lot of messing about. I thought I'd use the Win98 box that I had but for some reason, even though it would let sound come through the computer speakers, it wouldn't allow sound to come through the amplifier/power horn. So I moved along to the XP box. It worked as expected! I have the task manager set up to start the "Dawn Song" tomorrow morning. It should run for 4 hours and then the "Daytime Chatter" should start.

BTW, we don't have any close neighbors so no problems bothering anyone with the noise - which isn't as loud as I expected it to be. This is probably because of the length of wire we used in our project - over 100 feet worth!
You are correct - thanks to all the advise offered - it ended up being a fairly simple task once I understood the concept, had the "stuff" and got it all hooked up!

Now let's hope some martins get curious and decide to come check out our "apartments"! The rent is "cheep"!

Great! Have one on me!

[Bigaldoc]

And you WILL get some pictures, right?

[Skitterbug]

And you WILL get some pictures, right?

If they come, I certainly will!

This has been a work in progress for several years now. It seems to be very hard to attract these lovely creatures but once they establish a colony, they will make it their home - as long as the apartments are available!

Now we wait.................

[Bowlie]

Interesting article in NYT (subscription may be required - look quickly while still free) at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/techn ... technology" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .

[Skitterbug]

Interesting article in NYT (subscription may be required - look quickly while still free) at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/techn ... technology" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .

Bowlie!

It is an interesting commentary about wireless speakers. I doubt that the speakers would work for our current application but I thought about our tv sound system and how I'd like to have more speakers so the sound would be better. I think that the tv has blue tooth capabilities so wireless speakers might work. No wires would definitely be a plus! Certainly something to think about! Thanks!

[Graeme]

Would it be possible to protect a DAB radio from the elements and tune it into http://www.birdsongradio.com/