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Underwater Microphone (Hydrophone)

by action_owl on June 3, 2008 Table of Contents Underwater Microphone (Hydrophone) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro: Underwater Microphone (Hydrophone) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 1: Breaking Down Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 2: Cut, Strip and Connect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 3: First Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 4: Soldering and Wrapping Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 5: Fitting the capsule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 6: Vegitable oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 7: Done . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 2 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 7

http://www.instructables.com/id/Underwater-Microphone-Hydrophone/

Intro: Underwater Microphone (Hydrophone)

Construct a inexpensive hydrophone out of things laying around your house. I decided to put up this instructable because (to my surprise) no one has a hydrophone instructable up yet. I made mine using a mixture of other people's hydrophone creations that I found through a google search and a bit of ingenuity. Here's the parts that I used but it should be fairly easy to adapt whatever similar items that you can find. computer microphone plastic wrap vegetable oil solder knife or scissors bottle ( I used a small spray bottle that was originally some "energy-caffeine spray")

Image Notes 1. bloop! bloop!

Step 1: Breaking Down Parts

You are going to dissasemble the computer mic so that you have the capsule and the cord seperated, I didnt put any pictures of this up because I already disassembled them before deciding to make an instructable, but the proccess is pretty easy and is a little different with every mic. You also should have your bottle or container taken apart.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Underwater-Microphone-Hydrophone/

Image Notes 1. cord from Mic to computer

Image Notes 1. mic capsule

Image Notes 1. Keep this 2. and this 3. you dont need this.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Underwater-Microphone-Hydrophone/

Step 2: Cut, Strip and Connect

Using a small pear knife make a hole in the top of the lid and feed the cord through. It is important to make the hole as small as you can so it as water tight as possible. After the cord was in I stripped the wires and connected them to the Mic Capsule by carefully twisting the wires together.

Image Notes 1. Pear Knife 2. Lid for the spray bottle

http://www.instructables.com/id/Underwater-Microphone-Hydrophone/

Step 3: First Test

It is a good Idea to test the connection before soldering and wrapping everything. Plug the mic into your computer or recording device and test it.

Image Notes 1. success

Step 4: Soldering and Wrapping Connections

If your test was successful then you can solder your connections. If it was not make sure that your wires are in the right spot and that they are well connected also check the volumes of your recording equiptment. There are a lot of different ways that you can do this, but you need to insulate the wires so that they do not touch each other, the mic capsule, or water. If I had access to a glue gun I would of sealed them that way instead I used plastic wrap, and indiviually wrapped the connections and then wrapped them all together. After you do this its a good idea to test the mic one more time.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Underwater-Microphone-Hydrophone/

Step 5: Fitting the capsule

Now you should continue to wrap the capsule with plastic wrap until the capsule fits tightly in the lid, but not so tight that you can't fit the lid over the opening of the bottle this may take some trial and error.

Image Notes 1. the capsule is tightly in the lid but the lid can still fit over the bottle and allow the capsule to go into the bottle.

Image Notes 1. it should be a very tight fit, but dont press the lid down all the way yet.

Step 6: Vegitable oil

Pour vegetable oil into the bottle until it is nearly at the top, leaving a little room for the mic capsule. Push the lid over the bottle opening, the mic will dip into the vegetable oil and go into the bottle, The lid should stretch and go over the bottle and create a near air-tight seal, some vegetable oil will probably come out be sure to wipe off the oil before putting it in water, you do not want any air in the bottle it should be full of oil. I taped around the edge, where the lid was over the bottle and wrapped more plastic wrap around it to make sure it was sealed well. It is also a good idea to seal the lid where the cord is at with hot glue or super glue.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Underwater-Microphone-Hydrophone/

Step 7: Done
Now you can test out your hydropne, its not exactly research quality or anything but it does work, you will also want to make some sort of weight to hold it under water as it does want to float. A key ring with some old keys works great.

Image Notes 1. bloop! bloop!

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How to amplify your voice! by guitarmaster101

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Comments
38 comments Add Comment

TheDugger says:

Jun 23, 2008. 11:24 AM REPLY Having successfully built an underwater housing out of an ammo can (see instructions on this site), I am wanting to take the next step and get clear audio. Knowing nothing about hydraphone technology, I was with you until you submerged your mic into the oil. Why doesn't that render the mic useless? What role does the oil play?

action_owl says:

Dec 7, 2008. 10:14 AM REPLY the oil allows the microphone to better pickup the sound waves in the water. oil is non-conductive and therefore does not interfere with most electronic equipment: see this oil cooled PC for example: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/618067/make_ur_pc_faster_oil_cooled_pc/

dosci says:

Sep 21, 2009. 4:34 AM REPLY thanks, but i had a problem: the mic was still working after i submerged in into oil without closing the bottle, BUT after i closed the bottle, and the extra oil licked out, the mic became dead, not functioning anymore...(i tryed with 3 mics.. and alwaiys the sa,me..). any idea why is that happening? is it possible that this is due to an excessive pressure of the oil against the micro membrane? any suggestion? Jan 31, 2009. 4:24 PM REPLY Yea and the hydrophone (in my opinion) would work better if their was a membrane (idk saran wrap) so that the vibrations will be able to be picked up better. and it wont break from pressure because of the oil keeping the pressure the same.

burwuro says:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Underwater-Microphone-Hydrophone/

TheDugger says:

Aug 18, 2009. 5:00 PM REPLY Well I finally got around to giving this a try. I lined everything up and assembled it just as instructed. I put it into the water to try and what recorded was a very faint sound of my kid's voices. I am going to give the condom approach a shot. If that doesn't work, I'll give up and buy one.

belgvr says:
would be great if you put some example audio of what you have got :D

Jun 9, 2009. 12:03 PM REPLY

DELETED_axol123 says:
(removed by author or community request)

Jun 5, 2008. 12:26 AM

wupme says:

Oct 19, 2008. 6:45 AM REPLY Air ain't the problem, its just cruel to put a fish in such bowls. In some countrys (Germany for example) its actually illegal to put fish in such bowls, pet stores also don't sell them. You still can buy bowls of course, for food or decoration.... A fish needs a tank, plants, a water filter and some other fish of course. I actually got one 320 liter tank, and another 200 liter tank. And an 80 liter for raising babys. Jun 5, 2008. 12:10 PM REPLY hmmm... never knew that, I'll get him a plant, but the bowl's gotta stay I bought him at Wal-Mart and when they gave him to me they said "good luck"... so I guess he's doing better than expected. I'm also working on an instructable for a wind powered bubbler for him.

action_owl says:

matt_sawyers says:
your always lucky if the fish lasts longer than 2 weeks when purchasing from Wally World...

Jul 10, 2008. 6:52 PM REPLY

labelreader says:

Jun 10, 2008. 9:33 AM REPLY Actually, it's a myth that bettas are "happy" in small spaces. They're shown that way in Japan because it provides a nice view of the fish, not because the fish like it. In a large tank they seem to enjoy being able to swim vigorously, and they're great in community tanks (as long as you don't put two male bettas in there together, of course).

kington99 says:

Jun 5, 2008. 3:25 AM REPLY you mean that they don't have a sufficient surface area to dissolve sufficient oxygen for the fish? This one obviously does, else the fish would be dead.

legendaryfrog says:

Jun 9, 2008. 6:07 PM REPLY hey man. did you know a closet has enough oxygen to keep a human alive? This isn't a matter of oxygen, its a matter of having enough space.

hogiewan says:
I would think a piezo disc with sealant covering the side with the terminals would work as good if not better

Jun 4, 2008. 2:09 PM REPLY

gege says:

Oct 19, 2008. 5:58 AM REPLY I fully agree. I had seen somewhere about using an electret microphone . I did pur it in veg oil .... It worked nicely for a few hours ...Until the oil got into the work (beneath the cloth) ,then the sensitivity went way down. I did a second one to be sure and SAME thing I then used one little dynamic cartridge with a plastic cone (for resistance to oil), added an amplifier and it still work. I have ordered some piezo slabs to build into microphones(pressure transducers)they are cheap if they are not finished as full underwater microphone. The trick will be to protect from water.................

action_owl says:
true dat, I didnt have a piezo element though... I heard you can get them off of those musical greeting cards

Jun 5, 2008. 12:11 PM REPLY

hogiewan says:
Radio Shack has them pretty cheap, but you should take them out of the casing - just be careful not to crack the crystal

Jun 5, 2008. 4:07 PM REPLY

Badgergirl says:

Jun 12, 2008. 4:32 PM REPLY ummmm, so you would use this to talk to your goldfish? SWEET!! Now all i need is a fish communicator to communicate with all the fish of the world so they can help me in my quest for world domination! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha :P

matt_sawyers says:
I have the whale speech plug-in for the communicator... Created from the research from the "Finding Nemo" movie...

Jul 10, 2008. 6:50 PM REPLY

http://www.instructables.com/id/Underwater-Microphone-Hydrophone/

ArisenProdigy says:
Whaaaaaaaa???

Jul 11, 2008. 7:10 AM REPLY

matt_sawyers says:
joking of course...

Jul 11, 2008. 3:11 PM REPLY

ArisenProdigy says:
Man, I think I spent a good fifteen minutes googling around for that, haha.

Jul 12, 2008. 7:08 AM REPLY

matt_sawyers says:
lol, Find anything?

Jul 12, 2008. 11:17 AM REPLY

fib3roptix says:
Im making one like yours right now..

Jun 8, 2008. 5:57 AM REPLY

fib3roptix says:
Do you wrap the tip of the mic too????

Jun 8, 2008. 5:55 AM REPLY

fib3roptix says:

Jun 7, 2008. 6:55 PM REPLY I used a plastic shaker cup and cup a slit in the top and sealed with electrical tape + super glue. but it doesn't work as good as yours. YOURS IS AAAWWSOOME!! Jun 5, 2008. 10:00 PM REPLY

Jr Hacking kid says:

diegobb says:

Jun 5, 2008. 12:13 PM REPLY Like hogiewan says using an piezoelectric element instead of a mic will give you much better results. I made an hidrophone for a college friend, who's recording some fish sound for their final work at the university. (I'm studying electronics and he is ocean "something") I managed to get +40 to +42db of gain with an piezoelectric (Those that comes with thats annoying christmas cards). The circuit uses two low noise op amp and the piezo. The signal from the pre amp goes to a pc, or better to a pro digital recorder. (My friend do this last). (PS: Please, excuse my bad english.)

diegobb says:

Jun 5, 2008. 12:32 PM REPLY This is my friend This is my friend, actually he get some money from an international institute, to expand their investigations to dolphins, based in their studies of the sound produced by the Micropogonias furnieri .

action_owl says:

Jun 5, 2008. 2:41 PM REPLY Very awesome diegobb, thanks for the info I am going to get to work on a piezoelectric hydrophone,and I already have a few preamps that I can use too.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Underwater-Microphone-Hydrophone/

action_owl says:

Jun 5, 2008. 12:21 PM REPLY the greeting cards use the piezo electric element as the speaker for sound to come out of right? Would you be able to just wire it up as a microphone instead of a speaker and hook it too a pre-amp or is there more electrical work involved? also: would the element be able to come in direct contact with the water? (besides the wiring terminals of course) or would you have to water proof the piezo element as well? I think a Piezo Element Hydrophone instructable is really needed!

diegobb says:

Jun 5, 2008. 12:40 PM REPLY Yes, most of them use a piezo electric. Yes, you need to make a little smal pre amp circuit with a low noise operational preamplifier, use a fet op amp, beacuase they need very low bias current. No, i don't think that just droping the piezo element in water is a good idea. You can use some epoxy to isolate the piezo. Don't use silicon, it is too soft and act's like a high pass filter, don't use a totaly rigid material, because the piezo elements needs to move to produce electricity.

hogiewan says:

Jun 5, 2008. 4:10 PM REPLY piezo elements have a very high impedance, keep that in mind while designing the buffer/preamp ( another reason to use jfet opamps )

jbakerathome says:
Nice simple Instructable. You can use mineral oil as a substitution for vegetable oil since it can go bad after about 6 months.

Jun 4, 2008. 1:12 PM REPLY

Doveman says:
Never heard of one. Cool though!

Jun 4, 2008. 9:23 AM REPLY

JowSithm says:
I've always wanted to waterproof my guitar amp and a microphone and record it under water to see what it sounds like.

Jun 4, 2008. 7:39 AM REPLY

i make shooting things says:

would be kinda cool to listen to if you could getting into the plumbing

Jun 3, 2008. 6:08 PM REPLY

darkmuskrat says:
*bloop bloop. good instructable

Jun 3, 2008. 3:52 PM REPLY

http://www.instructables.com/id/Underwater-Microphone-Hydrophone/