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Phil Atkin

@ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social
236 followers 106 following 683 posts

I write software and design electronics and 3D prints to enable people on tiny budgets to hear and record the extraordinary sounds of bats. Big fan of wildlife, of records with prominent guitars and snappy snares, and every second of the 1970s.

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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
First time ever in the garden!!!
Small slow worm in the hand, in gardening gloves.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
In the absence of immediate action with an environmental / socialist / anti tech bro / anti big corporations agenda he's just the last guy, but with better eyebrow grooming. And his entire party needs to better understand rural Britain - this is not Manchester. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Burnham electrified the Labour party by talking about electoral reform – now he needs to act on it | Polly Toynbee
The prime minister has lifted the spirits of the public and party members, and must use that goodwill to push through change, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Brown Long Eared bats are notoriously quiet. This one must have been flying right by my head as I brought my pippyg in last night - on the left of zoomed-out pic, REALLY LOUD bat; on the right my feet crunching on gravel as I bring in the pippyg. Zoomed in view shows wild and crazy harmonics.
Zoomed in bat call spectrogramSpectrogram showing bat calls and footfalls.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
pippyg version 2.1 now on TestFlight : if it breaks anything, let me know :) testflight.apple.com/join/EtuYyWjj
testflight.apple.com
Join the pipistrelle beta
Available on iOS
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
New look and new name for "pipistrelle" iPhone app. Next release will be renamed "pippyg" to reflect the obsolescence of original pipistrelle detectors. New "BAT filter" / BATS" modes which selectively apply strong high-pass filtering in bat mode, suppressing speech and bird call bycatch.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I just pushed up a new build of pipistrelle (which I REALLY need to rename to "pippyg") that pushes out the chirp twice in rapid succession, so if your device doesn't hear the first one or drops a bit and fails CRC, it should be fine with the second. testflight.apple.com/join/EtuYyWjj
testflight.apple.com
Join the pipistrelle beta
Available on iOS
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
New pippyg firmware to make chirping more immune to environmental noise. Big test - can a PYG hear a chirp if those pesky Ramones are turned up loud and Blitzkrieg Bopping an inch and a half from the microphone? Yes!! We are indeed totally immune to the sonic charms of the Forest Hills Four.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
BATS!
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Has it taken The Guardian this long to work this out? www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a...
theguardian.com
Betrayal by Luke Harding review – could Donald Trump be a Russian asset?
A Guardian correspondent’s sobering account of the US betrayal of Ukraine – and the possible reasons behind it
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
If you have built your own pippyg static bat detectors you might want to try out this new firmware. It makes chirping much more reliable in the presence of noise and interference. No changes to the chirping app, just the firmware. drive.google.com/file/d/1xdqS...
drive.google.com
pippyg-v10-23-08-26.uf2
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Hummingbird Hawk Moth in the house 👍😀
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
I think this is the closest I've ever seen a Kestrel to the house - in the top of a tree in next door's garden.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
OK, some people may have not read the memo about the need for an external microphone, but I like to think that out there in bat land more than 15,000 people are enjoying simultaneous heterodyne detection, time expansion and 384kHz recording, all for free. @batconservation.bsky.social
Graph showing the number of downloads of the app “Bat Detector” since launch.Graph showing the number of downloads of the app “Bat Detector” over the last 30 days.The app store entry for Bat Detector, which clearly states that you need an ultrasonic microphone to go batting
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
3 B1 bombers passed over our house about 7.30 pm, heading East. Which is where Iran is. So something's up, will read tomorrow's papers with interest.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Joey Ramone's weirdest vocal. And that's saying something. He seems to have swallowed a Dalek. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDJy...
youtube.com
I Don't Care (Demo) (2016 Remaster)
YouTube video by Ramones - Topic
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Newark Park’s bats and toads and moths and bees as delightful as ever this week. Plus a GREAT cream tea! @nationaltrust.org.uk @batconservation.bsky.social
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Bat Synth 1.2 is "In Review" with Apple. Hopefully by tomorrow it will have passed review and you will all be able to program up your own bat echolocation and social calls. apps.apple.com/gb/app/bat-s...
apps.apple.com
Bat Synth App - App Store
Download Bat Synth by Phil Atkin on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips and more games like Bat Synth.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
New Bat Detector user manual - this is actually included in the app but people have trouble finding it :) drive.google.com/file/d/1PVgQ...
drive.google.com
BatDetector.pdf
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
LOVELY little toad in the woods yesterday, and a cracking illustration of the colour sensitivity differences between iPhone SE 2 and iPhone 16e. And I’ve already warmed up the SE photo.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
There is a new build of Bat Synth on TestFlight that allows you to program your own bat calls. Now I need to document the process, or to make my life easier, just dump a handful of files for you all to look at. Bat Synth
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
So, this moth - Dewick's Plusia - was just in our kitchen. According to this (www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/macd...) it's EXTREMELY rare. If so, cool! I let it out because everything that comes in is dying very quickly of dehydration in this weather.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Here's foxy chowing down on the vole dinner - you can see him do the gulp / swallow.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
A long walk around the village a) to escape the dissonances of the church bells next door and b) because it was a lovely evening. Two foxes, one of them just 50 yards from the farmer who was baling up the hay. Foxy was vacuuming up the voles. Middle picture - vole in jaws.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Count Binface not only has a great chance but has some truly great policies, particularly around ice cream pricing. He's my kind of guy - come on good folks of Clacton, all you need to do is go out of the house for 10 minutes and stick an X on a piece of paper to unseat old Frog Face.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
What a BEAUTY!!
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
There’s a new Bat Detector on Testflight with an implementation of “Instant Replay”. If you’re recording you can swipe left and right in the big sonogram window to load up the 32 most recently recorded 5 second files. So a “what the heck was THAT?!” moment can be pulled up to listen to it on loop.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Mullein Moth caterpillar today. Lesser Stag Beetle and Thick-Legged Flower Beetle yesterday. And suddenly, tons of Meadow Brown butterfiles.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
I sincerely hope England don't make the final, because I have sworn to not watching a second of this Trump World Cup. So they'd better not put me under such unbearable pressure.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
This cessation of hostilities in Iran seems serious, a SHEDLOAD of B-52s and B-1s have been flying West over our house today. West being the opposite direction to Iran.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
TINY pipistrelle nano - this is my new favourite thing I've ever designed. 10 minute build time, £10 build cost, operates as handheld bat detector or 384kHz USB microphone. Single red LED responds to ultrasound, component list rationalized. This prototype has no on-off switch, real devices do.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Two episodes into Alice and Steve and it's getting really painful ...
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Rest in Peace the mighty and recently-deceased EAGLE CAD. Without you my bat detecting babies would never have existed. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EAGLE_(...
en.wikipedia.org
EAGLE (program) - Wikipedia
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Frothy coffee at the Donkey Sanctuary. They are intended to be donkey ears but for me they will always be Brown Long Eared Bats.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
First ever Greater Horseshoe Bat tonight. Whoo hoo!
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
One of my 5 fave UK bands of all time, totally forgotten and ignored, finally get their picture in the paper. All hail the mighty Doctors of Madness :) www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...
theguardian.com
‘I knew it was over for us’: the bands who got left behind when punk exploded
Fifty years ago this week, the Sex Pistols played their first Manchester gig and caused a sonic revolution. What happened to the other bands that were tipped for big things that year – and why did the...
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Here's the naturalist team at the Reni Pani Jungle Lodge just outside the Satpura Tiger reserve, with their collection of pipistrelle / pippyg detectors. The 5 pippygs are recording echolocation calls to populate the @btobirds.bsky.social BTO Acoustic Pipeline's "Bats In India" project. @batcon.org
A group of naturalists in India, all based at the Reni Pani Jungle Lodge on the edge of the Satpura Tiger Reserve, with a collection of bat acoustic detectors and recorders.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
CRACKING Burnet Moth today!
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
I'm currently a bit obsessed with finding different videos of Rick Astley singing Highway to Hell :) youtu.be/5PUNx5TGj1Y?...
youtu.be
Rick Astley | Highway to Hell (Live)
YouTube video by Hassan Chávez
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Revised website, hopefully an easier read for newcomers. Note the massive simplification of the UI for pip mini, but also note that you can still run in "Classic / Complex Mode" and do a @batconservation.bsky.social waterways survey locked to heterodyne/35kHz. www.pippyg.com/pipistrelle-...
pippyg.com
A quite incredible bat detector for under £20
A quite incredible bat detector for under £20, featuring heterodyne and time expansion detection, which also doubles up as a 384kHz USB microphone
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Quite the walk round the village, and I didn't even turn on Merlin until we were 20 minutes in.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
... and a video www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EqC...
youtube.com
Bats in the church yard
YouTube video by Phil Atkin
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Excellent batting last night - here's a simultaneous common pip, noctule and serotine. Captured on an ancient iPad plus a sub-£10 DIY ultrasonic microphone.
A sonogram showing the sonic spectra of multiple simultaneous bat calls
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
This record is a) WAY too expensive for me to buy, yet b) astonishing. The "Tracking Mixes" - 4 Ramones playing live in a studio with the tape machine running, no dubs - are so tight it's insane. That pre-Marky period mid 76 to late '77 , they were untouchable. music.apple.com/gb/album/roc...
music.apple.com
Rocket to Russia (40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) by Ramones on Apple Music
Album · 1977 · 77 Songs
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Painted Lady today!
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Yesterday was Mayfly emergence day at Kelmscott Manor!
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
A piece on "Farming Today" this morning that mentions the work being done in Suffolk using Griff microphones that are being built in self-build workshops, enabling and democratizing citizen bat science at extremely low cost. @batconservation.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
Farming Today - 05/05/26 Ash tree propagation, clinical waste on beach, DIY bat monitoring - BBC Sounds
A new growing technique which could help save the ash.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
I don't often turn on Merlin on a round the village walk, but I'm glad I did today - it heard a Skylark that we missed. But it missed Ravens, Pheasants and the first Swifts of the year. They weren't screaming or anything, but heck - Swifts - it just should have known.
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
If you know a bat superstar, get nominating! In fact I probably should nominate Dr. Stuart Newson …
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
The Guardian’s spelling mistakes reach epic proportions as they woefully misspell “Trump’s corruption and cruel and illegal policies” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Anti-Trump sentiment being examined as motive for White House press dinner shooting
Manifesto reportedly written by the suspect had Trump administration officials at top of list
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Phil Atkin @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
It’s the South West Bat Conference today, and Andy Avery is leading a workshop called “How to lead a Build your own Bat Detector workshop”. Meta or what? With more workshop leaders the self build bat detector movement could be on a roll after this, which would be GREAT! @batconservation.bsky.social
A self build bat detector, Pipistrelle Mini
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