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Mic direction, and external noise

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  • #1

    Mic direction, and external noise

    I scanned my first hives the other day, and it looks like maybe I inserted my iPhone 7 backwards. I figured the mic was on the bottom, as that's where I talk and that's where I see what look like speakers or mics (and the pic on the opening screen says phones have the mic at the bottom). Well, all six hives came up between 30 and 50 percent foulbrood. I inspected and found no signs of foulbrood, and diligently completed and uploaded my reports.

    Then I noticed at another place in the app a checked box saying "Microphone is on top." So I went back out yesterday and scanned them again with the top end in. All the "foulbrood" percentages were now in the teens or 20s -- still didn't make sense but not quite as alarming. For confirmation I turned it around and re-scanned one and it was back in the 40s. When I check my phone specs online, there are mics on both ends, so I don't know why there would be such a difference.

    Now, it was also windy both days -- not gale force, but enough that I had to stand upwind of the smoker when using it later in order to direct smoke into the entrance. In other words, regardless of which direction my phone was inserted, one of the mics was picking up hive sounds and the other was picking up some amount of wind. Does the breeze sound like foulbrood? Should the app only be used on calm days, or do I need to put tape over the speakers on one end??
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  • #2
    The bars are 0-100% probability that any factor is present. Anything below 50% is possibly just signal noise. I'm not surprised about wind - every sound has a complex array of frequencies. I know of one rock music classic that the app finds some similarity to the sound profile of AFB.

    I have not before heard of phones with microphones at both ends. One holds a phone in a specific manner, and the microphone is placed closest to the mouth. Please identify the phone. Tablet, that do not have cellular service capability may have the microphone at either end of the device, which is why we provide the option of designating (locking) the microphone end so that the screen can be properly locked in the correct orientation for readability.

    Your observations are exactly what we need in order to refine and tune this app. Thank you for the input.
    The information provided by the Bee Health Guru is not intended to provide solutions to problems. It is given as a suggestion only. A multiplicity of factors could be impacting the health of your bees. We are not responsible for any health issues of your bees, including death, swarming, colony collapse, or issues arising from treatments as a result of any suggestions provided by the Bee Health Guru smartphone app, the Bee Health Guru team, or any answers posted in the accompanying BeeHealth.Guru online forum.

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    • #3
      It's an iPhone 7. https://www.apple.com/iphone-7/specs/

      Thanks for clarifying the 50% signal noise factor.

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      • #4
        The iPhones have two mics. One at the bottom which is used for the phone function but it also has one on the back in the camera module (towards the top) for when you are recording video. Jerry can you confirm which mic the app is using? Does Apple dev kit allow the app to choose which mics is being used?

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