External and internal sound often get treated as one thing, one track inside and outside, with no thought about how long each side should run. Why one sound cannot do both jobs, what internal sound needs, and why the 24 hour answer is different for each.
Many farmers judge an external sound by how new it is, or by how many birds the house next door has. Why both can fool you, the one sign worth watching after a sound change, and when it is actually time to change.
When birds do not come, the first move is usually to turn the volume up. Why maxing it out only gets you distortion and bounce, the three things to tell apart when the sound goes quiet, and what to do when the house next door is very loud.
Birds circling over the area, a row of them sitting on the power line. Which ones will move into a swiftlet house and build the nest? How to tell a swiftlet from a swallow, and what to check when the right birds still will not come in.
The box of tweeters is here and the first question is always where they go and how many per floor. Why there is no layout you can copy, three common mistakes, and how the birds tell you if a tweeter is in the right spot.
In September Kiew Meng Kui and I went to Cambodia. We taught a half-day class in Phnom Penh, visited swiftlet houses and went to Angkor Wat. Many people expect a new area to have new problems. What we saw was the same detours as in Malaysia, and the same order to fix them: diagnose first, prescribe after.
Nests drying out, edges lifting, some falling to the floor. Most owners go straight to buying a humidifier or running the misting longer. Here is what a dry nest looks like, three common mistakes, and four things to check before you buy any machine.
When a swiftlet house feels stuffy, most owners open more vents, add more ventilation blocks, put in an exhaust fan. Too little air causes problems, and so does too much. What kinds of air there are inside, how the birds tell you the air is wrong, and where to look first.
Most people think a swiftlet house only ages after five or ten years, and after that there is nothing to do. What I told a class in Cambodia is the opposite. It starts on day one, and what drags it down are a few things you can check.
Ask around for a quick way to get swiftlets in and almost every tip is about adding something: more tweeters, new sound, one more product. The house gets busier and the birds stay the same. Here is why adding is often the slowest road, and the first step you can take today.
