The initial, pioneering, designs leading to the digital storage of bird distress calls date back to early 1984; the UK's London Gatwick Airport sought a simple alternative to using tape recordings because the electromechanical systems were unreliable, could be misused and had, on occasion, failed at a critical time.
The solution was to 'computer chip' the sounds by digitising, a technique we had originally pioneered for automatic emergency announcements related to 'voice alarm' building evacuation systems.
The Initial DIGISCARE system proved very successful and, in 1991, the design was upgraded to SCARECROW by the Group that continues to develop it, Scarecrow Bio-Acoustic Systems Limited, a privately owned UK Company.
In digitising, all unwanted sounds are edited out, leaving 'clean' bird calls with further advantages:-
- All calls start at a natural beginning, an achievement of major financial investment and the ongoing research of specialist ornithological and biological experts.
- All calls are instantly available from their beginning, resulting in a totally 'natural' output, effective with birds.
- All calls are simply pre-selected by turn of a knob or touching a screen.
A Short History of the Scarecrow Vehicle Bird Dispersal System
DIGISCARE was the original bio-acoustic bird dispersal product developed in 1984 using digital storage technology, an idea born from digital storage for 'on train' announcements, a key focus of Tony Walker's original Company, The Millbank Electronics Group Ltd, which he sold in 1990 to concentrate on bio-acoustic research.
The same concept developed for DIGISCARE was used for PREMIER 1209, now PREMIER 1500, incorporating the latest microprocessor technology for complete serviceability.
SCARECROW have maintained the same dimensions and vehicle installation fixings for PREMIER 1500 as used for the original DIGISCARE product, to facilitate simple exchange and upgrade.
In excess of 1000 systems are in operation around the World.