Hello AudioMoth support community,
I have been having troubles with my AudioMoths recording half as long as expected for my Master’s research project. I deployed AMs at each of my urban sites in Stockton, CA, in February and March 2025, expecting to get 8-10 weeks of recordings, but instead the batteries have somewhat consistently died at around 30 days.
Here are my configuration details (file also attached below):
My recording schedule is: 1.5 minutes of recording every 15 minutes from 10:30-6:30 UTC (2 hours total of recording per day)
Sampling rate: 48 kHz
Gain: medium-high
Firmware: 1.11.0
SD card: SanDisk Extreme 64 GB
According to the AudioMoth Config app:
This produces 80 files per day, each 8640 kB, totalling 691 MB
Daily energy consumption is ~28 mAh
Batteries:
I began my project using Tenergy Premium Pro NiMH rechargeable batteries with 2800 mAh capacity and 1.2V. But, after realizing that my AudioMoths stopped recording after ~30 days, I switched to Energizer Max AA4 alkaline batteries with 1.5V. However, using the Energizer alkaline batteries did not extend the recording duration of my AudioMoths past ~30 days.
Interestingly, my lab did a trial run in 2024 using the same exact configuration and Tenergy Premium Pro NiMH rechargeable batteries, but used 32 GB SanDisk Extreme SD cards and firmware version 1.9.0, and consistently got at least 8 weeks of recordings.
I would greatly appreciate any insight into this problem, or ideas on how to extend the lifespan of my AudioMoths. Could this be an issue with firmware 1.11.0? Thanks!
Hi Clara,
If you use the 'Summarise AudioMoth Files' option in the Config App under the 'Process' menu, you can generate a CSV which shows the battery voltage. This should look something like this for rechargeable batteries and a will show a more steady continuous decline for Alkaline batteries.
Most times this is caused by the different SD cards makes and models using different amounts of energy. The calculations are performed using values for SanDisk Extreme 32GB cards. The 64GB card uses a bit more energy but not enough to explain the difference here: https://www.openacousticdevices.info/sd-card-guide
Can you check on the back of the SD card to see where it was made. We've seen a couple of reports of SanDisk Extreme 64GB cards that say 'Made in Taiwan' on the back which consume 3 times that of ones marked 'Made in China' and 'Made in Malaysia'. Are they the red and gold cards? Can you post a picture of one. Alex