DESCRIPTION

General Specifications

EarTrax contain many features that make them one of the most advanced wildlife telemetry GPS tags available to purchase at this moment in time.  At its simplest, the units collect GPS data and then stores it on board for later transmission.  Transmission of the data is either through the mobile/cellphone network using Internet of Things (IoT) SIMS that jump across different networks worldwide or via a UHF radio link - see schematic diagram.  Data can be uploaded hourly, daily or weekly.

Two types of GPS data are collected: GPS-to-transmit and GPS-to-archive.

• GPS-to-transmit:  GPS receiver remains on for up to 180s and two locations are collected which allows direction of travel to be determined.  All data stored and then transmitted at next connection.
• GPS-to-archive:  GPS receiver on for a limited period of 30s to “grab” a single location.  This is set at a more frequent interval than GPS-to-transmit. Data stored on board unit until a formal request is made to extract data via IoT.  When downloaded, this data infills the data already collected and downloaded via GPS-to-transmit.  GPS-to-archive uses 50% of the power requirements of GPS-to-transmit.

Units are programmable by the scientist using our bespoke UHF/Bluetooth WASP Receiver /Scheduler connected to a Smart phone. GPS, GSM and UHF schedules, received data and diagnostics are all programmable.

Achieve near to real-time GPS monitoring of all your animals.  As a result, all units provided by GPS Collars AS are capable of tracking the fine-scale movements of a variety of animals through many different habitats.  Furthermore, by taking advantage of the unit’s flexible scheduling option, your study can be customised to your particular research needs.

GPS Collars AS offers unlimited customer support and a full one year warranty on all of our equipment. When returned for a battery change, units are fully serviced and an additional one year warranty is provided.

SPECIFICATION

Physical (LxWxD)

PD 36g 69 x 43 x 12 mm

PC 56g 77 x 50 x 14 mm

Expected Battery Life

Solar Powered with Indefinite life with hourly GPS and daily GSM transmit.

Hardware

uBlox GPS receiver: most up to date rceiver speciliased for wildlife tracking

Quad and Penta band mobile phone engine: Works in every corner of the world where GSM services are available.

Coded UHF Beacon and Transmission: In USA 916MHz, Rest of World 863-870 MHz:  Last recorded GPS location always transmitted within UHF pulse. No need to triangulate. Full data download via UHF.

Memory

Up to 512k locations; essentially no limit. Data never lost from unit. Data transmitted to our servers and also stored on board for later download. See Tab re Download and Web Access for more information.

Mortality

The period of inactivtiy which could be interpreted as the death of an animal can be set to any time that is required. When triggered, a text is immediately sent to our servers which is then relayed on to you via email and also sent as a text your mobile phone. The UHF tracking beacon then transmits more frequently, transmitting the last known GPS location.

Activity

3D accelerometers record movement in each plane every time a location is recorded.  This data can indicate various movements of the animal.

GeoFence

Enter coordinates of your study area.  If the animal goes beyond that boundary an alert is sent to you via email and text.

Support

Support is via email/web/phone.  While on the animal, our engineers monitor the units to ensure that they are connecting to masts, collecting GPS and for battery usage. We will inform you if the battery usage is too heavy or whether you could get more fixes. Battery usage is determined by view to the sky and proximity of cell phone masts.

Warranty

All units are covered by a warranty against mechanical or electronic failure for up to 1 year. Visit www.gps-collars.com for full terms and conditions of sale.