New lightweight GPS trackers

[nomadpack]

Hi,
I am getting a female Harris hawk soon and have been looking at the different types of tracking equipment.

As most telemetry equipment is very expensive I've been looking at the new types of small GPS trackers.

A falconer I've met uses a small GPS locator attached to the flight Jesse's next to the leg, it only weighs about 5 grams, is usb rechargeable and it's not specifically for birds but he tells me it works well and doesn't get in the way. He has a redtail.

I would like some opinions on products such as this:

www.thetileapp.com/en-eu/store/tiles/pro

And the different options for attaching it to her. For example, with a small device such as the one above, can these be safely attached to an anklet whilst flying instead of a backpack?

[megapode]

This device is for finding your keys or purse when it is lost within 30 or so feet of your phone or someone else using this app,
I hunt in areas that are not
Get a Marshall Scout

[kellerbomb]

Tile runs off a Bluetooth signal. From what I have read it has a max range in ideal conditions of 150 feet. That does not come close to the range needed in order to track your bird. Even mounted bells provide a better locating resource for longer ranges.

[talonsgrip22]

Your best bet for affordable DIY telemetry is going to be building your own from Arduino-compatable (microcontroller) or Raspberry Pi (single board computer) components. These boards are made for the hobbyist and professional to learn, develope, and make circuits and devices - at a small fraction of the cost of buying off-the-shelf.

Most people have no experience working with electronics. No worries! These components are designed to be open source and widely taught for free. They're easier to build than you would think. Many don't even require soldering.

For GPS, I like these tiny microcontrollers:

😀 DFROBOT Arduino Beetle
😀 OriginGPS Nano GPS with Hornet chip

For learning to build, there is an online tool called Tinker pad. It's great for the electronics noob, like me.

The LoR (long range) mesh radio network is another option I'd look at. It operated like rf and works/views like GPS. It's generally free to use LoRa communication. No monthly gps subscription.

For LoRa telemetry, I like...
the LoRa Bee module on the DFROBOT Beetle. Very small, very lightweight.

Receivers and data loggers can also be made very inexpensively and can have more features than off-the-shelf. Check them out.

[talonsgrip22]

I've been doing some digging on DIY telemetry setups. I'm going to use the Adafruit Feather CM-32U4 915Mhz LoRa Microcontroller. It's tiny, weighs less than 6 grams, displays on a cell phone like gps on apps like Google Maps, Open Street. Best of all, the microcontroller costs about $35.00 US, compared to hundreds of dollars for a good GPS transmitter.

I also have the info to build a matching LoRa network receiver using a second Feather microcontroller and a cell phone. That, too, is relatively low cost.

I hose the LoRa network method because it's generally subscription free, has a range of 2 to 20 miles (depending on tuning and antenna used), and displays the location of one or more birds like a gps display.

This could be built with a GPS microcontroller as well for roughly the same cost, but you would have a gps subscription to pay. PM me for more on this.



I highly recommend the Facebook Group DIY Falconry for those falconers who like to make their equipment.

[talonsgrip22]

I've got my two Adafruit Feather 32U4 RFM915 Lora microcontrollers, and Radiohead software library. The boards are charging up to be programmed.

I'll use an OTG capable Android phone and Open Street Maps app. I'll try Aerovision 5 as well.