Below are links to ATS authored telemetry papers, product data, and some webpages devoted to telemetry tutorials and information you might find useful.

In order to make your field work more efficient, the engineers at ATS have designed a fixed radio tracking station that can be used for continual long-term, unattended tracking operations. This type of installation can automatically detect and log transmitter-equipped animals or fish as they pass by one of the receive site's detection zones.

These sites are designed to function reliably for extended periods in remote and uninhabited areas where power and communication is normally unavailable. Typically, this type of installation is used in fish tracking applications, but it can also be used for terrestrial tracking. Usually, multiple sites are situated along key locations along a river being studied. They are normally mounted at the highest elevation possible allowing for line-of-sight to passing transmitters. This will maximize reception range of the system.

ATS Consultants possess years of experience in supplying and operating fixed unattended tracking systems. We can provide you with a fully engineered, field-tested, turn-key system for your specific tracking requirements.

 

 

Fixed Unattended Tracking sites are unmanned and designed to operate without human intervention for months or even years at a time. They are environmentally hardened to withstand the elements and include their own external DC power supply and solar panel array. ATS' system includes a dual 4 element Yagi Antenna system which is mounted on a twenty foot tripod-type aluminum tower. Depending on the requirement, larger antenna systems with additional (up to eight) antenna's, or antennas with additional elements, may be used. The antennas are connected to an ATS antenna switching box, which outputs to ATS' R4500C Receiver/Datalogger, and both are housed within a NEMA-4 type enclosure. The receiver is programmed to automatically log into memory data as they are collected, i.e. date, time and frequency of transmitters as they pass by the station.

 

The external power supply is typically comprised of three 80 amp Hour deep-cycle marine batteries (may be user-supplied), housed within an environmentally protected enclosure. The batteries provide 12 volt DC power to the receiver and other electronics. In order to maintain the battery charge, either one or two 60 watt solar panels (depending on site location) are mounted on the tower. The solar panels include an installed voltage regulator and are cabled directly to the battery packs with ring terminals. When insolation is present, the solar panels will provide a charge to the batteries. Finally, rodent shielded cable is used for all exposed cabling.

There are numerous methods of retrieving data that is stored in the receivers RAM memory. One may visit the site and retrieve the data manually by downloading it to a laptop PC or other compatible handheld device, or, a method of radio data transmission might be used. In this case, the researcher doesn't have to go to the field in order to retrieve his data. The more popular data transmission method is the GOES transmitter/satellite system, since there are no access or user fees incurred by the agency. Optional remote telemetry modes include VHF/UHF radio, POTS, and GSM or cell phone modem.

The GOES transmitter supplied by ATS includes a GPS receiver, allowing the on-board clock to be updated as necessary. A directional GOES yagi antenna and RG-8 rodent shielded cable is also attached to the tripod tower.

Siting a fixed tower installation involves a number of factors: elevation, right-of-way and use permission, potential for vandalism, and line-of-site between the antenna's and detection zone are some. Other factors you might consider are the number of study individuals passing by the station within specified time periods. For large numbers of individuals passing by the detection zone in short amounts of time, the use of "coded" transmitters is advised. ATS transmitters can be manufactured with one of up to 100 discrete codes given to each transmitter. These tags will all transmit on a single VHF frequency. These kind of coding schemes are usually used in fish studies, and you can learn more about them at "Programmable Transmitter Options". However, the same principles can be applied to terrestrial studies. More typically, you might assign ten or twenty codes to a group of transmitters using a single frequency.

If you will not be using a GOES transmitter and will be retrieving data at the site, consider the amount of memory available in the R4500 Receiver/Datalogger. This will be a constraint on scheduling site visits in order to retrieve data. You'll need to compute the number of data points logged per day and divide that number by the number of data stores available in the R4500, typically 98,300. This will give you the number of days that you can record data before having to visit the site in order to download your data. The R4500 will continue to log data once its RAM memory capacity is reached, but will overwrite the oldest data first.

Following is an equipment list for an ATS engineered and supplied Fixed Receive Site utilizing the GOES satellite for data uplink. This complete system is available from ATS; please contact an ATS Consultant/Biologist for a complete details and a quotation.

Electronics and Enclosure:
R4500    Scientific Receiver/Datalogger
17844    GOES Transmitter
13169    2 Way Antenna Switcher (addt'l. antenna's require appropriate switcher box)
13297    Enclosure, NEMA-4, terminal board, brackets
Cable    Cable, Switchbox GOES Y Control
16981    Surge Suppressor Kit

Antenna's and Cables:
17751    GOES Yagi Antenna w/ mounting hardware
COAX    Cable, RG-8 Goes
17992    GPS Antenna w/ mounting hardware
18017    GPS Antenna Cable
13866    Four Element Yagi Antenna, 2 ea. req'd.
13223    RG-8 Antenna Cable, 10 m, N Conn., 2 Ea.

Tower and DC Power Assembly:
14664    20 ft. Tower Assembly, Tripod Type
14975    Solar Panel, 60 watt regulated, 2 ea. req'd.
Batts       Battery's, 3 ea. 80 amp hour
Enc        Enclosure, Power, NEMA-4, w/ I/F Cable

 

 

Copyright © 2005 Advanced Telemetry Systems, Inc.