PTT-100 40 gram LC4™ - Battery Powered Argos/GPS PTT
This line of innovative PTTs is our answer to several limiting factors that impact satellite tracking today, namely location accuracy, radio interference and limited power source.
In the last ten years, as satellite tracking became a proven technology, location accuracy has also become more of an issue. Users of conventional, Doppler located PTTs (non-GPS) are used to sporadic locations collected every few days due in part to the programmed duty cycle and the limitations of the available battery capacity. In the real world these locations are rarely of location class 3.
Directly impacting accuracy is radio interference at the satellite. In Europe, PTTs that work well elsewhere now appear to be stifled by interference at the satellites. Often only a few of the transmitted messages are received at the satellites, making it difficult to get high grade locations. This problem remains unresolved and appears to be getting worse.
We had partially addressed the limited power issue by introducing solar powered Argos/GPS PTTs. In fact, up until now the only GPS enhanced PTTs we produced were solar powered. This has been the only feasible way of powering small PTTs for more than a few weeks while collecting hourly GPS locations and transmitting them to the user via Argos. However, solar power is not always suitable for species whose constant preening would cover the solar arrays or for species migrating far north where not enough sunlight is available.
Our LC4™ PTTs operate on a new protocol using the latest lowest power GPS receivers and our Lix2 battery technology, potentially overcoming many of the real world limitations of conventional PTTs.
The LC4™ PTT takes a single GPS fix daily, for instance at noon. It stores the precise latitude and longitude, which is accurate to better than 30m, hence, location class 4, LC4™. After 10 days it compresses these 10 daily locations into just two Argos messages, one containing the odd numbered days of the month, the other, the even numbered days. On the tenth day these two messages are repeatedly transmitted to Argos on a “Data Collection only” basis, within the confines of a single GMT day as timed by the GPS clock. Using our proprietary Satellite in View timing (SiV™), transmissions are only made when a satellite is likely to be within range of the PTT, thus conserving power.
Even under the worst conditions the reception of just one of these messages will give you the precise LC4™ locations of your bird every other day! In reality, this will perform better than a conventional small PTT anywhere in the world, not just in Europe.
Features
- Weight- 40g
- GPS- 16 Channel
- Sensors: Temperature, Battery Voltage and Activity standard
- Lifetime- 12 months at 1 GPS fix per day, transmissions to Argos every 10 days
- Options- Mortality Ground Track (GT™)
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Microwave Telemetry, Inc.
8835 Columbia 100 Parkway, Suites K&L
Columbia, MD 21045
410.715.5292
