About Us

In 1991, when we introduced our original Argos compatible Platform Transmitting Terminal (PTT), weighing 95 grams, satellite tracking of birds was in its infancy. Once considered experimental, satellite tracking is now an accepted technique of monitoring the movements of many species of birds.

Since this first 95 g PTT was used to track the northerly spring migration of a bald eagle, we have continued to work toward reducing the weight of the transmitters to make possible the tracking of smaller species. The 95 g PTT was soon followed by 65 g and 50 g versions.

In 1992 we successfully reduced the electronic module to less than 4 grams by converting it to a hybrid module. The result was our 30 g PTT-100. This small PTT made it possible to track many more species of birds, including peregrine falcons, Swainson's hawks, and several species of ducks and geese.

Within a few years, the availability of new power supply components allowed us to offer a 20 g PTT powered by a single battery. Our 20 g and 30 g PTTs became the basis for new PTT configurations, including implantable and solar powered units. Implantable PTTs have been used extensively on marine ducks and have revealed the mysterious wintering location of the spectacled eider. Solar powered PTTs are free of the lifetime limitations imposed by lithium batteries, and provide the opportunity to track a single bird for years with a lightweight transmitter. Some of our solar PTTs are still running more than 7 years after deployment!

In response to customer feedback requesting increased location accuracy, in 2001 we incorporated a GPS receiver into our PTT. This first generation Argos/GPS PTT, weighing 70 g, provided location fixes accurate enough for home range studies. Over the past 6 years we have expanded our product line to include 22 g, 30 g and 45 g GPS enhanced backpack units, and a 50 g Argos/GPS PTT configured for patagial mounting.

In 1996, in addition to bird tracking transmitters, we adapted our PTT to create the world's first Argos Popup tag for tracking large pelagic fish. The second generation of our popup tags archive temperature, depth, sunrise and sunset times (for subsequent geolocation calculation) for over a year. A high rate version, which records depth, temperature and light levels at a high sample rate, suitable for mortality studies, was later added to our product line.

In 2007 we are introducing a new, smaller satellite pop up tag that will allow the worldwide tracking of much smaller species of pelagic fish than have been tracked with the first generation pop up tags.

Concurrent with the reduction in size and weight of our transmitters, we have devoted much developmental work to technology that enhances the performance of our PTTs. An option now available on many of our PTTs, is our Satellite in View (SiV™) technology which helps extend the usable lifetime of a PTT by activating it only when there is the greatest likelihood of a satellite being above the horizon to receive the PTT's signals.

We have also made it easier to recover lost PTTs by offering Ground Track (GT™), a feature that switches the PTT into a conventional tracking transmitter when mortality is sensed. Ground Track can also be activated in preprogrammed seasons.

We are pleased to be part of the ongoing revolution in animal tracking technology, and look forward to bringing you ever more advanced devices to further research.

© Copyright 2001-2006 Microwave Telemetry, Inc. All rights reserved.

Microwave Telemetry, Inc.
8835 Columbia 100 Parkway, Suites K&L
Columbia, MD 21045
410.715.5292