Subject: Exciting radio tagging improvements
Date: Mar 26 20:17:38 1996
From: Scott Ray - scray at wolfenet.com


Not knowing all the banders and radio taggers in Tweeterland, I'll just pass
this interesting (to me) along from the SEABIRD mailing list. It sounds
like radio transmitters are nearly small enough to place on small to
medium-sized birds now. I'd be interested to know what the load capacity of
a Poorwill or Black Swift or a White-winged Crossbill might be. Any ideas?


>Date: Fri, 22 Mar 96 00:45 SAST
>Errors-To: aplos at botzoo.uct.ac.za
>Reply-To: Paul_Meyers at nbs.gov
>Originator: seabird at uct.ac.za
>Sender: seabird at uct.ac.za
>From: Paul_Meyers at nbs.gov (Paul Meyers)
>To: scray at wolfenet.com
>Subject: [SEABIRD:275]
>X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas
>X-Comment: Seabirds and Marine Ornithologists
>
> To all,
>
> I got a lot of interest from the query about Cape Aerospace. Several
> people had heard something of them but had no info. Les Underhill was
> the source of the original info, and I believe he posted a contact and
> phone/fax number. They are 11 hours ahead of Alaska, so I've been
> faxing them, and they've been very good about responding.
>
> So here is the info I have:
>
> They have developed a 5.8 g transmitter with, as they stated, a unique
> power source. Currently, the transmitters we are using are 35 g, and
> this is the smallest we've been able to find without losing a lot of
> life. We have two batteries in ours, and that is what is so heavy.
> The electronics themselves are a fraction of the weight. Also this
> new power source is able to transmit continuously for a year. You can
> also go to 8 fixes a day and the thing will last 2 years. Three
> fixes, three years. Last summer, with our transmitters, we turned
> them on for 6 hours out of every day for 30 days then 6 hours every 3
> days after that, and the best we've gotten is about 6 months of life.
> Also, Cape Aerosmith says that their fixes will be within 100 m of the
> true location for a moving object (I believe it's 5 or 10 m for a
> stationary object). To me, this is the kicker. Accuracy like that
> would allow for accurate analysis of habitat relationships. Ray Smith
> told me that they are testing a newer version that may get the
> accuracy down to 5 meters. Currently, by culling erroneous points,
> we've been able to get the accuracy down to about an average of 700 m,
> with half the points within 400 m. This is OK for tracking
> migrational and broad scale movements but is limiting for habitat
> analysis.
>
> They are using Russian satellites to pick up the transmissions, and
> they have enough in the sky to be assured of having one overhead at
> any given time. They said they can track from 80 degrees S. to 80
> degrees N. and are working on getting the polar regions also.
>
> The quote I got was that it cost $25,000 for ten transmitters (I'm
> assuming that's U.S. dollars, someone correct me if I'm wrong). But
> that includes all the processing of locations. In the system we use
> now, we pay one company for the transmitters and then pay Argos for
> satellite time and data tapes. Either way, it's a lot of money, but I
> don't think it's out of line for the current state of satellite
> telemetry.
>
> The bad news is that they haven't been tested in the field on animals
> yet. They are currently being tested right now, and Ray Smith told me
> they should have some news in about 2 months. Since you have to give
> Cape Aerosmith several months to get the transmitters and processing
> ready before you go in the field, it doesn't sound like it's feasible
> if you're planning a summer field season (at least in the Northern
> Hemisphere) unless you want to take a risk and just go for it.
>
> That's all I have.
>
> Paul Meyers
> NBS-Anchorage
>
>
_______________________________________________________________
Scott Ray Washington Birder Newsletter
Yakima, WA PO Box 191
email: scray at wolfenet.com Moxee, WA 98908
http://www.wolfenet.com/~scray/
_______________________________________________________________