1. Handheld Terminal for GPS Plus collar line
(Terminal for remote download of data via mobile phone system see end of page)
The GPS Plus Handheld Terminal (groundstation) provides the wireless radio interface between a PC and the GPS-Plus collar in the
field. It used to
- download GPS datasets from the GPS Plus or GPS Plus-GSM collar
- upload UTC time and date to the GPS collar
- upload new GPS Scheduler to the collar
- upload new UHF beacon scheduler to the collar
- upload new UHF beacon scheduler to the collar
- temperature and activity sensors
- user-programmable scheduler
- activate thepowerful UHF beacon in the field
A built in 12 channel GPS receiver gives you important information about your position in the field. With the assistance
of an integrated electronic compass and the internal GPS receiver it is now very easy to find the tracked animal. The “Range Checker Mode†opens unbeatable support in finding the direction and distance to the collar. The
GPS and compass information will be used to calculate and display azimuth and elevation (direction) and the distance with an accuracy of some meters to your collar.
Handheld Terminal for downloading GPS data from the collar.
Mean time for downloading procedure:<10 minutes
Possible distance groundstation - collar in dense forest > 1 km
The communication range is dependent on the receiver antenna gain, the humidity, the kind and density of the vegetation, the height above the ground of both the transmitter and the receiving system, the topography and the configuration between transmitting and receiving antenna. For that reasons the range can vary from several hundred meters to several kilometre. Under normal conditions, the range is several kilometre with a small handheld yagi antenna.
The downloaded GPS data can be exchange from the hand held terminal via the USB or SCI interface to PC or Laptop.
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Specifications of Handheld Terminal:
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2. Groundstation for GPS Plus GSM collars
The GSM groundstation receives GPS position information from the GPS GSM Plus collar via the
GSM service. Additional new GPS and beacon schedules can be transmitted via GSM to the collar. This gives you the flexibility and security you need for your data (figure 1).
Fig. 1: The GSM groundstation is best positioned near the computer. The position data arrive from the collar via SMS.
The GSM groundstation is available for 900/1800 MHz and 900/1900 MHz networks. Depending on your network provider, several SMS can be stored on your SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module, see next picture), the remaining SMS can be stored at your network provider and will be delivered to your groundstation automatically when new memory in your SIM card is available. The GPS Plus software package can read out your SIM card on demand or automatically every 30 seconds. You can merge your SMS files for a specific collar very easy to get all the GPS information together in one singele data file. This file can be exported to ASCII or spread sheet format or can be used to visualize your data with the GPS Plus software. The GSM data file is 100% compartible with the GPS Plus collar data file format. But of course it is also possible to run the whole data transforamtion process automatically.
Figure 2 shows the GSM groundstation with the half inserted SIM card and the cable to the antenna.
Fig. 2: GSM groundstation, SIM card
If the groundsstation is further connected to a PC/Laptop the data receiving system is complete. Together with your collars in the field, you have your own, autonomous high tech GPS-GSM
tracking system (Figure 3): the SIM card in the collar sends the location data of the animal via GSM to your SIM card in the groundstation!
Fig. 3: The complete location data receiving system: PC/Laptop, GSM groundstation, antenna, power supply
The GPS-PLUS software makes it easy to process the incoming SMS data files. It is available without charge at the download site.Home Range