Tracking your dog.

[desertranger]

Too many lost dogs. Too many that work out of sight.

 

Mentioned in another thread is the fact I work with Search and Rescue and that I am a HAM radio operator. Using a system called APRS the Automatic Positioning Reporting System developed by a ham we can transmit data from a remote location to a receiver. Typically that data is the location, weather, seismological or other scientific data. On the other hand we can also take the data from a GPS and send that to a receiver and then plot that position on the internet or on a laptop computer with the appropriate software. Most often this is used to track high altitude balloons. This system also allows me to track the dogs up 10 miles or more depending on the radio transmitter the dog is carrying and whether I am using a repeater or not. The advantage is real time tracking of your dogs current latitude and longitude. There are some drawbacks. You have to have a HAM (Amateur) radio license. It's free and you can contact the ARRL or log onto WWW.QRZ.com for more info. You also have to teach your dog how to press the transmit button and ID himself. :D Actually you just dump the tracking device into a dog pack and turn it on. Then it transmits a locater signal at preset intervals. Currently the one I have weighs in at just over 1kg. (about 2.2lbs) but I want it to get smaller and lighter.

 

As a result of the comments in the other thread I decided to do some research on dog tracking and here's what I found. Note that I am not going to reference the older dog tracking systems that have been in use for the past several years. Just a couple of state of the art methods.

 

Child locaters like Child Locator.com/ and companies like Brickhouse Security.com/wf200.html ofter equipment that can track locally up to 600ft or through the cell phone services using child watches. Finding a dog using a cell phone tracker, and there are several that work with most phones and services, is the easiest. Locating the phone is as easy as logging on to the internet and processing a request through the website that has your tracker registered. I fouind a large number of them most using the e911 system to trigger the cell phone.

 

Google Latitude is a new free subscription service. I'm not sure how it works technically. It just seems that a lot of people are in an uproar over is because you can be tracked. If that's so then so can your dog.

 

Garmin Rino 110 and Rino 120 ($267) FRS/GMRS radios have built in GPS tracking and send position data over the GMRS radio frequencies. If you have a pair of units it shows the location of one shows up on the other. However I don't know if this signal can be setup to work automaticall or if it is done when the the radio transmits. If the latter a device like the Ham radio device TinyTrak is going to be needed to key the transmitter. Garmin also makes the Astro 220 a dog tracking system for about $500.

 

the older commercial dog tracking systems start at about 500 and have limited range.

 

I hjope that's enough to0 get you started if there's any interest.

[Alaska]

One that you missed is Roameo For Pets.

 

For keeping track of a wide ranging dog in remote, brushy or wooded terrain (with spotty or nonexistent cellphone coverage, no radio repeater nearby), I don't think the Garmin Astro (with the new collar design) can be beat. The antenna design on the collar is key to getting good range. The old Astro collar had good range but was not sturdy enough for a working dog; the new one reportedly fixes this.

 

Here is a pretty interesting blog if you're a dog-SAR-technology geek: Technology in K9 SAR. It discusses use of the Rino, along with other GPS tools.

[MaggieDog]

The dogs on our SAR team use Astro GPS units in the field, mostly just for comparing victim paths to the dog's trail in training.

[desertranger]

I know about Roameo but left it off because of the cost. You can buy a pair of Rinos for around $100 each on ebay.

 

The system I use cost around $250 to put together and has a range of 10 miles or better without the use of a repeater. It's also bulky consisting of HT, GPS receiver, controller and battery pack. I've had this setup for years. Today you can build or buy the package for the same price in a smaller unit.

 

You can do just as well with a pair of Rino 120s and it's cheaper than an Astro.

 

Question using a pairs of Rino radio/GPS units can you vocie command your dog from a distance over the radio?