April 24, 2001
(page uploaded before night's trapping)
Bats must be about the most challanging critter to track. The light weight of the animal forces us to use the lightest (read: weakest) available transmitters. Given the topography, weather cconditions, and for all we know, solar flares and planetary alignments, the best we have detected a transmitter was at nine miles. The worst may have been Ibat #4 at it's roost under a house...I could not receive it until I was less than 1,000 feet away.

Not much of a problem if we're keeping tabs on bog turtles or flying squirrels, but a bat has no problem picking up and abruptly moving 100 miles straight-line in just a few hours. How are we even attempting to keep up with these bats? There are three factors involved, and only one that we can immediately control:

Factor 1: The bat; if it stay put, great. If it goes 150 miles in one night, which I feel is realistic, that's not so great for us.

Factor 2: The transmitter. Only about three companies in the world seem to make tiny transmitters appropriate for this size bat. Obtaining transmitters is quite a challenge in itself: one company gave us an unusable batch last year, another company's turnaround time for anything is apparently 6 months or more, which is useless for our project which was approved on the fast track. A third company delivered the goods, but the transmitter we tested is not as powerful as company #2's product.

Factor 3: The receiver loadout. This is the only factor we can tinker with. Our ground receivers have evolved into a formidable one person nest of wires. Five vehicles currently have similar loadouts to what is shown below. Although we have three null peak systems in inventory, the topography dictates we have only one in operation.
A: A Wintel laptop loaded with Maptech's Terrain Navigator program. 1:2400 and 1:10000 scale maps are at our disposal covering the entire eastern US.

B: GPS connected to the laptop providing real time locations projected onto topographic maps.

C: Power inverter to run laptop from vehicle DC power.

D: 50 watt 2-way radio for local communication.

E: Telemetry receiver, also running from vehicle DC system.

F: 2 way radio handset.

G: NY road maps, gazetteer for quick reference.

H: 3 - element telemetry receiver antenna

I: Additional 12-volt receptacle. This vehicle has 5 after market 12 volt ports. A cell phone would be installed here during actual tracking for long range communication.
J: Compass for signal bearings.

K: Homemade shelves or supports to prevent certain equipment from flinging about the cab at high speed. This one appears to be a handy cardboard box.

L: 3- element general purpose antenna. This will telescope 16' into the air.

M: 7 element null-peak system, while better suited for tracking over large expanses, (buffalo across Kansas perhaps), we deploy this on strategic high points.

N: GPS external antenna.

O: 2-way radio antenna.

P: Blinky safety warning light.

Q: Null peak receiver and switchbox external storage box.

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