Telemetry Tales

[Raptor Reunited]

What are your likes and dislikes of your system, Please include what you use

Want to get veiws on all aspects down to the size,range & problems you`re had etc

[Mary Quite Contrary]

I once lost a bird.
Out came my finntracker and i discovered i had a signal in every direction.:evil:
I then resorted to finding the bird the traditional way and hey presto there she was.
Signal was bouncing because of being in a heavy wooded area. I believe this is called a "woods" common place to be when hawking.

Lost confidence in system and ditched it.

Now i sleep with a marshalls under my pillow.:supz: :goodman:

[Red-Devil]

I once lost a bird.
Out came my finntracker and i discovered i had a signal in every direction.:evil:
I then resorted to finding the bird the traditional way and hey presto there she was.
Signal was bouncing because of being in a heavy wooded area. I believe this is called a "woods" common place to be when hawking.

Lost confidence in system and ditched it.

Now i sleep with a marshalls under my pillow.:supz: :goodman:
i have had manny of the same with a marshal ,next to salisbury plane .signal all directions ,rolling hills and woods ,plus army comms equipment interfears with 173mhs

[OutFlying]

Marshall's - tracked the gos hundreds of times, always found them. This is the genuine Marshalls system, Field Marshall with an RT+ transmitter not the earlier system made by Wildlife Material Ins now marketed by Falconry Electronics.

I've found this system to be faultless unless you use a transmitter less powerfull than an rt+, I think the filters aren't set up correctly for less powerful transmitters and close range tracking then becomes a problem.

Yours Jim.

[Red-Devil]

Marshall's - tracked the gos hundreds of times, always found them. This is the genuine Marshalls system, Field Marshall with an RT+ transmitter not the earlier system made by Wildlife Material Ins now marketed by Falconry Electronics.

I've found this system to be faultless unless you use a transmitter less powerfull than an rt+, I think the filters aren't set up correctly for less powerful transmitters and close range tracking then becomes a problem.

Yours Jim.
mines from garlands with rt + depends where you are rolling hills and woods there ****e

[Raptor Reunited]

How are they on distance and what was your prices you paid

[OutFlying]

mines from garlands with rt + depends where you are rolling hills and woods there ****e

I live in Lancashire, all land hilly and woodland - never had a problem.

Jim.

ps What model of receiver is it ? just because it from Garlands doesn't mean anything. Is it a Field Marshall or TRX3 or TRX16

[Saker-Sucker]

I use a Bio Track BT6 system; never had any problems with it. I think if it was re-designed and was more like the Marshalls system it would sell a lot more, (it isn't the most prettiest of systems but is robust).

I've only 'neede' it 3 times in the last 4 years; first time I pin pointed my Saker a few miles away and was about 1000 yards from here; I said that she was in or by a small wooded area; checked with the binos and swung the lure and she came home.
The 2nd time all was going well until the signal just stopped:confused: , I found her the following morning 200 yards from where I let her go on someones roof. Some how she had got the screw lid off the transmitter. (I now always put a bit of tape around the lid when I use theat transmitter) And the last time I needed it was last May; she went walk about for 5 days:goodman: I tracked her 30 odd miles up country but was not able to get close enough; I always seemed to be the wrong side of the forrest to where she was! In the end I got a phone call to say that she had been caught inside the Sussex & Kent hospital at Tunbridge Wells; again we lost the signal because either the RSPCA or the falconer that looked after her over night had removed the transmitter and batteries:evil: .

I can't fault the system.

[StormRider]

Ive been using a marshall system for 4 years now and find it to be brilliant. However, I refuse to believe that we falconers have to be forced into using age old radio telemetry systems. I have been looking at developing a GPS map trackable system with a friend of mine who develops GPS tracking systems for vehicles. The system utilises a laptop which can track in real time the position of the bird on a 3D mapping system as it moves. The only problem we have encountered so far has been getting a small enough transmitor to send out the information. There is a pigeon fanciers organisation in the US at the moment who claim they have developed exactly the system I am talking about , but they use a basic 2D system. I am awaiting further info to see if they have succeeded.
STU

[Kentish Falconry]

Over the years I have used many types of Telemetry Bio Track I found was Sh*t although I must admit it was a long time ago.
I still have a system made by Ian Dillsworth that was a special order for the UAE Royal family 2 of these units remained in the UK one is on ebay at the moment. The original transmitters were **** but if you put Hi-Trak transmitters on them, Wildlife Tracking Systems (Alpha RF), you could get 15 to 20 miles range out of them good system but never put into full production.
The system I use now is a Alpha RF Desert Ranger Mk1 I have had this system for 14 years and it has never let me down they are based on a micro computer and the signal once locked on will never move unless you overide it. The new models 3, 5 & 100 channel models are just as good and I can't fault them the transmitters are probably the best on the market and they carry a lifetime guarantee so if anything goes wrong you get a free replacement this includes the reciever. WE ran some tests on the new units in the UAE this year and acheived 17 kms before the Shiekh decided he wanted the units.

Marshalls I have had 3 of these now the 173 that I used to use for field meets was about as much good as not having one especially where I live it used to pick up signals from mobile phone transmitters this came as a double bleep but it always overides the tranny signal just when you needed it. The next one was a Field Marshall on 219 that I bought just for flying my Gyrs, great signal up to half a mile and then nothing the transmitters were faulty and were replaced again we had the same problem so they were sent back to Marshalls for replacement over a year ago and still haven't been replaced. I now have a Field Marshall on 216 that I am going to test as I need a back up system for the birds on Hack so we will see how this one goes.
If I had to buy another system I would go for the Alpha RF (Wildlife Tracking Systems) that you can get from Brian Patterson or direct from the factory. The system is second to none, carries a life time guarantee is accurate has long distance tracking facility and IMHO the best system available anywhere reliability is good and if there is a problem and it can't be repaired in 24 hours of delivery back to the factory then you get a brand new unit free of charge what more can you ask for? www.alpharf.co.uk (http://www.alpharf.co.uk)

Terry:supz:

[GregMik]

All tho Marshall has good products the design can be a problem.

I was helping an apprentice find a RT that had taken off on her by a hospital. The signal was being drowned out by all the radio static coming from the hospital. Two of us with Marshalls had found the bird about the same time. Do any of you remember a few yrs back about that Sniper that was shooting ppl On the east coast of the US? Somewhere in New England I believe.

(Tasha:I think it was Washington DC)

They were supposedly driving a white van. Well, the other guy was driving a white van.

We found the bird across the parking lot and the road from where we parked. We were down an embankment trying to get the bird to wake up as it was dark and she had her head tucked.

I looked up the embankment and saw someone running down the road with something in his hand. I yelled up because I thaught it was someone else with a receiver trying to help find the bird. The person kept walking/running down the road without stopping. We were unable to get the bird to wake up so I was heading back to the truck to get something when I got to the top of the hill and looked at our parked trucks, there was 4 or 5 squad cars surrounding them.

I went back and got John(freind that had helped find the bird, with the white van). We walked up on the fracus with our hands up and yelling "We are over here!!!" The cops came running over yelling at us to put our hands up. Which they already were. They proceeded to tell us what to do with their guns pionted at us. John was getting upset and started to cuss them out. I had to tell him to shut up and let things calm down as I didn't want to get shot. Once they did their pat downs to make sure we were not armed they finally asked us what we were doing. I just brought them over to the truck and pointed at the marshall reciever. The cop said "Yup, that looks like a gun." They all chastised us for making them come out to check it out and how we had endangered their lives and the lives of others because they had to drive so fast to get there. I just shook my head and told them it wasn't my fault that they over-reacted.

So I guess the moral of the story is....Paint your Marshall receiver pink with gold stars on it so it doesn't look so much like a gun.

Greg

[GregMik]

Now for technical stuff.

I have used and seen used many systems. All on 216.

Marshall:

Early: Receiver with Wildlife materials guts and pistol design:
Excellent receiver but the fold down yagi can get corroded and the small wire from the yagi to the reciever can and will break.

Later: Marshall's own guts (Stealth 5 channel): Good receiver but it takes a while to get used to all the adjustments that are needed to get a good signal.


RB-4 : good receiver, almost indestructable, but bulky "Blue Box" design with separate yagi that is hard to carry into the field.

Wildlife Materials TR-X models: Best reciever out there for picking up a weak signal. But still the old bulky blue box design.

Tracker: Good portability but weaker directionality and range is limited with the small yagi. Good for shortwings and broadwings where range is not usually an issue.

FL Electronics MN-10: Good receiver with a better portability than the blue box but not the range that you get from a Marshall or a Wildlife Materials.


Now to Transmitters.

Marshall: Transmitters are by far the best when it comes to range. They are a new design with lots of bells and whistles. With that comes some down sides. They USED to have reliability issues that Marshall has said they fixed with the newest generation. I have a Newest design Micro that is working great with out any issues. I had an old BP that had gone back once and replaced....It died again and I still haven't figured out what I am going to do with it yet...Marshall is waiting for me to decide.

LL-Electronics: I have had two of Louis's transmitters. One is an LF-2 and the other was an XLF. The LF-2 is very old. It was first built in the late 70's and has been through at least two falconers besides me and it is still working. It has many stories to tell but I am already sick of typing. The XLF was a good strong transmitter but had a long antenna so I sold it to my Mentor as his LF-2 died on him after over 15 yrs of use.


Merlin Systems: Good transmitters with excellent reliability and good range. But still the long antenna.

I haven't touched on price and I am tired of typing. If you want me to go into that then ask and I will type some more later.

Greg

[Red-Devil]

I live in Lancashire, all land hilly and woodland - never had a problem.

Jim.

ps What model of receiver is it ? just because it from Garlands doesn't mean anything. Is it a Field Marshall or TRX3 or TRX16
outfling its field marshal 5 year old i use powermax, rt+ ,bp transmiters and dont really rate any better than the other ,ive used this systm for 5 years and tracked goshawks harris ,peregrines ,to name a few,what iam saying is its no good on the edge of salisbury planes where i go ,theres a lot of army radio that interfeare with reciving signal so makes finding transmmiter on bird almost impossable, every were you point the reciver you get a signal ,drives you mad

[Hawkmaster]

MOVED FROM BREEDING