Microchip GPS

[UKJay's Nursey]

I was looking in cage & avairy and saw this article.. If this goes ahead it would prove to be a godsend to falconers.


Microchips on their trail
With all the talk of identity cards for humans in recent weeks, there is now the possibility that a new generation of microchips for marking birds could bring big benefits for bird keepers.
Mircochipping of birds, including parrots and birds of prey, as well as other animals, has become a routine procedure over recent years.

The chip itself, about the size of a grain of rice, is implanted into the birds body using a syringe-like device. It is activated by a special reader being passed over it, which reveals its unique code, enabling the individual to be identified.
It is likely the next generation of microchips for birds will not just be useful for identification puroses.
They will also reveal the birds location, rather like the system used in cars which enable police to track stolen vehicles. This would operate by means of GPS (global positioning satellites).

Technology of this type will bring real advantages to bird keepers.
It will help those who fly birds of prey to discover the whereabouts of birds which have strayed, making it easier to recapture them.
It will also provide a big disincentive against theft, as it will track every move of the criminal, possibly enabling gangs targeting rare birds to be broken up, in a way that is impossible at present.

:)lets hope this happens soon:)

[Sprout]

Technology for GPS telemetry already exists. Unfortunately those involved are really struggling to get the licensing to make it readily available.

[Gwaihir]

sounds great.

but how to police it?

I'm not sure.

John M

[Barbary Boy]

graham butterworth has developed a gps tracking system and it should be available very soon. when you get home you will be able to connect it to your computer to find out the birds exact movements, icluding heights and distances flown? i think the next 10yrs in falconry technowedgy is going to be amazing.

[Gareth]

http://www.gpss.tripoduk.com/falcondf.htm

It's abit out of date (end of 1999) but if your interested in playing with your pc and telemetry, its worth a look :-)

[UKJay's Nursey]

will get jay to have a look he is the computer boff:lol:

if this microchip goes ahead i would imagine it would be policed the same way for cars,still think its a good idea especially if they keep it the size of a implant and you just tap in to a handheld gps unit or drive roind with it in your car.

[Puzo]

It would take all the fun out of looking for lost birds. No more wading across rivers trying to scramble over barbed wire with an aerial in one hand & a lure in the other. Give that up & just drive to where the bird is. It'll never catch on

[Gwaihir]

if this microchip goes ahead i would imagine it would be policed the same way for cars,still think its a good idea especially if they keep it the size of a implant and you just tap in to a handheld gps unit or drive roind with it in your car.

Sounds cool.

Just soundin my uninformed opinion.

Heres hopin:D

John M

[UKJay's Nursey]

It would take all the fun out of looking for lost birds. No more wading across rivers trying to scramble over barbed wire with an aerial in one hand & a lure in the other. Give that up & just drive to where the bird is. It'll never catch on

yeah no more trapesing through fields of sheep sh*t and scary sheep lol

[Puzo]

yeah no more trapesing through fields of sheep sh*t and scary sheep lol

Sheep are the worst you shout on the bird & they think you're the farmer come to feed them, they all gather round so you can't throw the lure out.

[GriffMJ]

Hi

Is there a web site for this technology?

[UKJay's Nursey]

for the micro chip non of what i know but this subject really interests me especially after losing our own falcon, so i ve been hunting the net looking for articles on it, so far have found a gps backpack suitable for eagles, but none so far for smaller birds.

i may have to have words with my dadwho is very much into electronics and radios etc to see what would be possible.

[OutFlying]

Just get a decent telemetry system, and wait for progress :lol:

[Kentish Falconry]

You might want to contact Nick Fox they have been tracking Sakers and other birds with this system for a while, not sure how big the unit is but I believe I read somewhere it is a back pack system.
But if they could put this technology into a Micro Chip then that would be great but I imagine it will be expensive and then come down in price later as it did with normal Microchipping.
Terry

[QuickDraw]

Digital Angel in the US does them. www.digitalangelcorp.com

[StormRider]

This is something that I have studied over a number of years now. There isnt anything on the planet at the moment that currently can be made small enough to be picked up by more than 6 satelites. There are units available that are of avfair size for a falcon and they cost a fortune. In addittion they cannot yet track in real time due to the fact that you need a seperate telemetry system to realay the gps data back to a tracking unit. Again this adds more weight to the bird.
HOWEVER!
As we speak there is an caged birds syndicate that has developed a system that apparently locates, transmits and records in real time using GPS and apparently will be marketed for release once they have debugged some of their mapping problems. I have seen an apparent sample of it being used, but I have not yet divulged that I am a falconer. The bird is simply identified in a similar fashion to radar by use of an ID number which moves across a 2D mapping system on a laptop.
The GPSS system that was earlier discussed is not a true GPS tracking system in a sense that the bird is located using triangulation with standard radio telemetry. The points are then mapped into a laptop that uses a mapping system. Where ever the points cross is wher the bird may be. No different really to how it is done at the moment if you use standard telemetry and a paper based map.
I will keep all informed as to the progress of the GPS system once a sample unit has been sent to me from the developer.
STU

[EVC]

Look here

http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/programs/trackem/trackinfo.html

http://microwavetelemetry.com/Bird_PTTs/20g.php

Do not forget especially to read the "small" characters, prices !!! and license...
However, a beautiful example of the peregrine.

Regards Ed

[Ermoro]

I've found a really interesting application Here (http://www.habitresearch.com/)..

This is an hybrid solution using a GPS/VHF transmitter, and a powerful receiver able to catch the VHF signal and show the GPS Coords. too.

Let me know what do you think about

P.s. the price for a complete system was little high (around 3500-4000$) but the receiver could be useful for standard radio tracking too.