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Biotrack, radio tagging specialists   Biotrack, animal radio tagging specialists. Snake © Paul Edgar, Weasel © Hans Georg Eiben, all other images © Biotrack
 
Proud Partners with Lotek           Saturday 4th February 2012   

Geolocation, Depth and Temperature Loggers
[Introduction] [LightBugs] [NanoLATs] [LAT tubes] [Temperature Depth Recorders]

New Range of Geolocators

Biotrack can now manufacture and supply geolocators designed and field tested by British Antarctic Survey. Currently we are preparing for production, so to see the likely range of tags please go to the Bird Tracker Website, or contact us for the latest information.

Introduction

Our sister company, Lotek, have been building data storage tags for many years. Initially developed for fish, they are now being used to investigate behaviour and migration paths of many birds that are too small to carry satellite tags.

Geolocators are tags capable of measuring and storing data on light levels. Once retrieved this data can be used to calculate the latitude and longitude using a process known as light-based geolocation. Alternatively Temperature Depth Recorders (TDR tags) can tell you about the diving activities of seabirds. Despite their small size, these tags have enough battery and memory capacity to store several years’ worth of data.

The Template Fit method, available on LightBugs and LAT geolocators, improves the location accuracy over the more traditional Threshold method. Our tags are capable of recording data for Template Fit which also provides an error estimate so that it is easier to filter the best locations.

Until now species studied have been restricted to those where there is a good chance of recovery. Some tags can now include a VHF radio-tag to help find and re-trap birds when they don't nest in the same cavity. To keep weight to a minimum the radio-tag is set to start when the individual returns to the trapping area, thus avoiding the need for power (and therefore battery weight) when away. If you would like to know more about this please contact us.

For more examples of Data Storage Tags and how they have been used please see the Lotek Website


LightBugs - for non-waterbirds

Our LightBugs are designed to be light in weight and competitively priced, whilst maintaining the accuracy of Lotek's renowned LAT series. To make them lighter they are not depth proofed in the same way, so should be used for birds not diving into water.

Size < 3 cm long, 1 cm height excluding light stick
Weight 2.0-2.2 g excluding optional tubes or VHF beacon
Typical life 9 month depending on sampling rate etc.
Sampling rate Minimum 1 second

Features
  • Greater Accuracy from Template Fit
  • Optional VHF beacon to improve recovery rates (adds weight)
  • 224 light levels - good at low light levels
  • Temperature clock correction
  • No ground-truthing required
  • for more detail see the datasheet or contact us
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Geolocators from Lotek
Download Datasheet

NanoLAT - LAT2900 for legmounting

The Nano LAT is the smallest geolocation archival tag for birds, and there are other formats for fish. The small size and cage allow easy and secure attachment to rings. Options include wet/dry, temperature and pressure.

Size 8 x 20 x 7 mm
Weight 2.0 g
Typical life TBD
Sampling rate Minimum 1 second

Features
  • Data suitable for Template Fit
  • 224 light levels - good at low light levels
  • Temperature clock correction
  • No ground-truthing required
  • for more detail see the datasheet or contact us
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Small legmounting geolocator
Download Datasheet

LAT2000 Geolocators - for seabirds

The LAT2000 series all record light levels and temperature, but they can also include pressure sensors for diving species.

Size 8 mm x 35 mm tube
Weight 3.6 - 4.3 g
Minimum life 1 year depending on sampling rates
Sampling rate Minimum 1 second

Features
  • Optional pressure sensors
  • Seawater switch
  • User programable memory management
  • 128k or 512k memory options. NEW 128 MB version
  • for more detail see the datasheet or contact us
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Geolocators from Lotek
Download
      Standard       Extended Memory
Datasheet
     

LAT1000 Temperature Depth Recorders

The LAT1000 series record temperature and pressure and so are designed to investigate diving behaviour.

Size 8 or 11 mm x 35 mm tube
Weight 3.6 - 5.5 g
Minimum life 1 year depending on sampling rates
Sampling rate Minimum 1 second

Features
  • User programable memory management
  • 64k, 128k or 512k memory options. NEW 128 MB version
  • for more detail see the datasheet or contact us
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TDRs from Lotek
Download Datasheet