SparkFun Electronics Commentsurn:uuid:214d0e4e-f1b1-d287-ce26-ac5b4c9f82492024-03-28T19:16:51-06:00SparkFun ElectronicsfutureFalconer on Solar Powered Bird TrackingfutureFalconerurn:uuid:d6b6ecc1-9f7f-56f4-0bea-542f9adaefb02014-10-21T16:05:41-06:00<p>Fred, is this configuration still working?</p>
Sunny Kang on Solar Powered Bird TrackingSunny Kangurn:uuid:7634555a-e93c-9df7-e7e8-3fe398f3c3bb2014-09-03T06:03:11-06:00<p>Hello Fred,
I'm very interest in your work.
Are you still developing these kind of device?
Then, can you please mail me?</p>
Fred4 on Solar Powered Bird TrackingFred4urn:uuid:3c028208-c325-364c-9ae2-ded4de9b66ab2012-03-25T07:04:11-06:00<p>The solar cell in these pictures was from Ebay and the vendor disappeared a long time ago. The square size of that solar cell was not ideal since it gave a lip for the bird to grab onto. I was never able to find exactly what I wanted from an off the shelf product so now I have all my solar cells custom made. You can take a look at www.solarbotics.com for some good solar cells though. They don't have a lot of size options but the ones I have tested are good quality</p>
RUSTIE0125 on Solar Powered Bird TrackingRUSTIE0125urn:uuid:fa1e8409-20a3-7e6f-e801-76649c00085b2012-03-25T00:15:05-06:00<p>Hi Fred where did you buy the solar cell you used?</p>
keyne on Solar Powered Bird Trackingkeyneurn:uuid:d234e943-2ea1-8c29-4c3d-bf7a8b51c4522010-08-09T23:29:25-06:00<p>Great project Fred! Where did you find the solar cells?</p>
Fred4 on Solar Powered Bird TrackingFred4urn:uuid:0afc8cce-1cdf-3644-d612-6130efe01f5c2010-08-04T15:34:56-06:00<p>I would love to have the data post to twitter. The issue is that this data is for my brothers PHD studies and these academic guys guard there data closely.</p>
Fred4 on Solar Powered Bird TrackingFred4urn:uuid:4c4f776e-1f1e-eb92-283e-b9d5450685042010-08-04T15:29:33-06:00<p>The solar cell is connected directly to the MAX1555 with no other hardware. The diagram is posted in the data sheet for the charger and this is what I used. However soldering such a small package was difficult so I put the charger on a breakout board which Sparkfun sells. The MAX1555 has low voltage limits built in so if the solar cell isn't generating enough voltage it wont try to charge. I used a monocrystalline solar cell for this because its the only thing small enough that put out enough voltage with high enough current. I actually have a thin film solar cell which is 2.5 grams lighter but its 3 times the size which is big enough to interfere with the birds ability to regulate temperature. So I had to accept the higher weight of the smaller cell to limit the impact on the bird.</p>
gadgetfreak on Solar Powered Bird Trackinggadgetfreakurn:uuid:53a5a64e-a2ae-0899-6d8c-a2f74e11b7442010-08-04T14:18:08-06:00<p>Thanks Fred, great work!<br>
Would you like to share a circuit diagram and/or a picture of the connection between the solar cell and the Max 1555?<br>
Is the solar cell connected directly to the charger or are other components involved? I've read that solar cells are a bit tricky when it comes to balancing current and voltage...</p>
rl on Solar Powered Bird Trackingrlurn:uuid:6abd754f-17c1-63dd-625e-2310d04d487f2010-08-04T12:30:06-06:00<p>what solar cell did you use? model number/link? great project btw!</p>
Single T on Solar Powered Bird TrackingSingle Turn:uuid:9e23722f-fbd9-1cb3-6c4c-02968035ad2b2010-08-04T10:36:52-06:00<p>"For the chicks we climbed the tree's and take them out of the nest in order to band, weigh, and measure them before returning them to the nest."<br>
Sounds like a job for Keith Stone. ;)</p>
Single T on Solar Powered Bird TrackingSingle Turn:uuid:3d1dcc85-8baf-fa1f-fa8e-ff484e4b77c72010-08-04T10:16:32-06:00<p>LOL ;)</p>
Fred4 on Solar Powered Bird TrackingFred4urn:uuid:80295c8f-f19f-bb98-f625-38cbb25cc8602010-08-04T06:52:35-06:00<p>I forgot to mention that it is www.navizon.com that is helping me triangulate the position. If you want an open source version you can use www.opencellid.org but it has a lot of holes in it from what I can see.</p>
Fred4 on Solar Powered Bird TrackingFred4urn:uuid:dd7b2eb6-11a5-aefe-4d3c-146bfc6bac582010-08-04T06:49:41-06:00<p>The database I am using is not open source. The database also triangulates wifi signals with a very high degree of precision if you are in a more urban area. I think a lot of interesting projects could be built on this and I am currently developing a few more things. The that company developed this database usually licenses it to companies like Microsoft so I am very lucky to have access to it.</p>
Fred4 on Solar Powered Bird TrackingFred4urn:uuid:579ec02e-370c-73cc-4dbd-3a0dd8c4cd142010-08-04T06:36:40-06:00<p>I used the MAX1555 charger with a 5.5 volt 35 mah solar cell. Since my battery is only 50mah it gets charged pretty fast. I used the MAX1555 circuit diagram which can be found here.<br>
<a href="http://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Components/MAX1551-MAX1555-1.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Components/MAX1551-MAX1555-1.pdf</a></p>
cjh08052 on Solar Powered Bird Trackingcjh08052urn:uuid:b1898d0b-5e72-94a1-e077-4de1d63a6d542010-08-04T06:27:17-06:00<p>Great job Fred! I was wondering if the cell-tower databases you're using are OpenSource/freely-available? In either case, could you state your source for the data? Thanks.<br>
;-> (cjh)</p>
Fred4 on Solar Powered Bird TrackingFred4urn:uuid:03356f33-afdd-6b6e-e7f6-399dbea422de2010-08-04T06:26:54-06:00<p>We have several methods to catch the birds. For the chicks we climbed the tree's and take them out of the nest in order to band, weigh, and measure them before returning them to the nest. Depending on how mature the chick is we can attach a tracking device as well. For the adults we usually use a Great Horned Owl which is a natural predator to make them mad. Yes, a Great Horned Owl is illegal to own but this one had an accident with a power line so he cant be released into the wild and my brother does have the permits for him. We take the owl and put him on the ground next to the nest. Then we string up a net next to the owl similar to how you would do a volleyball net except that this one goes all the way to the ground and about 8' tall. Since the hawk is upset at the owl's presence they tend to swoop down and try to scare the owl away and get caught in the net in the process. If you are interested you can read more about the study at www.swainson.org.</p>
pizza on Solar Powered Bird Trackingpizzaurn:uuid:1004205b-1600-7f89-cb1e-d4cf39f0fd352010-08-04T01:30:28-06:00<p>how did u catch the hawk?? ^^<br>
will their friends peck the device away?</p>
Tycho Vhargon on Solar Powered Bird TrackingTycho Vhargonurn:uuid:503b2fed-2e65-fa30-284a-b9aeb318b08c2010-08-03T22:19:38-06:00<p>Duck antenna? More like a hawk antenna!</p>
Ben121 on Solar Powered Bird TrackingBen121urn:uuid:fe987c00-a765-f9a1-0e20-b555fcacf9ad2010-08-03T19:57:49-06:00<p>This is too cool, the people demand a website! :)</p>
Fred4 on Solar Powered Bird TrackingFred4urn:uuid:2274114b-e550-1167-c59a-735796db6b742010-08-03T19:19:47-06:00<p>Thanks for the comments everyone! I happen to be a pilot and I am familiar with the rule that has been put into question. I feel comfortable that I am not violating any laws by putting them on birds.<br>
Someone commented that this must not be rural. Actually they were deployed in Butte Valley, California which is about as rural as you can get. I timed the transmit to be at times of day that the birds are likely to be in the air which increases the odds of seeing a tower.<br>
The epoxy idea was great and I will give that a try.</p>
Scienkoptic on Solar Powered Bird TrackingScienkopticurn:uuid:4e03e6e8-42f2-7578-bed5-0e568139dee22010-08-03T15:17:52-06:00<p><em>sigh</em> I can't even get gsm service on my own driveway. I had a project that could have been done easily and cheaply with GSM messaging. I ended up submitting a prototype with a Orbcom sat link.<br>
Priced myself out of range.<br>
I suppose this exercise didn't take place anywhere rural.</p>
gadgetfreak on Solar Powered Bird Trackinggadgetfreakurn:uuid:c8271c72-86a3-3ca3-38de-f47f821a0b132010-08-03T15:15:43-06:00<p>I'm very interested in the solar powered charging part of the device. What solar cells was used? Trickle charge or "full charging"? Is there a circuit diagram or breakout board for this?</p>
DaveP on Solar Powered Bird TrackingDavePurn:uuid:9ac8f762-03b0-8574-1ab9-693d314b1cd62010-08-03T15:11:24-06:00<p>I was wondering the same thing... for reference, from CFR Title 47, Part 22, Subpart H:<br>
? 22.925 Prohibition on airborne operation of cellular telephones.<br>
Cellular telephones installed in or carried aboard airplanes, balloons or any other type of aircraft must not be operated while such aircraft are airborne (not touching the ground). When any aircraft leaves the ground, all cellular telephones on board that aircraft must be turned off. The following notice must be posted on or near each cellular telephone installed in any aircraft:<br>
?The use of cellular telephones while this aircraft is airborne is prohibited by FCC rules, and the violation of this rule could result in suspension of service and/or a fine. The use of cellular telephones while this aircraft is on the ground is subject to FAA regulations.?<br>
The question is... is a bird "any other kind of aircraft"?</p>
Hmmm on Solar Powered Bird TrackingHmmmurn:uuid:e5386ea8-81e1-e5f5-9c38-36fd6b10e6692010-08-03T15:08:02-06:00<p>"a small, solar powered, light-weight unit that can report its position at least once a day."<br>
Sounds like a job for <a href="http://www.ussc.com/~turner/qrss1.html" rel="nofollow">QRSS</a>. There's a record for a 40 mW transmitter reaching 80 km away, but you can only send something like 1 bit per second. :D</p>
robot256 on Solar Powered Bird Trackingrobot256urn:uuid:b4632f56-8fff-59a1-4d1a-4a99bd5793cb2010-08-03T13:34:13-06:00<p>The FAA rule on cell phone use specifically refers to "aircraft" and is intended, at least according to Wikipedia, to avoid interfering with flight control systems. EMI is probably not a big problem when flying on a bird, and I doubt that a wild bird is an aircraft.<br>
Somewhere I heard that a cell phone operating at ten-thousand feet would cause problems for the towers because many towers would see it at the same time and they would get confused as to which one should talk to it. But there may be safeguards against that, and birds don't fly at 10,000 feet anyways.</p>
RobK on Solar Powered Bird TrackingRobKurn:uuid:3e66fa4c-0bb8-84d0-91db-ddc1b56a0baf2010-08-03T12:53:45-06:00<p>Maybe conductive epoxy would have worked better for the electrical connections to the sim card. This stuff for example:<br>
<a href="http://webvia.techni-tool.com/VIA/viaImagePageIndex.jsp?row=0&pgName=viaListProducts.jsp&searchText=epoxy&modifier=SEARCH&reqTitle=TITLE_VIASEARCHRESULT&newWindow=Y" rel="nofollow">http://webvia.techni-tool.com/VIA/viaImagePageIndex.jsp?row=0&pgName=viaListProducts.jsp&searchText=epoxy&modifier=SEARCH&reqTitle=TITLE_VIASEARCHRESULT&newWindow=Y</a></p>
russpatterson on Solar Powered Bird Trackingrusspattersonurn:uuid:fc8865d3-dbdf-002b-21d2-095b8e2eb0e32010-08-03T11:10:37-06:00<p>This is the coolest SF project post I've seen to date!</p>
maxh on Solar Powered Bird Trackingmaxhurn:uuid:7c95a7e5-9961-4043-e501-4f448f73f6682010-08-03T10:48:24-06:00<p>Very cool! I wonder if this violates the FAA's no airborne cellular communication law.</p>
JamesBulmer on Solar Powered Bird TrackingJamesBulmerurn:uuid:54e87c2d-9443-4ea2-6667-9c6ad9dd90ab2010-08-03T10:34:46-06:00<p>in theory if every thing is sent down to the base station, as described above. It would be quite simple to add some code to post the twitter updates. With out changing any thing on the birds</p>
pretendiname on Solar Powered Bird Trackingpretendinameurn:uuid:6b2a1394-f32c-6dba-fd0d-d6d8589fd0b52010-08-03T09:36:53-06:00<p>Missed opportunity to integrate with Twitter.<br>
Tracking those tweets would be amazing.</p>