Robert,
How will the GPS work with multiple birds or transmitters? Do you need two pocket links and how would aero vision work? Thinking of situations like flying a cast for example.
Thanks
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Robert,
How will the GPS work with multiple birds or transmitters? Do you need two pocket links and how would aero vision work? Thinking of situations like flying a cast for example.
Thanks
At 8.4 grams I suspect that the RT-GPS is already about as stripped down as they can get it. The rest is all software, which weighs heavily on the mind but not otherwise.Quote:
Originally Posted by goshawkr
One of the things which can defeat the acquisition of position by the tag is dense forest canopy.
Jeff,Quote:
Originally Posted by JRedig
I emailed Robert about this. Yes, multiple tags at once using one PockeLink.
He did not say if this was done by each tag having a separate data address or if the PocketLink frequency hops from one channel to another. Also I did not ask if the viewing software could display multiple tracks simultaneously.
"You die as much in ten years going fast on a bike like that as most people do in a lifetime" Paraphrase of Marco Simoncelli
At present, it's intentionally been designed as a single-user arrangement, although if and when multiuser is enabled, new functions and features can be upgraded through a software update to the existing hardware.Quote:
Originally Posted by JRedig
The PocketLink will be connected to one AeroVision user, and looking for one transmitter on a particular UHF frequency. And, we'll be sending them without lasering the frequency on the case anymore, since you'll now be able to change the frequencies yourself if there are interference issues in your area. You'll also be able to change the duty cycle, give it your own name, etc, something not possible before (i.e. actually talking to your transmitter).
We will have a multi-user version for the Gulf user, who do things a bit differently, along with a number of other features they want for race training. So we've been gaining multi-user experience with that version. But unsure how and when that will come back to the US/EU version.
Additionally, a multi-user, simultaneous multi-track version is also in development for the Hound market (guys who run and want to watch 3 or 5, or 12 dogs laying down tracks at the same time), so that's also in our future, yes. But just not now at the very beginning.
The good news is there will be a lot of magic and great things to absorb as it is right now, and you can enjoy that, digest that, knowing that it'll only get better and your same hardware will stay current over time as you are able to do new things. That's the world we are entering in to now.
RB
Thanks Robert - I sure am excited at the prospect of using the Marshall GPS system on my new falcon. amennnQuote:
Originally Posted by RLBagley
Gerry x
What is the smallest raptor that the RT GPS could be used on a track pack with effectively. Looking for insight from all the experience Falconers out there.
An RT-GPS weighs 8.9 grams with mounting spring. Using the 3% rule this means you are within the standard wildlife allowance for 300 and up. I would say Kestrels, Merlins, and Sharpies are out. In between is a judgement call.
I see on Marshall's website that the "GPS" system is available as what appears to be a standalone system. It looks like they recommend a UHF receiver to complete the system.
My question is, how reliable is the GPS system as a standalone, i.e. do you really need the beacon system as a back up. I guess another way of asking this question is: is the GPS system as reliable as the "old fashioned" UHF beacon system. If so, why spend the extra $700 on a UHF beacon receiver? If the GPS system is as reliable as the "beacon" system do you really need the redundancy? I know the acquisition of redundant systems is usually a function of cost and or ease of use.
Thanks
John
In short, yes you need the redundancy.Quote:
Originally Posted by jdrmd
1. The RT-GPS is a data transfer system. For a given transmitter strength a beacon will go about 3 times as far as a data signal. Marshall calls out 3 miles ground, 10 miles air for the RT-GPS signal. They call out 10 ground, 30 air for a regular beacon.
2. The RT-GPS has an on board beacon. The beacon does not have a separate battery. The GPS (depending on how you program the software) uses the battery faster than a beacon. There is no separate battery for the onboard beacon, it quits when the GPS drains the battery.
3. A second beacon for backup is simple redundancy. Any system can fail. Plus the backup beacon will have a longer battery life.
I have an article that will cover the trade offs at a bit greater length coming up in the August Hawk Chalk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Gizmo
Thanks, Tom. I assumed that was the case but just wanted a little more information on the system. I look forward to your article in Hawk Chalk.
John
N4OPH
And don't forget that if the battery in your phone or tablet dies you con still use the conventional telemetry receiver!
Hi Folks - a big thank you to everyone at Marshall Radio for turning out yet another quality product.
http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/x...20Interior.jpg
http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/x...0in%20Case.jpg
http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/x...l%20RT-GPS.jpg
http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/x...-%205.9.15.png
http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/x...-%205.7.15.png
Gerry x
Gerry you win the prize for the most gear hung from a train.
Did the ordering for the GPS transmitter open in the EU before it did here in the states?
Thanks Tanner - what did I win? :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Tanner
No we were behind the US.
Gerry x
I'm confused. I just tried to order one from Marshall and they said they were still working out final details with the software.Quote:
Originally Posted by sugezwolf
How did you get one already?
Hello Paul-Quote:
Originally Posted by Rise25
There was an Event there in the UK and seven of the people who had pre-ordered were contacted in advance to come pick theirs up a little early, since we could be together, give an orientation, meet them.
We plan to begin sending out the first US orders in the next two, maybe three weeks as we have been ramping up production over the last 60 days, based on the response, to be ready. The orders will probably not go out in one big wave when we start, but will certainly be in the same sequence they came in last July.
I am in the Gulf this week where were are adding and testing a few cool new functions to better accommodate how they want to use the product for training, so there are those software changes going on, yes. But the great thing is there can now always be refinements and then updates out to you guys to fix or add things. No more shipping gear back and forth as in the past.
Anyway, pretty much every person who's had it for only a few days has commented that it's like almost like a drug, that they are so looking forward to seeing what will happen each day, seeing the bird's progress and new results we couldn't quite see before.
One actually pleaded: "please don't make me go back to the old way ever again."
Anyway, it's going to be a great season of discovery this year with such an utterly different tool, and I think we'll all be able to look back on these times as a great step forward in how we fly our birds.
RB
What's the update rate?
Thank you for the kind reply. I look forward to the "official" release!Quote:
Originally Posted by RLBagley
Mine works. We tried it on my barbary tiercel (Flight 1 below) and a friend's peregrine (Flight 6) in thermals this weekend. The top speed number for the barbary is not correct, I think it maybe came about either while we were driving or from one of the time points where we lost signal for a few cycles. The 3D flight path shown is for the peregrine - a long slanting stoop from ~1.5 miles away and 3300 ft. We re-started the track when she picked up a good thermal. The barbary tangled with a prairie and things went south and we didn't get a stoop. Anyway, it's going to be a lot of fun to play with this season.
I wanted to say thank you to Marshall for the extra goodies that they sent. Cheers.
My first flight w/ the Marshall GPS.
Warm, had to wait for breeze to come up for the kite (it'll blow like heck when it's finally duck season, don't you know). 1500 feet of sagging kite line out. East breeze, so unlike the south breezes here (roaring up top), it was not blowing hard up top, otherwise bird's tract height would've been higher, I imagine. Also my battery was in phase 2 so the tracking was less often so a less visually smooth tract.
Glad to finally try it out.
There was a point where I could not see my bird w/ the height and bright sun. I just looked at the big blue arrow on my iPhone, turned my head that direction, then raised my eyes up till - doink - right onto my bird. Very cool.
We are going from radio to "TV" w/ the Marshall GPS system. Amazing....
And I learned today from Robert Bagley there is a dedicated FB page: "Marshall GPS Users Group" to help w/ the use of this ground breaking technology meets falconry
http://timjessell.com/out/MarshallFirstFlight.PNG
I was giving this new device some thought Sunday evening. As I have mentioned, this is a device built for longwingers. Everything about it is currently targeted at what they need. Which is fine of course....
As a die hard austringer, I do at times need to track my bird down from distances over a mile, but I can only recall once having to do that once in the 18 years I have been flying goshawks.
The vast majority of the time I am trying to find out what @#$%^$%$!! bush my hawk has snuck under with its catch. And where I live and primarily hunt, the ground cover can be very thick for acres and acres. It makes for a real challenge tracking down a hawk when you have to beat the brush down just to spin a circle and refresh your bearing. In these situations, I can see a lot of advantages to this system when a shortwinger version (insert my assertion that longer battery life is needed to meet shortwinger needs here....) comes online.
Anyway, off to my question - what is the accuracy of the location? GPS is only accurate to within 100', and that can leave you a big area of brush to look under. There several correction systems that refine the GPS error rate to something much more reasonable for a "find my hiding hawk" application. Does the new Marshall GPS unit implement any of those? How big of an area is the "your hawk is here" circle?
Thankfully, the attenuator on my Field Marshall lets me get a directional signal from just a few feet away. Unforunately, because I very rarely need to use it (3 times in the 16 years I have owned it) I am too stupid to remember that the range is measure in inches and not yards when I am using the near setting and I keep overshooting my target.
Hi Geoff,Quote:
Originally Posted by goshawkr
a couple of examples.
Firstly in Scotland, testing the transmitter by attaching it to the collar of my pointer.
As she quartered the soaked moorland, I watched the arrow on my iphone pointing at her. Left, right, left. Then, as she crossed ahead of me and continued to the right, the system went wrong and the arrow remained pointing to the left.
Of course, the system hadn't gone wrong. The transmitter had fallen off her collar, and I was panicking.
It couldn't have been easier. I simply walked in the direction of the arrow until (from memory) 440 feet became 0. I looked down and there it was.
At the weekend I had a similar thing, except the transmitter was attached to my falcon, who was attached to a partridge about 700 feet away in a huge field of sugar beet.
In pre-telemetry days it would be a big problem, and even using good telemetry it can be a little problematic. With this, it simply couldn't have been easier.
Because of the excitement surrounding some of the very cool things GPS makes available, these most basic things can be easily overlooked.
For me, it's one of the most exciting developments ever.
Best wishes,
Tony.
For those folks lucky enough to be using this system already. How is real life in field use, battery life looking?
thanks
Hi Jill,
I have not run it to depletion yet, I will let you know what that duration is when I get there. So far, a total/cumulative flight time of ~3.5 hours on a single 1/3N battery shows near-full battery charge remaining. I'm sure Marshall for your car outlet so I don't see that as ever being a problem.
Best,
Tanner
Hi Tim - I have never known so many easterly's during the fall over here. South westerly's are our prevailing wind in blighty but I can't recall one yet!Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Jessell
Gerry x
P.S. Are the stats for your hybrid or peales tiercel as my young falcon has to cover at least a mile to get a thousand feet overhead? Scrub that - I assume the distance is distance from the PocketLink rather than total distance travelled?
Sorry Jill- typing on my phone somehow deleted a sentence at the end there. What I was trying to say is that the pocket link plugs into the car DC outlet so running out of battery on that part is not an issue.
Best,
Tanner
I think so, Gerry. He's a darn good climber though.Quote:
Originally Posted by sugezwolf
I was warned when I started flying tiercel peales they would not climb like my hybrids to the kite. They were right. The tiercel peales does it faster.;) Better wing loading in that regard.
I couldn't find the FB page in question, could you post the address please.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Jessell
[QUOTE=goshawkr;361353]
Anyway, off to my question - what is the accuracy of the location? GPS is only accurate to within 100', and that can leave you a big area of brush to look under. There several correction systems that refine the GPS error rate to something much more reasonable for a "find my hiding hawk" application. Does the new Marshall GPS unit implement any of those? How big of an area is the "your hawk is here" circle?
Geoff,
The Tag and the handset are both using the same set of satellite readings to find their location. They will both be wrong by the same 30 meters. The relative error between the two will be small. You are in a sense doing your own "Local Area Augmentation".
Thomas of the Desert
Hi Sam - it is a closed group for Marshall GPS users only.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beaner
Gerry x
:0( so I suppose I will just have to get one then! :0)Quote:
Originally Posted by sugezwolf
Is this technology going to roll the canine side of things into the mix too? I am guessing that with the size getting smaller and with what iPhones are capable of that we could see a time coming that the birds and dogs will both wear GPS/UHF transmitters? Wouldn't that be nice if your phone could help navigate to a hunting spot, function as a gps to a deer stand and later that afternoon track your bird and dog.
Hey Wes, see post #109, Robert mentions about dogs in the future.Quote:
Originally Posted by wesleyc6
Um, no its not. It's just a closed group. Find it, ask to join, someone will approve it.Quote:
Originally Posted by sugezwolf
With reference to Robert's earlier post and the ability to add freatures via software updates, what would you like to see in the Marshall GPS system?
Here's a couple to get you going,
Scout GPS for the short wings.
Augmented Reality of birds position, height and speed.
Ability to link any Bluetooth Heads Up Display glasses.
Dog E collar integration.
Multi transmitters and buddy sharing on 1 pocket link receiver.
That should keep R & D busy for a while! thumbsupp