Following Karls' Families

[Anne7]

.
Near Waba's last known location (still in flight)

https://maps.app.goo.gl/vSNCgvGWZUXjiohM8

[Francesca_V]

Hello everybody!

WABA · 11.07.2024
2024-07-10 17:36 - 2024-07-11 16:36

Distance: 40,5 km.
Battery: 24%


Waba flew a little to the north and found some nice places for foraging.

[Francesca_V]

Hello everybody!

WABA · 12.07.2024
2024-07-11 17:36 - 2024-07-12 15:36

Distance: 2,42 km.
Battery: 18%


Waba stayed in the same area as last night.

[Bea]

☼ ☼

Hello everyone

WABA - 13.07.2024

From 12.07._16:36 until 13.07._15:36

Distance: 7,26 km
Battery: 14%

Also today Waba made no big changes and stayed in the same area like yesterday

Have a nice Saturday evening and a pleasant Sunday tomorrow

[Bea]

☼ ☼

Hello everyone

WABA - 14.07.2024

From 13.07._15:36 until 14.07._15:36

Distance: 2,9 km
Battery: 1%

We got only few data points from Waba today, the battery is down to 1%

Waba stayed in the same area like the days before

Have a nice Sunday evening and a good start into the new week tomorrow

And in case you are watching it - let´s hope for an exciting EM Soccer final this evening!

[Francesca_V]

Hey Waba, come on, move a little and load your battery please!!!

[Hulbi Lorm]

Can the battery withstand dropping this far for a longer time, or could this mean that the transmitter may shut down permanently? That would be an awful pity...

[Anne7]

Hello everyone

WABA_15.07.2024

From 14.07 at 15:36 UTC until 15.07 at 16:51 UTC

Distance: 31.9 km
Battery: 8%

Our Waba flew slightly east, then back to roughly its former area, south of Tallinn.

The battery level is currently 8%. Still low, but thankfully better than yesterday's 1%.
In order to spare the battery, we are still getting few location points transmitted.

[Anne7]

Can the battery withstand dropping this far for a longer time, or could this mean that the transmitter may shut down permanently? That would be an awful pity...

Hello Hulbi

There are a number of safety features built in to prevent the battery from draining completely. That wouldn't be a good thing, as a completely dead battery has difficulty charging. (If I understood correctly)


Some information taken from the Ornitela website:

What factors affect number of GPS positions that can be collected?
GPS positions logged by OrniTrack transmitters represent the parameter that is most relevant for the majority of users. GPS logging primarily depends on sky view and available battery power.
Sky view is needed for GPS antenna to detect satellites. Connection with satellites can be obscured in places with limited sky view, such as under the forest canopy, in mountainous terrain or urban areas among buildings. GPS position logging in such environments often takes longer, which results in higher battery drain than in open areas.
Logging GPS positions is a relatively expensive process in terms of energy use. When developing OrniTrack transmitters we paid particular attention to achieving the highest possible energetic efficiency of this task. Extensive testing of OrniTrack transmitters in an open terrain revealed that fully charged battery of smaller OrniTrack-30 is sufficient for logging at least 1500 GPS positions and larger OrniTrack-50 can log at least 5000 GPS positions without additional recharge. But please note that data transfer via GPRS, which is more energetically demanding process, was set to infrequent intervals of one data upload per day during the testing.
Further, please be aware that GPS position logging stops when available battery power drops below 3675 mV. The remaining power down to 3600 mV is conserved for data transmission and the transmitter stops completely if battery voltage drops below 3600 mV. Once solar panel recharges the transmitter battery, GPS logging and data transmissions resume.
Therefore, it is paramount that a user monitors the available battery power and adjusts transmitter settings accordingly.

Battery charge by solar panel
OrniTrack transmitters are equipped with efficient solar panels which recharge internal batteries. We experienced that under favourable light conditions solar recharge can be fully sufficient to continuously log GPS positions at 1 minute intervals during daytime hours. But for solar panels to do their job, they need to be exposed to direct sunlight.
Overcast days offer little to no direct sunlight. Low sun angle above the horizon, like it is at high latitudes in winter, also delivers inefficient charge. Species living under the forest canopy may also receive limited charge due to scattered light.
Finally, perhaps the most frequent factor restricting battery charge is due to bird feathers covering the solar panel. This highly depends on species tracked and transmitter placement. From manufacturing perspective it is not difficult to increase transmitter height so it sticks through the feathers. However, empirical studies and experimental testing in wind tunnels revealed that externals transmitters may increase bird flight costs due to air resistance and turbulence. We therefore chose the transmitter design that minimizes possible impacts on birds.
While we supply transmitters capable of efficient recharging under good light conditions, it is user's responsibility to consider all relevant factors influencing recharge and monitor battery status when choosing transmitter settings.


Note: Current battery status: 8% (3704mV)

[Hulbi Lorm]

Thanks Anne,

great information, and reassuring. Glad to see the battery up to 8% anyway, though.

[Anne7]

Good evening

WABA_16.07.2024

Battery: 4% (3690mV)

Our Waba is still foraging in the same area, south of Tallinn.

Come on, Waba, please fly a little more and recharge the battery.

[Tanya]

Good evening everyone. Thanks for the information about tracking beacons. Remembering the readings of Bonus's tracking beacon, can we hope that he is alive?

[Hulbi Lorm]

Hi Tanya ,

Bonus was a different case, since his transmitter battery didn't recharge at all anymore, regardless of what he did. I guess it's safe to say we just don't know anything about his fate, except that he was alive on the day that his battery finally stopped working altogether. So we can very much hope that he is somewhere out there, and to me, he always will be.

Who knows, maybe one day somebody will catch a picture of him, or he visits one of the Estonian camera nests. That would be amazing.

[Tanya]

Hi Hulbi and thank you for answering my question.

[Anne7]

Hi everyone

WABA_17.07.2024

Battery status: 0% (3668mV)

We received very few location points (positions).
“The GPS position logging stops when the available battery power drops below 3675 mV”

But we can see that our Waba is still in the same region, south of Tallinn.

Hopefully, the solar panel will catch some direct sunlight tomorrow and charges the battery. Hopefully GPS logging resume soon and data transmissions will continue.
“The transmitter stops completely when the battery voltage drops below 3600 mV.
Once the solar panel recharges the transmitter battery, GPS logging and data transmissions resume”

Hulbi and Tanya

[Francesca_V]

Hello everybody!

WABA · 18.07.2024

Distance: unknown
Battery: 0%, 3629 mV


Today we received an "alive" message of the transmitter but unfortunately no data. So we do not know Waba's current position. Maybe tomorrow if Waba decides to move a little.

[Francesca_V]

Hello everybody!

WABA · 19.07.2024


Today we got no news from Waba.
Maybe tomorrow!

Last data received by GPRS: 2024-07-18 20:20 (UTC+3)
Next data session expected: 2024-07-20 20:20 (UTC+3)

[Bea]

☼ ☼

Hello everybody

WABA - 20.07.2024

From 20.07._10:08 until 20.07._16:08

Distance: 182 km
Battery: 25%

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid= ... sp=sharing

We got some few data points from Waba and s/he has left Estonia and is now in Latvia



Here Waba crossed the border to Latvia


Night resting point in a little forest 'island'


Have a safe trip Waba, wherever winds will carry you now!

Wish you all a nice Saturday evening and a joyful Sunday tomorrow

[Francesca_V]

Hey, our Waba is travelling again!

Have a save trip!


Bea!

[Anne7]

This is great news!

Bon voyage, Waba. Take care!

Glad to see you.