Pod3 Tracker

[Kieka]

Hello! I originally got a TabCat tracking system a few months back and posted here about it. Tabcat Cat Tracker

After several months of use there aren't any major complaints. It is very general and relies on the cat not being to far away. But can't beat the battery life and ease of use. However, Link, the main reason I got the system lost his collar and tracker. Either out of range or it was dead. Either way I had to replace it. Since Link had not always been on range when I've searched I decided to give the Pod3 GPS unit and bite the bullet on monthly fees (which I am now getting waived for the lifetime of the unit due to some shipping issues, yay). I will miss the beep sounds of the TabCat because most times they come in when it beeps... But it is what it is.

After a long wait the unit arrived today!

First impression. Link is luckily my bigger cat, tall and thirteen pounds, so the size shouldn't be an issue but it would be too big for Rocket, who is short and eight pounds. It charged in two hours and has two batteries for easy switching. I am setting it up to ping every two hours so it should be for 4 days per battery. The unit was fairly easy to set up and attach to a collar.

Nightfury is wearing it tonight to see what he does after dark. He is the only cat allowed out at night. It will be in adventure mode to see where he is and record his adventure. In the morning we will change the battery and switch is too Link to see where he goes all day. I am excited to see that part. After we get a day or two of constant tracking I will switch back to the battery saver mode and just reference it in emergencies.

I will update this with how it works out.

 

[Kieka]

My mom was right. Nightfury basically circles the house all night long. The house is buried under the central red area.

 

[Docs Mom]

That is cool ! We often thought about one for our barn cats.... but then decided we would rather not know how far they went... ; )

 

[Kieka]

And here is Links daytime tracking.

I am really hoping that the extreme North and South points are data jump points. The rest of it isn't too surprising. Luckily, the neighbors whose yards he visits the most are aware of him and friendly.

 

[Dacatchair]

This is really interesting! That is a lot of mileage and exercise! I would have loved to have been able to see where my (older) kitten went. I know he spent most of his outside time by a pond 80 feet from my house, but I am not sure if that was his night spot too.

It is pretty wild here though and I would be concerned that any type of collar or harness, even a break away design, could get dangerously snagged on something...

Also I noticed a lot of the red lines go through houses or over roofs? Is your cat going over or through those buildings or are the red lines showing where they go incorrect?

 

[Kieka]

My house they do go over. I see them up there all the time and we have at least three easy climbing routes by trees close to the house. The rest of them? Dont know if they have routes or do go over them. Some really don't have a way I think he could get on the roof or back down.

The system was taking an image every ten seconds and then drawing a line from one point to the other, so some of it is from them turning a corner at the right time for it to draw a line through something. Some of it also might be random data jumps when the signal was blocked for a moment and misplaced him. The furthest point north I am fairly certain is a data jump, mostly because the person has a big dog and it is just one point.