Hi
I wanted to gather some community wisdom on the options for making a dog collar tracker node.
Requirements:
- small (could be arranged in a collar)
- 3-6hr battery life
- GPS
- no screen
- no buttons.
Thanks !
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i am having similar use-cases:
until now i had self build rak4631 and gps module on 19003 mini baseboard, together with battery in very small housing 35x35x12mm thats functional as tracker role, just waking up every (defined in menu) 2 minutes, getting position and sending position and going to sleep again… runtime in this mode 1-2 weeks…
BUT:
just freshly released hardware by heltec was the Heltec Capsule Sensor V3 – Heltec Automation
not yet fully supported by meshtastic, but already running meshtastic firmware in some demos… this is what i was looking for. … hopefully it will have long runtime in meshtastic tracker role…
so wait a bit, and you can get this.
waterproof !!!
i ordered one, but not yet recevied it 
4 Likes
Two interesting options. Thank you for sharing.
If you have some pictures of the rak version I’d be keen to see those.
I think long and thin might be easier than a capsule.
i would say the heltec will be the better solution ! cheaper, waterproof, smaller? much less weight… as long as its functional and will give some battery runtime, it will be much better option…
here, the rak version, compared to a t-echo. not much to see, aluminium housing and external , small antenna.
rak19003 baseboard with 4631 and some rak gps module and 800mAh lipo sqeezed into aluminium tubing and fully flooded with epoxy resin to make shockproof 
… not waterproof, since USB-C port is still there …
2 Likes
Hi Womble, did you make any progress with this as we have 4 dogs and zero GPRS on walks… my better half calls or messages me at work to say she’s lost (insert qty of dogs) and that her “insert numerous expletives”!! isn’t working as either her phone or the tracker hasn’t got signal… really like the idea of the Mesh concept as the dogs have a formation they also keep with the smaller more elderly dog normally staying somewhere in the middle so would make an excellent relay point 
I’ve got a background in electronics but from 20 years ago (went into computing / oracle) so I’m not massively out of my death when copying someone else’s or evolving it, but from scratch I will struggle…
Hope you can help for the sanity of me and the dogs off lead walks…
ps they never catch anything just like to explore and run across the fields playing which works well till trees and hedges get in way of line of sight…
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my heltec capsule V3 will arrive soon.
it has been shipped after a long wait, and then we-ll see if its fine as a dog-tracker.
i have read elsewhere, that ther might be some problems, when running on meshtastic and changing certain settings resulting in a boot-loop , so i will be very careful, hopefully keeping it functional.
probably/hopefully there will be a matched firmware soon…
or a bike-tracker
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I went with @kilroy 's advice and ordered a Heltec Capsule Sensor V3.
Having some GPS issues at the moment, but i think it will be a good solution. Here is its attached to a cocker spaniel for scale/context. (collar models own)
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i did the same on my dog…
just atm not enough runtime of the tracker for me…
how long did yours run on one battery??
Kilroy, how have you set up your tracker? Im looking to make the same setup as you have with a rak but Im struggeling to get the gps to turn off to save power.
my rak tracker devices are:
rak19003 (bigger baseboards shoud work as well)
rak 4631
and gps different devices, both work 1910 and 12500
connected to rak19003
firmware was 2.3.3 or higher (2.3.6 atm)
on my devices all settings default.
set role as “tracker”
set powersaving “enable”
set position update intervall and broadcast intervall… not too short, then i wont sleep… maybe 300+ seconds ore more is good… then it goes to sleep and is not responding to lora or BLE until broadcast timer wakes it up… getting fix, send, sleep again…
also device info set very high intervall ! to not interfere
initial fix takes some time ! update intervall may be set longer to get initial fix, then can make shorter if fix takes too much time always, then check or change gps antenna and position.
the same works for me on my usual T-echo !!
you get crazy long battery runtimes like this, but devices no use for messaging any more
power use when running: 8-10mA, when fixing +50mA when sending +100mA
wheen sleeping around 1mA
i can still admin these devices by BLE when they are active, but also with admin channel… so if i want to change settings, i quickly disable Power saving first, restart, then i can configure because it does not sleep.
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Thank you. 
You may have solved one of my big challenges with a project im working on.
Will try this setup on my rig and see what I get.
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if i cannot connect to device for config anymore, becuase it goes to sleep too fast.
i “manually disable” gps reception, by putting it in metal container in basement, then it will try to get a fix ans stay awake some longer time to get BLE config done
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You are the man. It works for me as well. 0.9-1.1mAh idle current on 3.8V. Under 90seconds for gps lock @ 65mAh.
Getting this to work have been giving me headaches. 
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i am just a user !
i have to Pass this praise to Thebentern, who is the developer:
Tracker role wakeup and sleep cycle when power.is_power_saving true by @thebentern in #2846
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hopefully we get a firmware for capsuleV3 that can do the same
This info is great. I am also trying to create a tracker that is configured/tuned to draw as little as possible using sleep mode.
rak 19003 with gps is a super small tracker with very long runtime
and since it only consumes 1mA in sleep (1tenth of usual ) it could possibly also run with a very small 5V solar panel added to the setup. my guess would be, that a 5V 10mA solar Panel might be enough if exposed to some sunshine… go for 5V 50mA (Still very small) for less sunshine
it could even be possible to run it from a capacitor instead of a battery
@womble1 any special configuration to use it as a dog tracker? I’m new to this. I set the mode to tracker and that is it? How is the battery life? Is is possible to turn off the blinking led light?
I still don’t have a GPS lock with mine, so not really in a position to advise yet. Seems like it will only give an hour battery with current firmware.
yes, first gps fix took some time. maybe help with initial position, given by app ?
i think i did it that way.
i left most of the settings unchanged also i left the gps “disabled” setting, the gps is working thou