Microwave Telemetry PTT FAQs

• How do I place an order?
• What is the lifetime of my battery powered transmitter?
• How do I calculate the duty cycle for the NANO or multi-season NANO timer?

  Use our on-line Duty Cycle Calculator for NANO Timers
  Use our on-line Duty Cycle Calculator for Multiseason Timers

  On placing an order with us, you will need to fill out our on-line Production Form with the details of the PTTs you are ordering. Some of this information will be supplied to you by ARGOS but you will have to decide on a duty cycle for the transmissions from the PTTs (see the page on Duty Cycle Timers).

  First an ON time must be determined—for most purposes an 8 hour ON time is ideal. At high latitudes this can be reduced to 6 hours ON to give the same number of fixes. (There are more satellite passes at high latitudes.)

  Having decided upon an ON time, divide this number into the total transmission lifetime of the PTT. For example, a standard 30 gram PTT will transmit for about 750 hours, so 750/8 = 93. So, it is possible in this example to switch the PTT on 93 times during its lifetime. Bear in mind that Ground Track™ uses as much battery power as Argos transmission, as a result twice as many ON hours are consumed during a season in which Ground Track™ is operating.

  Now you have to decide when to switch it ON. With a standard NANO timer, you might decide that you want data every two days. In this case, we would recommend that you set the OFF time to 48 hours. So, we now have a CYCLE time of 8 + 48 = 56 hours.

  The lifetime of this unit would therefore be 93 x 56 hours = 5208 hours = 217 days = 7 months.

  Note how we chose an OFF time that did not cause the PTT to switch on at the same time each day. In this example, the switch on time would advance 8 hours each cycle. This prevents the PTT from drifting into a time window where there are few satellite overpasses wherever it might be. So we always recommend that your chosen cycle time in hours (ON time + OFF time) is not a multiple of 24.

  For a multi-season duty cycle timer, simply define a separate duty cycle for each season and ensure that the total ON time does not exceed the transmission lifetime for the model of PTT that you propose using.

  Use our on-line Duty Cycle Calculator for NANO Timers
  Use our on-line Duty Cycle Calculator for Multiseason Timers

• How do I set up the proper sensor data formatting for my PTT?
• How do I test my PTTs?
• How do I decode my data?
• How do I know if mortality mode Ground Track™ has been initiated in my PTT?
• How do I store my PTTs?
• Can my PTTs be refurbished?
• How do I send my PTTs back to you?
• Can I become your agent or distributor?
• Can I use one of your transmitters to track my spouse?

© Copyright 2001-2006 Microwave Telemetry, Inc. All rights reserved.

Microwave Telemetry, Inc.
8835 Columbia 100 Parkway, Suites K&L
Columbia, MD 21045
410.715.5292