Make sure there is power to run the receiver.
To power the receiver, you will be using one of three possibilities:
If your receiver has rechargeable batteries, make sure the batteries are charged.
If your receiver has alkaline batteries, turn on the receiver and check that the low battery indicator does not light.
If you are using external power, connect the external power source to the receiver through the external power jack.
Connect the antenna to the receiver’s antenna jack.
Turn the receiver on.
Turn the attenuator off.
Turn the RF GAIN to the maximum setting (fully clockwise).
Adjust the audio gain to a comfortable level.
If you are using a headset, make sure it is connected before adjusting the audio gain.
A loud audio level does not increase your ability to hear a weak signal better.
WARNING: Continued long term use of a receiver and headset listening to a loud audio signal can cause premature hearing loss.
Turn on the transmitter by removing its magnet.
Tune in the transmitter.
Move the channel selector to the channel that corresponds to the transmitter frequency.
Move the fine tune from 1 to 10 listening for the transmitter signal.
Moving the antenna in a circle around you, find which direction the signal come in the strongest.
If you are using the headset or the speaker, listen to which direction the signal comes in the loudest. If you are reading the signal meter, watch for which direction the meter gets the highest reading. Remember, that the headsets and speakers are more sensitive than the signal meter. Therefore, you may have to rely on them when the signal strength is low.
If the signal is not louder in any one direction, proceed to the next step. Once you have the direction of the transmitter, walk towards the transmitter. As you move closer to the transmitter, you will find that the transmitter’s signal becomes loud in every direction.
To solve that problem, proceed to the next step.
Turn on the Attenuator.
When the transmitter’s signal is very strong, there seems to be no directionality. To get back the directionality, turn on the attenuator.
Turn down the RF GAIN as needed.
As you continue to move closer to the transmitter, you will again find that the transmitter’s signal becomes loud in every direction. Now that the attenuator is on, you can begin reducing the RF GAIN as needed to regain directionality.

TRIANGULATION

Triangulation is a procedure you can use to determine the location of your dog when your dog is in a place that is not easily accessible by you. For example, say your dog is somewhere in a heavy cover. Looking at Figure 7, you can see that you would walk almost four miles through heavy cover before finding the transmitter. If you use triangulation, you could use the roads as much as possible and walk only a short distance through dense cover.
The idea is to take two bearing readings and the intersection of these two bearings is the location of the transmitter. You now have a better idea as to the location of the transmitter before you enter heavy cover.

 

Choose a location for the first bearing reading.
The location you choose should be a road or path or edge of a forest.
Dial in the transmitter’s signal.
Turn the receiver to the channel having the frequency of the transmitter and adjust the fine tune.
Turn the RF Gain to maximum; the attenuator should be off. Once you hear the signal, turn the attenuator on and turn the RF Gain down to a comfortable level.
Move the antenna in a circle around you to determine the direction of the strongest signal.
Adjust the RF Gain as needed to get a good direction.
If you have a compass, determine the angle of bearing. If not, look for a landmark in that direction.
Find a location for the second bearing reading.
Move ½ mile to 1 mile from location #1 to location #2.
Find the transmitter signal (see step 2 from above).
Again either use a compass to determine the angel of direction or find a landmark in the direction of the strongest signal.
Determine where the two bearings intersect.
This is the location of the transmitter.
Now, you can move to a location where the transmitter is more easily accessible before proceeding.

ENVIROMENTAL CONDITIONS

When you use your ATS telemetry equipment in flat country with sparse vegetation, you should be able to hear the transmitter from 6 to 10 miles away. These distances are obtained when the ATTENUATOR is off and the RF Gain is on maximum.
In areas of heavy cover or hilly terrains, radio signals from transmitters may bounce around as shown in Figure 8.
Signal bounce will result in reading an incorrect direction of the transmitter. In those areas where there is trouble with signals bouncing, you need to either avoid the area or perform triangulation with 3 to 5 bearings. For more information on triangulation, see the section on Triangulation. The following conditions can effect the range of your tracking system:
Weather conditions, especially approaching storms, can reduce the range. This is more of a problem in the summer.
Thick vegetation can reduce the range. Therefore, you may find your range is better in the fall when the leaves come off the trees.
Large cities can reduce the range because they are electronically noisy.
Large differences in elevation or large objects between the transmitter and the receiver can reduce the range.

 

Antenna length on the transmitter is critical to its range. If you cut the antenna on the transmitter to ½ its length, you will be cutting your range in half also.
Elevating the receiving antenna also increases the range. If, for example, you set your receiving antenna 10 feet off the ground, your range will increase. If the area is flat and sparsely vegetated, the range will increase more than if the area is hilly and densely vegetated. However, in both cases the range increases.
Equipment malfunction can reduce the range.

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