Simple Timing Device Increases Reliability of Recording Telemetric Activity Data

Many wildlife biologists still rely on strip-chart recorders for collecting telemetry information in the field, and modifications that improve the reliability of recording telemetric data and reduce the time required to analyze these data are needed. We observed that 2 identical recorders, which had been geared to run at the same chart speed (5.08 cm/hour), operated at different speeds (4.32 cm/hour and 5.49 cm] hour) and responded differently to declining battery voltage (12.8-12.33V) over 5to 15-day recording periods. We describe a simple timer circuit that can be added readily to existing chart recorder systems to designate time on the chart tape. The frequency and duration of timing marks are completely adjustable. A timemarking system enables the biologist to correct for changing chart speed quickly, know the time at which a remote unit may have failed or run out of paper, and greatly facilitates computerized analyses of the strip charts. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 56(1):191-196 Recent advances in microcomputer technology and in the miniaturization of electrical circuits have led to a great increase in the applications of radio telemetry to wildlife research and management (U'hite and Garrott 1990). These advances have influenced standard techniques for radio telemetry and have included the increasingly widespread use of satellites to monitor wildlife populations (e.g., Fancy et al. 1988, Garner et al. 1989).Satellite telemetry can provide limited information on animal activity (e.g.,migration movements; Fancy et al. 1989), but it is not yet of much use to biologists who require detailed activity information from nonmigratory animal populations. For the most part, researchers studying animal activity patterns must still depend on more traditional telemetry