General > General Technical Chat

Looking forward to getting a cat soon. Any good GPS Tracking modules?

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eti:

--- Quote from: nctnico on December 06, 2022, 06:32:14 pm ---Just feed a cat and it will always return. A cat is not cattle; you don't need to track a cat.

--- End quote ---

Although they will usually return to where they’re loved and looked after well, it’s still nice to have the peace of mind of gps.

Dundarave:
Years ago, when I had a couple of Siamese cats, I used to round them up from their outdoor explorations by going outside and shaking some cat food kibble in a nice resonant cardboard box.

I’d stand on the porch, shake the box for 30 seconds, and within 5 minutes they’d individually appear.  They had amazing hearing. I have no idea how far away they were, but sometimes they’d be close and appear immediately, other times it’d take a good 5 minutes. But it always worked.

If I were you, I’d be relying on the Pavlovian response rather than a technical solution.  Cats like to nestle and hide, also:  bad for GPS reception.

Foxxz:
The Fi collar might work for you.

https://tryfi.com/

Rick Law:
I don't know how your cat's home range is like.  I have cats since 1976.  Between me and my wife, high was 4 cats of which 3 roams outside freely but home at night.  Being in the USA, the areas that my cats frequented is likely different than you down under.

I do not think GPS would work so well.  Apart from the GPS device that your cat has to wear, you need a receiver that can receive the GPS signal send by your cat and translate that to useful information very quickly.  Pretty much like what Apple's airtag can do by pointing at the direction where your cat is (preferably with distance).  If you have to enter the raw GPS info into a map (both your's and the cat's GPS coordinations), your cat could move a lot faster than you can enter the latest set of GPS coordinates into your map.  You could be running around in circles.  So the translation into useful information must be reasonably fast.  Your DIY will have to deal with both the hardware and the software to do a useful job.

Apple's airtag and FI Collar seem to do that job (present useful info quick).  But each with their own short comings.

From my experience (again, my area may be very different than yours), once the cat knows your home is his/her home, they would indeed come back.  It is when quick-approaching storm, accident, and other unexpected events that causes problem.  Other times are when we must lock up to go somewhere and must leaving the cat out until we are home.  It appears to me that when the cat wants to come home but can't, that is when the cat may venture farther and do the less safe things.  We lost one cat (car hit) and almost lost another one (locked in a basement near by) both were when we had unexpected absence.  Otherwise, they each have their own routines.

Personally, I would have liked a (garage door opener type) remote activated blinking LED (at a position that doesn't disrupt the cat's own vision).  Even a constant-on blinking LED would not be bad, I can think of a few occasions that a blinking LED on the cat would have been very helpful in finding the cat.  Added bonus of a constant-on blinker is, it may help cars avoid the cat.  My first cat had a close call (lost a tooth) with a car.  My wife's first cat did not survive his encounter with a car.

By the way, if you love cats, you should see  "A Street Cat Named Bob".  An instant best seller when publish and made into a movie (starring Bob) - it is available in USA's youtube.  It is about a recovering drug addict (author) adopted a young homeless street cat during very hard time for both.  Both benefited.  Bob died (hit by car) at age 14-ish (around  2019, there about) as a celebrity cat.  There was a seating bench with his statue erected by donation from admirers -- "Every one deserves a second chance" is inscribed on the bench as they gave each other a second chance.

james_s:

--- Quote from: nctnico on December 07, 2022, 12:06:37 am ---Utter nonsense. If you live in a country where cats aren't allowed to roam free, don't get a cat. Cats go crazy when locked inside a home; they are not made for it. It is like keeping a gold fish in a tiny round bowl.

--- End quote ---
 
It depends greatly on the cat, they're as individual as people. I've had cats my whole life and some of them go crazy and try to bolt at every opportunity but others show no interest at all in going outside. I currently have four, the youngest is 16, none of them try to go out. One of them did bolt a couple of times and got out into the front garden years ago but it seemed to freak him out that there was no ceiling above him. He ran around the perimeter of the house huddling close to the wall under the overhang then came back in and never tried again. Now they just curl up on their heated pads or on my lap or perch on the sill of the front window and watch the world go by. 

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