Hello everyone, I am new here, and new to electronics so please dont bash me too bad.....

I have a siberian husky that loves to run away, and I am tired of chasing her all over the neighborhood. I am still paying for the damage from the last time she got into the neighbors chicken coop.

I saw this on ebay and it seemed easy to build.....

Tracking transmitter radio kit New! - eBay (item 200266167608 end time Dec-20-08 08:49:24 PST)

I have a basic understanding of electronics, and have a radio shack down the street from my house. I was thinking maybe I could find some help on this site building my own device....

 

First, beware the 91% feedback rating. Second, the transmitter looks very simple for the asking price of almost $50. Third, it tunes into the aircraft bands which could lead to trouble. Its range is probably very short, not much more than the distance you could call your dog from.

Look for some of the threads here about FM transmitters and how to increase range. Audioguru will certainly have more suggestions.

 

The very cheap and simple project is here: 1.5 Volt Tracking Transmitter
It uses an obsolete LM3909 iC that you won't find anywhere.
Its range is 30 feet but its frequency changes all over the place if anything moves toward its antenna or moves away.

You need a huge directional antenna on a very sensitive FM radio to track it.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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Uncle $crooge

 

Anything wrong with a leash?

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Bill
Smart Kits build Smart People
http://www.blueroomelectronics.com/

 

Yeah, that cheesy rating is why I am just thinking I can do it myself.

Part of the problem with owning a stubborn husky is that she wont come when I call her once she gets a scent in her nostrils....

That very cheap and simply project seems like what Im looking for, but im not sure it would be practical with a range of only 30 feet. I had planned on buying a scanner as a reciever instead of using a conventional FM radio....would that help?

 

Nope....except she has been known to slip out of her collar when she is out on the run, and she has also figured out how to open the patio door.....she is too smart for her own good.

 

You don't want to use that cheap circuit. You need a circuit that doesn't change its frequency all over the place. You also need a more powerful circuit.

But how are you going to track the direction of the radio transmitter? A directional antenna is huge unless it uses a micro-wave frequency.

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Uncle $crooge

 

I was gonna get one of those scanners from radio shack to track the frequency.....that would probably be better than useing a regular FM radio right?

 

The scanner won't tell you direction, a directional antenna will. What about an electronic leash? (You bury a wire in the yard perimeter)

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Bill
Smart Kits build Smart People
http://www.blueroomelectronics.com/

 

Havent known too many huskies have you?.....I could hit that dog with a tazer, and if she wants through she is going......

I had an electric fence when I bought my house....she just walked right through it on high....

I know that the scanner wont give me a direction like a pointer or anything, but I was thinking it would work like a homing beacon, where the closer to the transmitter the faster the beeping noise....

 

The oscillator in the transmitter makes the speed of the beeps. The distance of the receiver has nothing to do with it.

If you use FM then the loudness of the beeps is the same when the signal is extremely strong and when the signal is very weak. An FM radio with poor sensitivity might produce a difference in volume but will not be sensitive.

If you use AM then the automatic-gain-control in the radio makes the loudness of the beeps the same when the signal is extremely strong and when it is very weak.

EDIT: The very simple tracking transmitter does not transmit beeps. It simply turns itself on and off and the radio produces "inter-station hiss" when it is turned off so the hiss turns on and off.
if the radio has muting then there won't be any hiss.

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Uncle $crooge

 

How about one of these?

Zoombak GPS Dog Tracker, Pet Locator, Tracking System, Pet Safety

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Pay it forward.

 

If your dog gets lost, I wonder if a talking GPS receiver will guide her home: "Good dog, turn left at the net intersection in 500m."

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Uncle $crooge

 

The guy at my local radioshack suggested that, but the monthly fee on top of it costing like $150 kinda discouraged me...

I thought since i needed something like this it would be a good time to learn how to do stuff like this. When I was in highschool I took an electronics coarse and really liked it. Im not just doing this to fill the need, Id like to learn something new.

 

Here's another approach to the problem.

It you are not going to use a leash or fence her in there are automatic shockers used in Germany to train watch dogs used in military installations. The dogs move freely within their assigned area.

If they leave it they receive a gentle electric shock. After a very short time they have learned not to go beyond certain points.

The receiver is attached to the dog's collar and if it doesn't receive a carrier signal anymore it activates the HV circuit. (Reception range is adjustable from several meters to 1km.)

Boncuk

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