Cellular Tracking Technologies CTT Locator User manual

CTT Locator User Manual
[e-mail]
9/23/2021
Contents
The CTT Locator 1
Getting Started 1
IntheBox.................................................. 1
Youwillneed................................................ 1
Prior to Assembly and Use 1
Tips Regarding CTT Locator’s Battery 2
Assembly Instructions 2
Locator Buttons and Indications 3
Powering on the Locator 3
Parts of the CTT Locator 3
Screen Overview 5
Home View 6
Tag View 6
Identify View 8
Favorite View 8
Search View 8
Download View 8
Settings View 10
Importance of Shutdown 12
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Localization Tips 12
Release Notes 12
Version 3.1.2 – Current release (9/22/2021) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Version3.1– ................................................ 13
Version3.0.1 ................................................ 13
Version3.0 ................................................. 14
Troubleshooting Guide 14
Final Thoughts 16
The CTT Locator
The CTT Locator is a portal device that can receive a variety of wildlife tag signals. It is compatible with
the entire radio tag line, including ES200 devices.
Getting Started
In the Box
•Yagi Antenna
•BNC to SMA coaxial adapter
•SMA coaxial cable
•CTT Locator with integrated Lithium Polymer battery and USB charger port
You will need
•Any smart device with a web browser (Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome recommended) and WiFi
capability (Android, iPhone, iPad, Laptop, etc)
•USB AC adapter or laptop to charge your CTT Locator
•Micro USB cable (Commonly called an Android charger cable)
Prior to Assembly and Use
Connect a Micro USB cable to the USB port on the CTT Locator. The USB port is located at the side
of the device next to the power switch. This will start the charging process and top off the battery. The
battery is fully charged when the red indicator light goes out and the blue light comes on. This can take
several hours.
Tips Regarding CTT Locator’s Battery
The locator features a lithium battery and does not have any memory effects. You can fully discharge the
locator, charge the locator partially, keep it always connected to a charger, or even make use of an external
battery pack (such as the type that charge cell phones).
That being said, it is important not to leave the CTT Locator’s power switch on with a completely dead
battery for long periods of time. This will eventually damage the battery and shorten its operating life.
Charging will be fastest when the device is switched to the “Off” position. The device can be used in the
“On” position while connected to a charger, but it may take twice as long. If you wish to run the CTT
Locator for very long periods of time, it is okay to leave the unit on and connected to a charger. However,
you may notice the red and blue charge LED flicker when charging is complete.
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For safety during transport, the battery is at a half charged state. While you can use the CTT Locator
without fully charging the battery, you will not experience the full battery life until the unit is fully charged.
Assembly Instructions
Unpack the hand held yagi antenna from the packaging.
To assemble the antenna look at the diagram below. Pair the antenna sections by size, note that antenna
elements will become longer incrementally as they approach the handle and that the coaxial connection is
the second element from the handle. Screw them together like the diagram below.
Figure 1: Yagi Antenna
Unpack the BNC to SMA adapter and twist the adapter onto the antenna BNC connector.
Connect the SMA coax from the BNC to SMA adapter to the CTT Locator, making sure that all the
connections are hand tight. Do not overtighten using any tools, as this could damage the antenna connectors.
Unscrew the black hand nut and place the bolt through the hole next to the foam handle. Attach and tighten
the black hand nut. Please not not overtighten the nut.
You may also attach your phone to the built in phone clip. Note that while the phone clip is sturdy, it
may not properly hold your phone in all use cases. It is possible that some models of phones or operating
conditions may cause the phone to fall out of the clip. Your phone may also be damaged if you inadvertently
drop the locator antenna on the ground or in water. Use at your own risk.
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Figure 2: Locator Setup
Locator Buttons and Indications
Powering on the Locator
1. To power on the Locator, press the switch to on. A blue light will immediately shine, indicating the
Locator has power. After a short bootup sequence, the Locator will create a hotspot for your phone
to connect to. Due to technical limitations, Android phones will need to turn off Cellular
Data. This is not required on iPhone devices. In addition to phones, the Locator can be used
with laptops, tablets, and other modern devices.
When the blue light flashes, the Locator is in its final stages of booting. It will be ready in about 15 seconds
after this indication.
2. Connect to a WiFi network created by the Locator.
3. Enter this full url into the browser. Note that the https:// is important:
https://locator.click/
In a few moments, a webpage will load and show the main locator screen.
Parts of the CTT Locator
Indicator Light Meaning
Power and Low Battery Indicator Blue: The unit is turned onYellow
Flash: The unit has a low
batteryDark: Off, No power is
applied, dead battery, or when first
switched on
Tag Detection Indicator Red Flash: tag signal received and
detected
Charging Indicator Blue: Battery chargedRed: Battery
charging
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Figure 3: Locator Diagram
Port or Switch Usage
Power Switch Toggle switch to the left to
turn the unit on. Wait a
few seconds before usage.
USB Charging Port Connect micro-USB cord
to any computer USB port
or USB wall wart to
charge.
SMA Coax Connector Connect the supplied
coaxial cable to this port
and the antenna connector
on the back of the antenna.
You will need to make use
of the BNC to SMA
adapter on the antenna.
Button A and Button B For use with a future
version of software or when
instructed by CTT’s
support team. It is okay to
inadvertently press these
buttons.
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Screen Overview
When you load the Locator screen, an interface will appear. You can change the various modes of the locator
by clicking on the icons at the bottom.
First, we will go over the title bar:
The circle on the right will flash red when a tag is detected. A rotating circle animation indicates that the
locator is actively connected to the phone. The far right icon indicates battery life, and contains the voltage.
Approximately 4.10 volts is a full battery, 3.7 volts is half full, and 3.4 volts is empty. This will also be
indicated by the battery slowly reducing, similar to your smart phone.
Next we will go over the icons at the bottom:
•The Home icon shows all detected tags in a list, which is the default view when you first connect to the
device. For more details, see the Home View section.
•The Identify icon helps you identify unknown tags or verify a tag’s ID when it is in close range. For
more details, see the Identify View section.
•The Favorites icon is a place where you can see the tags you have specified as favorites. This is useful
when a lot of other tags are nearby and you wish to focus on a specific tag. For more details, see the
Favorites View section.
•The Search icon is where you can search for tags within all of the tags recently detected during your
session. For more details, see the Search View section.
•The Download icon allows you to download all collected tag data as well as ES200 data. For more
details, see the Download View section.
•The Settings icon allows you to control various locator settings and options. For more details, see
the Settings View section.
The signal strength next to the tag ID is measured in decibel milliwatts or dBm. This will always be
a negative number, with -40 dBm being very strong (and within a few feet), while -115 to -120 dBm is
typically the weakest signal possible to receive. This would indicate a signal coming from very far away or
propagating through difficult RF conditions, such as heavy foliage.
Note: You can enable the tag “ping” sound on mobile devices by touching any part of the display, such as
the top bar. Otherwise, it will be silent.
Home View
The home view shows all nearby tags. If a tag is first seen, it will show up as red, to indicate a new tag has
been detected. If the tag is seen again, it will turn black. Each time the tag is detected, the text will briefly
flash yellow to indicate it has been updated.
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Figure 4: Home View
Figure 5: Locator Main View
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Tag View
The tag view provides a signal strength indicator to help you localize a tag. As the tag signal gets stronger,
more bars appear. the negative number under the signal bars is the signal strength in dBm, or decibel
milliwatts. The lower the number, the weaker the signal.
Figure 6: Tag View
A large circle is at the top of the Tag View. This flashes when the tag is received. Under this is the last
time the tag was seen.
Touching or clicking the X in the top right corner closes tha tag view.
You can add a tag to your favorites list by tapping the “Favorite” button. Tapping this again removes the
tag from your favorites.
Identify View
In the Identify view, tags will appear if they have signals stronger than -30 dBm. This would be a tag in
very close proximity to the locator.
Favorite View
Any tags that are selected as favorites will enter the Favorite view. You can click on any tag here to see
the Tag View of any tag in this list, just as you would in the main view.
Search View
The Search view lets you type in a tag ID, which is then searched against tags detected during that session.
Note that the history of tags clears each time you open or reload the locator interface. It will not search
against any tag ever detected with the locator.
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Figure 7: Identify View
Figure 8: Favorite View
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Figure 9: Search View
Download View
The Download view is where you can download both ES200 and Tag Data. Clicking on these will initiate a
download to your device.
Figure 10: Download View
Settings View
The Sound options allow you to enable or disable the ping sound. Signal based volume will slightly adjust
sound levels to indicate signal strength (not all phones support this feature).
WiFi network settings allow you to configure a local WiFi network. This is useful for software upgrades
as well as accessing the locator while it is connected to a local WiFi network, such as an information TV
display.
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WiFi Access Point mode, switching to off, will disable the hotspot functionality and allow it to connect to
a local network. This is not required for software updates.
The locator will then respond to https://locator.local/
Figure 11: Settings View
Storage indicates space left on the locator. Note that the operating system and locator software do take a
majority of the space on the device, which is normal. There is enough space for several million tag reads.
The record count and space used is updated about every 15-30 seconds.
Clicking delete logs clears out the system logs. While clicking delete tag and ES200 data will permanently
delete tag logs.
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The clock is the current seconds from 1970, also known as the epoch time. You will want to make sure
these are about the same. If they differ, click “sync clocks”. Due to the nature of how time is indicated from
your phone, a difference of 1 second is normal, as the actual time is rounded.
About will tell you information about your locator, such as version. Help is where future help and videos
will be stored on the locator.
Software update updates the locator to a new version of software. Note it is not advised to do this unless
instructed by Cellular Tracking Technologies.
Diagnostics will provide technical hardware information that is sometimes useful for technical support.
Importance of Shutdown
When you are finished using your locator, it is important to click shutdown. This shuts down the locator
gracefully and avoids data loss of the most recently detected tags. While switching off the Locator will not
damage the unit, it is alwas best to use this when possible before switching the Locator off.
When the lights turn off, your locator is now safe to be turned off.
Localization Tips
Before going out in the field, it helps to practice localizing a tag. Here are a few tips in finding a tag:
•Hold the antenna away from your body and from obstructions. Since most wildlife tags are horizontally
polarized, make sure the elements on the yagi are horizontal.
•Hold the yagi parallel to the ground, even with tags in flight.
•For some reptile and mammal tags, the antenna is pointing upward. Likewise, you may want to try to
hold the yagi in a vertical position to see if signal improves.
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•On your first reading with a steady signal, rotate slowly to identify the initial bearing of the tag. You
may want to make two full rotations to verify direction. Once you master this technique, you can scan
side-to-side for faster localization.
•Note the direction on a compass and map, while noting the time. Although the magnetometer will
log the data, it is sometimes helpful to collect data separately.
•Move in the direction of the tag and rotate the antenna left and right to keep on track.
•You may want to surround the potential tag location by taking additional samples.
•Keep a look out for reflections and multipath! Much like visible light, signals can bounce off bodies of
water, buildings, and other smooth surfaces.
Release Notes
Version 3.1.2 – Current release (9/22/2021)
New Features
•Checkbox shown next to verified tags (CRC tags)
•Configurable sounds, settings saved to each user
•New software update tool
•Can use multiple WiFi networks at the same time
Fixes/Improvements
•Fixed HTTP to HTTPS redirect
•Improved UI handling in settings menu
•Fixed bug scanning WiFi networks under certain circumstances
•(Hopefully) fixed websocket bug where only one beep was sent before the beep emitter failed, improving
stability
•Switched to new CRC library
•System auto-configure scripts now appearing in rc.local to aide in build process
Known Issues
•WiFi can become a little slow if AP channel does not match locator channel (this is handled after
reboot, but multi AP networks can still be problematic)
•iPhone complains about WiFi network not having internet access sometimes
•WiFi config has to be “reset” in order to get unique SSID
Version 3.1 –
New Features
•GPS positioning now back in tag log (will use most recent GPS from any user if multiple users con-
nected)
•Ability to download GPS position log
•GPS log supports multiple users, each track from unique ID
•Each user has a unique ID that is available under “about”
Fixes/Improvements
•Operating system upgraded to latest release
•Locator software now running as service
•Refreshed SSL certificates
•Migrated to new hotspot software
•Removed operating system disk usage from disk space free graph
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•Removed log file start header
Version 3.0.1
New Features
•Locator power light now appears immediately when Locator is switched on
•Power switch off feature for safer handling of SD card
Fixes/Improvements
•Software version correction (properly displays 3.0.1)
•WiFi now running as a service, preventing AP startup failures
•Removed errant Raspberry Pi Desktop from spawning
•Shutting down WiFi stops dnsmasq and hostapd services
•Faster boot times
Known Issues
•Sometimes clicking tag from “favorites” does not update the tag id in the modal
•On rare occasion, a favorite does not stay persistent
•On rare occasion, websocket stays connected, but tag emitter seems to fail
•Tag ID signal threshold fixed to -39 dBm or stronger
•ES200 data stored in raw form (no local decoding)
•I2C scan doesn’t fit on some smaller displays
•LED testing function not included
•Browser based heading and accelerometer functions removed
•No help documents and videos created
•Scrolling lacks rubberbanding effect
•Attenuator removed due to javascript/css issue
Version 3.0
New Features
•100% new single page front end
•Websocket stability enhancements
•Device preferences specific to device (using localStorage)
•New “home”, “identification”, “favorites” and tag search functions
•Tags are counted on a per tag basis and total tags seen
•New reference tag diagnostics screen
•Queries radio firmware version (1.0.0 contains ES200/checksum tag support)
•WiFi Hotspot disable feature enters client mode
•Real time data collection statistics in settings screen
•Faster load times
•Websocket connection indicator
•Signal based volume
•Ping sound can be enabled/disabled
•Future help section
•New Ratchet framework
Known Issues
•Sometimes clicking tag from “favorites” does not update the tag id in the modal
•On rare occasion, a favorite does not stay persistent
•On rare occasion, websocket stays connected, but tag emitter seems to fail
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•Tag ID signal threshold fixed to -39 dBm or stronger
•Rose graph removed
•ES200 data stored in raw form (no local decoding)
•I2C scan doesn’t fit on some smaller displays
•LED testing function not included
•Browser based heading and accelerometer functions removed
•Software version misleadingly indicates 2.5
•Scrolling lacks rubberbanding effect
•Attenuator removed due to javascript/css issue
Troubleshooting Guide
Symptom Cause Solution
Unable to connect phone to base
station
Not waiting long enough
for initial boot Not
connected to WiFi
hotspot Battery is dead
Mobile data service not
disabled (Android Only)
Wait 2 minutes before trying to connect
Check WiFi settings for “Locator (serial
number)” connectivity Charge battery
Follow android phone instructions for
disabling data service
“Low Battery” sign appears or
yellow light flashes
Battery is close to being
dead, but you will still
have some time left.
Charge battery
Not detecting tags, some tags
missing
Antenna cable not
connectedAntenna cable
damagedTags not
transmitting
Connect AntennaReplace antenna
cableRead instructions for LifeTag and
PowerTag usage
Can’t access internet LifeTag base station’s
hotspot overrides phone
internet connection
Disconnect from WiFiAndroid users
should re-enable their mobile data
service
Expired Certificate Error The certificate on the
Locator must be updated
Follow the directions below
Directions for updating an expired certificate only if you are receiving an expired certificate
warning when attempting to connect your phone or device to the Locator.
Fix Date: March 11, 2022
Windows
Connect to your local internet
Open PowerShell
•Go to: command -> Run
•and type in: powershell
To download the update, type in:
wget http://ctt.works/update.txt -outfile update.txt
Now connect to the Locator WiFi
To copy over the update, type in:
scp update.txt [email protected]:/home/pi/locator.crt
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When prompted for a password, type in:
celltracktech1
(note that you will not see any text response when you type in a password)
Then, finally, send the locator the instructions to reboot and install the update:
ssh [email protected] “sudo reboot”
When prompted for the password, type in:
celltracktech1
Your locator now has received the new certificate update to operate again normally.
Mac OSX or Linux
Connect to your local internet
Open Terminal * On Mac OSX, click the search magnifying glass in the top right of the menu bar and type
in terminal
To download the update, type in:
curl http://ctt.works/update.txt >update.txt
To copy over the update, type in:
scp update.txt [email protected]:/home/pi/locator.crt
When prompted for a password, type in:
celltracktech1
(note that you will not see any text response when you type in a password)
Then, finally, send the locator the instructions to reboot and install the update:
ssh [email protected] “sudo reboot”
When prompted for the password, type in:
celltracktech1
Your locator now has received the new certificate update to operate normally.
Final Thoughts
This User Guide is a living document. Your experiences and input are greatly appreciated so please don’t
hesitate to reach out to us regarding what you’d like to see included here. You can submit your suggestions
and any errors to our Customer Service Desk here and we will work to incorporate them in future revisions.
All material ©Cellular Tracking Technologies, 2021.
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