Thursday, February 05, 2004
Lost: one cat.....
Jake, our apricot Persian cat, went missing. A homely soul, he set off into the snow, and was gone for days. Phone calls, meeting the neighbours, putting the word out in the pub and via the schoolkids in the school, and the whole village was looking for him. 5:30 am trips round the garden looking for him, late nights spent tromping the local fields, and not a single sign. Then, three dyas later, at 6:30 am, there is his trademark strangled 'mow' sound, and he's at the foot of the bed asking for breakfast - and has been around the house ever since.
Why is this in this blog, apart from the fact that we all love a good story with a happy ending? Well, I got to thinking that surely in this hi-tech world of ours, it should be easy to make a small device that combines a GPS receiver, mobile phone chip, and small battery, that can be rung to be activated, and then sends out a location. Small enough to attach to a cat's collar, and quite cheap. If anyone knows of one, please let me know, as I suspect Jake has the wandering urge still residing in there somewhere.....
Update RF ID tags may provide the answer, am checking out both passive and semi-active solutions with a directional antenna reader. Could be a lifesaver app (not a killer one).
Jake, our apricot Persian cat, went missing. A homely soul, he set off into the snow, and was gone for days. Phone calls, meeting the neighbours, putting the word out in the pub and via the schoolkids in the school, and the whole village was looking for him. 5:30 am trips round the garden looking for him, late nights spent tromping the local fields, and not a single sign. Then, three dyas later, at 6:30 am, there is his trademark strangled 'mow' sound, and he's at the foot of the bed asking for breakfast - and has been around the house ever since.
Why is this in this blog, apart from the fact that we all love a good story with a happy ending? Well, I got to thinking that surely in this hi-tech world of ours, it should be easy to make a small device that combines a GPS receiver, mobile phone chip, and small battery, that can be rung to be activated, and then sends out a location. Small enough to attach to a cat's collar, and quite cheap. If anyone knows of one, please let me know, as I suspect Jake has the wandering urge still residing in there somewhere.....
Update RF ID tags may provide the answer, am checking out both passive and semi-active solutions with a directional antenna reader. Could be a lifesaver app (not a killer one).
(c) 2003-2005 Russell Beale
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