We were recently donated Birdweather Pucs for monitoring birds on the reserve. These devices have worked exceptionally well as active sensors when placed in locations with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi connectivity and connected to a power source. However, I’ve encountered challenges using them as passive recording devices.
When attempting to use the Pucs to record birds during walks or leaving them at locations without connectivity, I’ve experienced issues such as:
- Instances where no recordings were made.
- The devices inexplicably powering off after a short duration, even with fully charged batteries.
Could someone please advise on the proper configuration and settings to use Birdweather Pucs effectively as passive recording devices? Any tips or troubleshooting suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
13 December 2024 2:58pm
A question for @timbirdweather, perhaps - founder of BirdWeather.
FWIW I've also had good experiences reaching out to him (and his team) via contact@birdweather.com, in case he's not frequenting the forums here.
It's probably not your issue, but I've noticed that the PUC prefers lithium batteries over NiMH - a combination of higher voltage and longer life. Unless the NiMH are fully charged it'll tend to turn off shortly after being powered on. And it doesn't last long on NiMH in any case.
I assume you've already set the PUC to 'Continuous' GPS mode when hiking with it? I'm not sure how necessary that is but conceivably if not in that mode and it detects a lot of movement it shuts itself off (it might assume it's in transport, not use).
13 December 2024 3:07pm
Checking the Birdweather FAQ, I guess you need to be more detailed on the setup description. For example, if you use a powerbank to power the PUC that is NOT ALWAYS-ON, it may swich-off after some time. So details of your setup may matter.
Caveat, I do not have a PUC, but tried to understand you problem.
Wade