NOTE: THIS USER GUIDE ONLY APPLIES TO THE V3 NODE

For the CTT Node V2 please consult the appropriate user guide in the CTT User Guide Directory

1 Introduction

Congratulations on your purchase of the new CTT Node V3! The CTT Internet of Wildlife System, which the Node has been an integral part of since the beginning, has just gotten a whole lot more awesome with this new Node. We took your suggestions to heart in developing this new Node, which has a few very specific benefits and departures from the old model:

  1. Fully configurable through our robust CTT Mobile App
  2. Separate solar-rechargeable power supply to allow for flexible grid setup and ability to add alternate power sources in the future
  3. Fully accessible housing, for easy removal of the SD card and for inspection of the lEDs
  4. Dual-mode compatibility with both 434MHz and 2.4GHz tags

2 Unboxing your CTT Node V3

Inside your Node shipment you’ll find two main components (Figs. A & B), a box with the solar rechargeable battery pack, antennas, and mounting hardware, and the Node itself, in a latched case. Figure C shows the contents of one Node, laid out for identification.

Key for Figure C

  1. Barrel plug for connecting solar rechargeable power to barrel jack on Node V3 board.
  2. Solar-rechargeable battery pack with 2 meter long cable.
  3. CTT Node V3 mounted in a weatherproof latching case.
  4. Antennas. Left (longer) = 2.4GHz; right (shorter) = 434MHz
  5. Mounting hardware for attaching solar-rechargeable battery pack mount to top mounting plate.
    1. 3 Hex bolts (size 3)
    2. 3 lock washers
    3. 3 flat washers
    4. 3 nuts
  6. Cable gland bulkhead including internal grommet
  7. Bottom mounting plate
  8. Four screws for attaching mounting plates to back of Node case
  9. Top mounting plate
  10. Mount for solar-rechargeable battery pack

We have no doubt that you are excited to deploy your Nodes, so here’s a quick start guide to get you going in a few minutes.

2.1 Mount your node for deployment

Your Node comes with the hardware necessary to mount it to a piece of 3/4” conduit. Note other mounting hardware is absolutely possible so feel free to use whatever makes sense for your site.

You will also need:

  1. A philips-head screwdriver
  2. A size 3 Hex driver
  3. A crescent wrench
  4. Two (2) appropriately sized hose clamps for attaching your Node V3 to a mast (3/4” EMT conduit works well)
  5. Zip ties for securing loose cables from Solar-rechargeable power supply

2.2 Attach the antennas to the SMA ports on your Node

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT, BEFORE powering up your Nodes, you first attach antennas to the appropriate ports on the outside of the Node case. The 2.4GHz port is on the left, and the 434MHz port is on the right. If you are using the antennas shipped with your nodes, the longer one is the 2.4GHz antenna, and the shorter one is the 434MHz antenna.

2.3 Attach the mounting hardware to your Node

Consult the photos below for a visual description of how the hardware is connected. In short, use the four screws to attach the mounting plates to the back of the Node V3. The top plate also has three holes in a triangle pattern which can be used for mounting the solar-rechargeable power supply. You can also decide to mount the power supply elsewhere if that’s more convenient or better for recharging.

There are two rectangular cutouts on each of the mounting plates which can accommodate a hose clamp for wrapping and tightening around your mast material. Zip ties or other tools may be used as well.

2.4 Connect your power source to your Node

STOP!! Have you attached the antennas to the Node first? If not- DO SO before connecting power. Otherwise you may damage the 2.4GHz radio!

How to connect the Node V3 to the Solar-rechargeable power supply
How to connect the Node V3 to the Solar-rechargeable power supply

The power cable runs first through the cap of the cable gland, then the rubber grommet with the lip of the grommet facing toward the Node (see red arrow in the image below)

note that the grommet goes toward the Node, and flat end (see next pic) away from the Node
note that the grommet goes toward the Node, and flat end (see next pic) away from the Node
(flat) bottom of the grommet, which faces down into the bulkhead housing, and away from the Node
(flat) bottom of the grommet, which faces down into the bulkhead housing, and away from the Node

When you screw the cable gland cap onto the cable gland, it will compress the grommet and seal around the cable. Before tightening, make sure the power plug is pulled through the cable gland and into the case, and plugged into the 5v barrel jack on the Node board. Ensure a little bit of slack on the cable inside the case and then tighten down the cable gland cap until there is no movement in the cable when tugged lightly. This process both seals the entry from water, and helps reduce the chance of unintentionally pulling on the power cable and damaging the board.

We recommend the final tightening of the cap with a crescent wrench, but be careful not to overtighten and crush the cable!

Demonstrating how to tighten the Node V3 Bulkhead.
Demonstrating how to tighten the Node V3 Bulkhead.

Once the cap is tightened, you should see the grommet compressed around the cable.

showing a tight bulkhead, with internal grommet compressed around cable.
showing a tight bulkhead, with internal grommet compressed around cable.
photo showing the back of the Node as mounted on EMT conduit
photo showing the back of the Node as mounted on EMT conduit
showing the mounting hardware holding the solar rechargable power supply above the Node V3
showing the mounting hardware holding the solar rechargable power supply above the Node V3
photo showing the bottom bracket of the Node as mounted on EMT conduit
photo showing the bottom bracket of the Node as mounted on EMT conduit
Mounted Node V3 with door open
Mounted Node V3 with door open
photo showing the back of the solar-recharging power supply and status lights
photo showing the back of the solar-recharging power supply and status lights

2.5 Solar Pack LED Status Lights (on back of solar rechargeable battery supply)

  • Top Yellow LED: Power Output
    • ON: Output Voltage
    • OFF: No Output Voltage
  • Middle Green LED: Charge Indicator
    • Blinking (1x per second): Charging (battery voltage between 2.8-4.0V)
    • Fast Blinking (2x per second): Not Charging
    • Slow Blink (1x every 2 seconds): Charging, but battery voltage below 2.8V
    • Solid ON: Battery more than 90% charged
  • Bottom Red LED
    • ON: Normal battery voltage (above 2V)
    • OFF: Battery is below normal voltage or otherwise in an abnormal state
Mounted Node V3 with door closed
Mounted Node V3 with door closed

2.6 Distance between Nodes and SensorStation

We recommend that all Nodes are placed within 1km of a SensorStation to ensure that all data is effectively transferred from the Nodes to the SensorStation. This assumes good line-of-sight between the Nodes and the SensorStation, so every installation must consider topography, vegetation, or height of Nodes and/or SensorStation antennas when estimating detection distance. Some trial and error should be expected when setting up your Node grid.

2.7 Distance between Nodes

Nodes can be used for various reasons to answer a number of questions. This section assumes that Nodes are being used for localization, or estimating a location within a Node grid from multiple simultaneous Node detections. In this case it’s important to understand the relationship between distance and signal strength between your tags and your grid of nodes. This can be accomplished using one of your tags and a CTT Sidekick. This is covered in the Sidekick User Guide, but assuming you have a good handle on at what distance signal strength becomes uninformative, with regards to distance, you will want to ensure that your node spacing is less than this distance. In several empirical cases we have found that distance to be ~150m, so spacing nodes every 100m or less is good for a number of bird species. For species that spend their life on the ground (turtles, etc.) this distance may be closer to 50m, but ultimately will require some test data collection.

3 Node V3 Data Collection and Transmission

The Node V3 is capable of simultaneously collecting 434 MHz and 2.4GHz tag detections, making it compatible with all radio tags manufactured by CTT. The device also collects supplemental information that can be used for monitoring its health and location. The theory of operation is to capture incoming tag beeps and health, save them to the on-board SD card, then relay them to any nearby SensorStations. Below is list of the tasks performed by the node under the standard configuration and adequate power levels:

3.1 Detecting your Node with your SensorStation

3.1.1 Pre-requisites

  • CTT SensorStation V2 or V3
  • Latest Disk Image: (2024-07-16)
  • Radios running firmware version 4.0.0 or later

3.1.1.1 Check your Disk Image Version

If you received your SensorStation after August 1, 2024, you most likely have the latest disk image and are fully compatible with the new CTT Node V3. To confirm this, connect a computer to your SensorStation via WiFi or Ethernet see directions here and navigate to the SensorStation Overview.

If your station indicates you are running the Disk Image from July 2024, then you have the correct one. If not, you’ll need to flash your Raspberry Pi with the newest Disk Image per the instructions here.

3.1.2 Check your Radio Version and Updating if Necessary

The Radio version is displayed over each radio in the SensorStation Overview. You need to be running v4.0.0 or later to detect CTT Node V3.

If you are running the correct Disk Image, but not the correct Radio Firmware, you can update it from the LCD menu on your SensorStation, or from the Update Radio Firmware button on the SensorStation Overview page (image below).

3.2 Node V3 SD Card Storage

Your CTT Node V3 has a 16GB SD card pre-installed for backup storage, as well as for manual data collection and management. As you saw from photos in Section 2, its now much easier to service the SD card on Node V3 compared to the previous version. We do not recommend Hot swapping the card. It is encouraged to power down the device before inserting/removing the card.

3.2.1 Removing the SD card

The SD card holder is spring-locked, so to remove the card first push down on the card and you should feel it disengage when released. Now the card can be safely removed. To re-install the card make sure the push down to engage the spring lock, and when you release it you should feel it locked into place. DO NOT FORCE THE CARD OUT OF OR INTO THE SLOT, doing so will void the warranty.

If you replace the SD card with your own, prior to inserting a new SD card into a node, please ensure it has been formatted as FAT32. We strongly recommend the use of 16GB SD cards. While much larger cards are available, the underlying filesystem may be incompatible with them. Please try all new cards prior to using them in field-deployed nodes. Each time a card is inserted, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you pair to the node with CTT Mobile and verify the device is communicating with the SD card.

When properly set up, your Nodes will collect and send their data to a nearby SensorStation, not requiring you to access the SD card internal to each Node. There are reasons why we recommends periodically servicing the nodes SD card:

  • At times with a lot of tags beeping, its possible for the SensorStation to be temporarily overwhelmed with detections being uplinked from nodes. As a result, some detections fail to be recorded by the SensorStation. Think of this as the following analogy: Multiple people are talking to you at once, and you are required to write down everything they say. This is doable when the number of people is small, but becomes increasingly difficult to not miss things as the number of people increase. All of the detections are backed up to the SD card so you can retrieve the ones not captured by the SensorStation.
  • There are some less-critical health fields present on the SD card that aren’t sent to the SensorStation. In the event of a malfunctioning node, it may be useful to look at these logs.
  • BluSeries tags transmit sensor data in addition to their id with each beep. Unfortunately, the decision was made to not uplink this data directly to the SensorStation because the increased data volume can increase airway congestion between the Node and SensorStation.

The following features are available through the SD card.

  • Config Storage
  • Detection Logging
  • Health Reporting
  • Location Logging
  • Error & System Logging

3.2.2 File Naming Convention

Detections are stored as .csv format. In this protocol, the first row contains a list of comma-separated keys called headers. These headers are the names for each column. Each subsequent row contains the corresponding comma-separated data.

3.2.2.1 434MHz

Detections from the 434MHz receiver will be saved in on the SD card with the following format:

434_mhz_beep_n.csv (Wherenis an integer that gets incremented every time the previous file exceeds 25 MB)

The following CTT products apply to the 434MHz category:

  • HybridTag
  • PowerTag
  • LifeTag
Headers Units Example Description
time ISO 8601 2022-04-14T21:25:22Z Time of detection [UTC]
tag_id Alphanumeric 3319332D Factory programmed identifier. Traditionally an 8-character id, however some ids contain an additional layer of verification which makes them 10 characters.
rssi dBm -79 RSSI is an indication of the power level being received by the receiving radio after the antenna and possible cable loss. Therefore, the greater the RSSI value, the stronger the signal. Thus, when an RSSI value is represented in a negative form (e.g. −100), the closer the value is to 0, the stronger the received signal has been.

Approximately 27 million records of type 434MHz can be saved per 1 Gigabyte of SD card storage.

3.2.2.2 BlūSeries Tags (2.4GHz)

Detections from the 2.4GHz receiver will be saved in on the SD card with the following format:

2p4_ghz_beep_n.csv (Wherenis an integer that gets incremented every time the previous file exceeds 25 MB)

The following CTT products apply to the 2.4GHz category:

  • BlūBat
  • BlūMorpho
Headers Units Example Description
time ISO 8601 2022-04-14T21:25:22Z Time of detection [UTC]
tag_id Alphanumeric 49 Factory programmed identifier. The id will always be an 8-digits alphanumeric number with a code set size of 4 Billion.
sync Alphanumeric 4B1A Pseudo-random number generated each time the tag transmits. This allows multiple receivers to differentiate detections with a method other than synchronized timestamps (useful when time drift in the receiver becomes non-negligible). Note: This sync word should only be used to compare detections within smaller time windows (a few minutes) as the chance of repeated values increases with time.
family Number 0 BlūMorpho = 0
BlūBat = 1
payload_version Number 0 Identifier for how to parse the tag payload (See next field).
payload Alphanumeric 8C08D009 The tag payload contains sensor measurements recorded at the time of transmission. These measurements are encoded as hexadecimal strings and are decoded based on the payload version.
rssi dBm -79 RSSI is an indication of the power level being received by the receiving radio after the antenna and possible cable loss. Therefore, the greater the RSSI value, the stronger the signal. Thus, when an RSSI value is represented in a negative form (e.g. −100), the closer the value is to 0, the stronger the received signal has been.

Approximately 19 million records of type 2.4GHz can be saved per 1 Gigabyte of SD card storage.

3.2.2.3 GPS Location

gps_n.csv (Wherenis an integer that gets incremented every time the previous file exceeds 25 MB)

Headers Units Example Description
time ISO 8601 2022-04-14T21:25:22Z Time of location [UTC]
latitude Decimal Degrees 38.296078 The north–south position of a location on the surface of the Earth
longitude Decimal Degrees -104.356331 The east-west position of a location on the surface of the Earth
altitude Meters (Above Mean Sea Level) 1428
hdop 0.68 Dilution of precision
vdop 1.36 Dilution of precision
pdop 1.31 Dilution of precision
on_time Seconds 90 Time the receiver was in the on state.

3.2.2.4 Health

health_n.csv (Wherenis an integer that gets incremented every time the previous file exceeds 25 MB)

Headers Units Example Description
time ISO 8601 2022-04-14T21:25:22Z Time of health snapshot [UTC]
up_time milli-seconds Time (ms) since the device booted/restarted.
power_ok 1 (Power is Ok) 0 (Power Not Ok) Indicator of the power supply’s status. When the power supply is not ok, the device’s internal scheduling system stops performing certain tasks.
batt_mv milli-volts Voltage of the battery (or power supply).
temp_battery_c celsius
charge_mv milli-volts Average charger voltage since last health message. (Voltage sampled every 60 seconds)
charge_ma milli-amps Average charger current since last health message. (Voltage sampled every 60 seconds)
charge_temp_c celsius
node_temp_c celsius
energy_used_mah milli-amp-hours
sd_free %
sub_ghz_det

3.2.2.5 Syslog

log.nnnn (Wherenis an integer that gets incremented every time the previous file exceeds 25 MB)

The device writes system logs to the SD card for troubleshooting and diagnostics reasons.

4 Using the CTT Mobile App to interact with your Node V3

If you are used to the Node V2, then you may have used Node Client to communicate with your Nodes. This is no longer needed with the Node V3 as the new Nodes can pair directly with the CTT Mobile App and changes to the Node are made directly through pairing with the app.

4.1 Download and install the CTT Mobile App

You can find links to both the iOS and Android versions of the CTT Mobile App on our main user guide page here, or by searching for CTT Mobile in the respective App stores.

4.2 Pairing to your Node V3

To pair with your node, open the CTT Mobile App on your mobile phone and click the Connect Device button. This will open up the Available Device page. From here, click the Start Scan button. This will then display any and all Nodes within your phone’s detection range. If you have more than one Node, a good way to determine which one is closest to you is to use the RSSI value. Choose the Node you wish to pair with by clicking the Connect button. You will get a Pairing Complete! message when you have successfully paired with the Node. From here, click the Go button.

You now should be on the Details screen. At the bottom of the page is a menu with up to five buttons, the active page’s button is in blue.

  • Details - provides an overview of Node Status, Solar Charging Status (only valid when attached to the Solar-rechargeable Power Supply), and Current Config

  • Map - Displays a map showing your location relative to all Nodes currently being detected, which have valid GPS fixes. Nodes without GPS fixes will not be displayed on the map.

  • Listen - This page is where you can toggle on and off viewing tag detections on both 2.4GHz and 434MHz frequencies, via the app. Note that the Node is always listening (or is listening on a pre-determined schedule, if you have modified the configuration), so toggling on and off these buttons only toggles whether or not the App is displaying detections on your phone.

  • Config - This page allows you to modify the Node config file and upload it to the Node you are paired to in real-time.

Config parameters include:

  • Enable/Disable LEDs : Default = ON
  • Adjust the Health Packet interval (min): Default = 15 min
  • Uplink Tx Power (Low/Med/High): Default = Low Note this is the power used for the Node to send data to the SensorStation and therefore only affects transmission from the Node to the SensorStation
  • 434MHz Scan Hours (0-24): Default is ALL. Note that all times are in UTC.
  • 2.4GHz Scan Hours (0-25): Default is ALL. Note that all times are in UTC.

!!ALERT!! If you shut off all 2.4GHz hours and then unpair with the Node, you will not be able to pair with it again, since you have told the Node to turn off the 2.4GHz radio indefinitely. Also, if you do set a schedule for 2.4GHz listening, you can only pair with your device during those hours when it is listening. For instance, if you are studying Monarch butterflies using the BlūMorpho tags, and only have the Nodes listening during the daylight hours, you will only be able to pair to your Nodes with the CTT Mobile App during those daylight hours.

Once you have set up the config as you like, click the Submit button to push it to the Node. Leaving the page by clicking one of the other page buttons, and then returning to the Config page, will allow you to confirm the config has been updated. If you are working on a config and change something you don’t want to change, simply click Reset. If

  • Dev (this may not be available) - The Developer page has three buttons at the top:

  • Command - allows the user to submit various commands to the Node, and provides feedback from the node via the output window.

  • FW Update - allows the user to upload a new Firmware file.

  • Clear - clears the output console.

Clicking on the Command button will bring up a list of commands you can issue to the Node

4.3 Node Firmware

The current Node Firmware as of this writing is v0.6.0-beta.

4.4 Updating your Node firmware

If you need to update your Node firmware, you can use the following steps.

Ensure you have the current Node firmware file. If you don’t, you can find it in our User Guide directory.

  1. Download (or update to) the latest version of CTT Mobile from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store (links in our User Guide directory).
    1. You will need version 4.3.3 or greater to perform this update.
    2. You can verify your version by clicking on the info button in the upper right corner of the home screen.
  2. Press the “Connect Device” Launch Tile

  1. Start scan for available devices
  2. look for CTT-NODE-XXXXXXXX (where XXXXXXXX is the Node ID #)
  3. Tap “Connect” next to the node you wish to pair with
  4. Tap “Go” when pairing is complete

  1. From the Node home screen use the bottom navigator bar to open the “DEV” view
  2. Tap the “FW Update” button at the top of the terminal

  1. Tap the “Upload Firmware File” button and navigate to the location on your phone where you saved the provided firmware file. The file will be named: node3_5_1-beta.bin or something similar.

  1. Wait for the upload to complete… This should take about 60-90 seconds to complete

  1. Once the upload is complete you’ll see a Pending Firmware tile with a “Verify” button. Tap the “Verify” button.

  2. Once the file is verified you’ll have the option to install it. Tap the “Install” button.

  1. After sending the install command, the Node will disconnect from the app while it installs the new firmware and reboots. You will be taken back to the Home Screen.

  2. Wait until you see the LED lights on your Node to come back on, indicating the installation is complete, and pair with the Node again.

This will take about 2 minutes.

  1. Following the same steps as before to navigate to the Firmware Update screen.

  2. Your screen should look like the one below.

Note the firmware version in the images shown may not reflect the most current firmware at the time of your deployment, so use the image firmwares simply as reference to show how to read the info, and use the latest firmware files available from our support site when updating your Nodes.

Congratulations!!! Your Node V3 firmware has been updated! If you have any questions or issues during this process, please reach out to CTT Customer Support for assistance.

5 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, 2024.