How to track a cat?

Everyone Questions and Answers
1

Desired outcome: cat can be found when needed, or, better yet, tracked in real time, within ~300…400 m from the house.
Known solutions:

  1. 200 MHz active tag with directional receiver: Used Quick Track Telemetry Box - Native Dog Supply. Unfortunately, no longer available. Worked nicely, to ~250 m in typical suburban built-up area, but receiver was bulky, and the battery in the tag lasted less than 2 months.
  2. Modern UWB version: Tabcat Cat Tracker. Better Than GPS Trackers for Cats – Tabcat Tracker US. Nice and small, battery lasts for almost a year, but the range is <100 m - not enough.
  3. AirTag: at ~18 g, simply too heavy for a small cat - think about walking around with a pound around your neck. The 200 MHz tag was ~5 g, the UWB one is ~4 g.
  4. GPS trackers - even heavier, need service accounts.

So, any suggestions, or bright ideas?

2

This is one of those applications that really pushes you to the edge in terms of technology, it’s conceptually simple, but viciously unforgiving in reality.

You need the most advanced battery tech, RF, power management, miniaturization, packaging…

If you COULD design this, the market is so much bigger than cats.
I would never take anything like this on, very difficult.

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3

The 200 MHz Loc8or was, in fact, a pretty small business: when my tag finally died after almost 20 years of service, I went to the web site, found it almost unchanged, but with the notice that “the owner retired, and the business is winding down”. Their problem was high cost: the receiver was ~$250, and each tag ~$50, and that was 20 years ago. The potential market might be huge, but not at that price point.
Tabcat is ~$100 for the receiver and two tags, and that would be fine, if it really solved the problem.