@j40gryphon@david.swann.new.zeal Hoping one of you or anyone else familiar with AT220’s might be able to tell me if I have this right!
Strike = number of times the trap was triggered e.g. went off due to sensor detection
Cycle = total number of times the trap went off -includes when it needs to do a few cycles when setting. (Would the trap going off from being bumped be logged as a strike, or go in this category?)
Possum = number of ‘large’ strikes
Firstly, do I have that right? If not please clarify!
And, are strike numbers a total, e.g. inclusive of the ‘possum’ category, or are they in fact separated out? Want to make sure we are recording the right data!
Funny… I’m just doing my AT220 analysis right now so am deep into it!
Strike - beam break triggers
Cycle - total including test strikes and yes, a bump strike would count here
Possum - number of large strikes (not fool proof… we have a tiny number of possum carcasses found without a ‘large’ strike)
Small - When I record ‘small’ predator triggers these are strikes minus large kills. So you do need to calculate this
Kia ora Tui. Yes you have the right idea, the trap tallies the activity like this,
Triggers - the number of times a pest has set the trap off
All Cycles - the number of times the trap has gone from a set to an unset position (this includes triggers and calibrations)
Possums - the number of times the trap has been triggered by a large pest.
Lets say the trap say 31 “Triggers”, 36 “All Cycles”, and 9 “Possums”. I would read this as 9 possums caught, 22 rats/mice/small pests (triggers minus possums), and the trap has done 5 calibrations at some point.
Just to follow up a little more on David’s response:
The ‘All cycles’ counter is incremented when the kill bar is raised to the set position and the ‘Cam’ switch engages. This will include all normal kill cycles, any automatic recalibration cycles, and any accidental slips or bumps that cause the kill bar to release and reset. Normally, you’d expect this number to be the same as ‘Triggers’ or maybe just a few more. If it’s a much higher number than your ‘Triggers’ then you might have a problem with one of the microswitches.
‘Triggers’ and ‘Possums’ are as David described.
By the way, you can test your Possum detector by pressing the ‘Detect’ button on the Trap page of the app. The X/Y/Z numbers will turn green and you can see them change if you tilt the trap. After the detection times out the app should report ‘Large’ or ‘Small’, depending on whether you moved the trap or not.
Thanks all, exactly what I wanted to know and then some - very helpful!!
@j40gryphon is there a manual or document somewhere that covers things like this with the app? The traps come with the fantastic detailed user manual, but it seems like the app is just left to be figured out. I’ll put all these lil details in a doc for my team, but if something already exists it saves me re-inventing the wheel!
Fair question. There’s no manual for the current app. But there’s a new app in development now that will run on both Android and iOS. That app will be an approved Google/Apple app and will be available in the relevant store. I would expect that a users’ forum will develop around the app and that most questions will get resolved there.
In the mean time, if you have any questions about the operation of the AT220 you can post them here and either I or someone from the factory will be happy to clarify things.
How long is the detection timeout? This could explain a confusing result I had with a trail cam recording at an AT220. The trap recorded 2 triggers, 1 possum but the camera clearly showed two rats killed on different nights, however one rat was pulled out of the trap by a cat. Neither rat was exceptionally large so could a cat pulling out a rat be recorded as a ‘possum’?
I can’t remember off the top of my head but the detection time would be on the order of 3-5 minutes. Yes. A cat trying to remove a rat during that period could easily move thetrap enough to set off the detector.
Interesting - what is the accelerometer actually detecting? It can’t be at the time of the strike because any trigger would set that off. Is it ‘twitiching’ of the dying possum? Or is it the rebound when the heavy item drops out. I guess the latter, so would it be possible to delay detecting until the motor starts to release the catch so that if a scavenger tugs on a rat before then it wont be counted as a ‘possum’. That might remove most of the false ‘possum’ detections.
At one site I’m working at there are lots of well-trained cats taking rats (got one but many more to go) but nothing that would remove a possum (except me) so seeing a possum or cat body is going to be my best indicator of those kills. At another site there are cats and pigs, and pigs will take a possum away, so only a trail cam is going be useful there.
I think everyone should be skeptical of the ‘possum’ strike counts on their AT220s. Great idea, but…
Thanks for that … I am keen to clear up the history on several of my older traps. I believe the firmware in them was not as advanced as now, and I have records showing hundreds of possums whereas catches were in the tens. Is it easy to “adjust” the historic catches? cheers, Tony
It’s sensing movement of the trap starting about 15 seconds after the kill bar closes. It cannot tell the difference between the possum moving and interference by a cat or pig. It will continue to sense movement for 5 minutes or until the movement ceases, whichever is greater.
I think we know what we need for now, thanks!