Abstract:
Wildlife biologists often use collars with VHF transmitters to gather wildlife data. The
purpose of this project is to determine the best approach to designing a wildlife tracking
VHF transmitter on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). A variety of frequency generation
methods were considered for the transmitter, including transistor-based crystal oscillators
and chip based solutions from the chip manufacturers Analog Devices and Silicon Labs.
Prototypes of the feasible options were built and evaluated for cost, power consumption,
e ciency, size, frequency range, signal bandwidth, and frequency stability. It was found
that the Silicon Labs Si4010 chip was the best solution based on these criteria; the design
allowed for exibility in output frequency and power, a low BOM cost, and very low power
consumption.
