SPOT Telemetry

Tracker-focused Telemetry Firmware

SPOT Receiver

SPOT is designed around the way trackers actually work in the field. It transforms an off-the-shelf radio into a handheld telemetry receiver with an interface and features focused on efficiency, convenience, and ease of use. The goal is simple: make a receiver that offers a premium experience without a premium price.

SPOT achieves this by running on commodity hardware and free software. It was designed in collaboration with working trackers and will continue to evolve with community input. A companion application, SPOT Editor, makes it easy to program wihtout resorting to on-device menus.

You'll find manuals and quick starts on the Documentation page. Here are quick links to the manuals:

SPOT Manual SPOT Editor Manual
Get Your Radio
Program It
Track
Fine Tune

Putting SPOT to Work

Overview

The SPOT ecosystem consists of a number of components:

  • The physical receiver
  • The software that runs on the physical receiver, called firmware. Our firmware is simply called SPOT.
  • The software that runs on your computer which allows you to program your receiver. Our programming app is called SPOT Editor.

In all likelihood, your organization or program has databases or spreadsheets with animal IDs, telemetry transmitters (tags), frequencies, grouping information, and more. This information can be useful in programming SPOT-based receivers.

A typical workflow is:

  • You enter information about your telemetry tags into SPOT Editor.
    • You can also create Lists that allow you to group tags.
    • Alternatively, your organization may provide a file with this information already organized for you.
  • You write all of this information to your receiver using a USB cable.
  • You take the receiver into the field for operation, where you can further adjust settings using the receiver menus and controls.

Those are the broad strokes, and you can learn more on the Documentation page with the quick start guides and manuals for SPOT and SPOT Editor.

Important Notice

Liability Disclaimer

SPOT firmware and SPOT Editor are provided as-is, without any guarantee that they will be error-free, uninterrupted, or suitable for every use case, device revision, operating system, or field condition.

By using this software, you accept responsibility for testing and verifying your receiver, programming data, and operating setup before relying on it in the field. We are not responsible for data loss, missed detections, incorrect programming, unexpected device behavior, or any direct or indirect damage resulting from the use of SPOT firmware or SPOT Editor.

Firmware installation, updates, and device programming always involve some level of risk. We are not responsible if a receiver becomes unusable, unstable, or inoperable during or after flashing, updating, configuration changes, or other use of the software or related tools.