Okay, so folks have been asking about this little project I called the ‘bull tracker’. It wasn’t anything super fancy, just something I tinkered with.
Why I Even Bothered
Thing is, I’ve got a few bulls, not a massive herd or anything, but keeping tabs on them, especially the younger adventurous one, was getting to be a bit of a chore. Wasted a fair bit of time just wandering the fields looking, you know? I figured there had to be a simpler way, something cheap and cheerful just to give me a rough idea of where they were hanging out.
Getting Started – The Idea
I wasn’t looking to spend big bucks on proper GPS collars like the pros use. Nah, needed something basic. I remembered messing about with those little Bluetooth beacon things, BLE tags they call ’em, for another small project. They’re cheap as chips online. So, the idea popped into my head: could I use those little beacons to track my bulls around the main pasture and barn area?
What I Gathered Up:
- A handful of cheap BLE beacon tags.
- An old Android phone I wasn’t using anymore.
- Some sturdy zip ties and waterproof tape.
Putting it All Together
First job was getting those tags onto the bulls. I decided to attach them securely to their ear tags using the zip ties and then wrapped ’em good with waterproof tape. Wasn’t the easiest task, mind you, needed a bit of patience, especially with the grumpy old fella.
Next, I grabbed that old Android phone. I found a few free apps that could scan for Bluetooth devices and show their signal strength. Nothing complicated, just needed something that could spot the beacons I’d bought. I installed one that looked simple enough.
Then, I walked around the barn area with the phone running the scanner app. The idea was pretty simple: the closer I was to a bull with a tag, the stronger the signal should be on the phone. It wouldn’t give me a map pin location like GPS, but it could tell me if a bull was nearby or maybe further out in the field.
Testing and Seeing How it Went
I spent an afternoon just testing it out. Walked towards one bull, watched the signal strength go up on the phone app. Walked away, saw it go down. Simple stuff. I quickly figured out the limitations, though.
- The range wasn’t huge, maybe 30-50 yards depending on if there were walls or trees in the way.
- It only told me ‘near’ or ‘far’, not really direction.
- Sometimes other Bluetooth stuff interfered a bit.
But honestly? For what I needed, it was pretty darn useful. Instead of walking the whole field, I could just pull out the phone near the barn or the house, do a quick scan, and see if the beacons were popping up strongly. If they were, I knew the bulls were close by. If the signal was weak or non-existent, then I knew I’d have to go for a proper walk further out.
So, The ‘Bull Tracker’…?
Yeah, it works, mostly. It’s not perfect, not by a long shot. It doesn’t tell me exactly where they are, but it gives me a good enough clue about their general whereabouts near the main farm buildings. Saved me quite a few unnecessary walks out in the mud. It was a cheap little experiment, took an afternoon to set up, and does the basic job I wanted it to. Good enough for me.