Testing SensorStation connectivity to Motus servers

[user975]

Hi everyone,

We’ve got a SensorStation which we want to prepare in a weatherproof box. All necessary components will be assembled inside this box a priori, such that it can be moved and installed elsewhere easily. The SS will have access to an ethernet connection to synchronise its data. Our setup is specifically meant to detect Lotek tags.

I’ve done a lot of testing with the SS before, for which I’ve always used a local tag database and looked at live tag detections to see whether a tag is being detected. However, I’ve never tested connectivity to the Motus server. This is where it gets a bit confusing for me, and I was wondering if people know the best way to verify if a SS is actually synching its data with the server.

To my understanding, a SS that is connected to the internet will automatically send any pulse detections to the CTT servers first. Then, since these are Lotek tag frequencies, the data is sent to the Motus server. It is compared to a list of all currently deployed tags. If a match is found, it will eventually show up on the server after some time.

The problem for me is what I ought to do when both my tag and my receiver are merely a test setup. So far, I’ve never activated the tags we have on the motus server - because they are tags used for testing purposes only, which were turned on and off depending on testing days. A tag that hasn’t been activated will, to my understanding, never show up as being detected. I could activate it online, sure, but it will still only be kept inside the office and only be used to verify the SS is picking up signal. On a similar note, I don’t want to make an actual Motus station out of the test setup and put that online, since it is not meant to be an operational station yet.

We have a Motus project associated with the tests we’ve been doing. Is there any way to activate our tags in the project, clearly indicate they’re used for testing only, then link our SS to that project, and see if tags detected actually show up there? Or, since the SSs are associated with CTT, look at their portal and see the detections actually showing up online? All I need is to know for sure that tag detections are being synched online.

I’m sorry if this is rather rambly. I’m very confused by how you’re actually supposed to verify that a test setup is synching properly before you deposit it in some dank corner of the world where you can’t practically reach to fix these sort of things.

[jsrs]

Hi Lynn,

These are good questions. The missing part is that both the SensorStation and tag need to be registered with Motus and have active deployment records. I’ll flesh that out a bit below…

@user975

To my understanding, a SS that is connected to the internet will automatically send any pulse detections to the CTT servers first. Then, since these are Lotek tag frequencies, the data is sent to the Motus server. It is compared to a list of all currently deployed tags. If a match is found, it will eventually show up on the server after some time.

That’s correct, and yes, the raw data is compared to a list of tags known to be deployed at the time the receiver’s data was processed. In other words, the tag deployment data needs to be entered before the receiver data is processed on the Motus end (and ideally entered 24 hours in advance of this).

If the tag you are testing is one of those that you have registered in your Project, you can add a new deployment that covers the testing period. Ideally, every time a tag is active and potentially detected by a station it should have an active deployment – even if it’s just a test (there is a check box for “test” deployments that you’ll see during this process). This can get onerous with lots of on/off testing, but this this is ideal way to manage it in a perfect world.

There is a lot more about tag deployments, managing metadata, and how this can affect detections at the link below.

Tag Management | Motus Docs

As for the station, the same general idea applies that it should be registered and have a deployment entered on Motus.org. Essentially, you’ll want to “register your receiver” by its serial number, “add a new station”, then create a new deployment for that station which will include the receiver, start time, any antennas, etc. Ideally any time the properties of the station change (new antennas, different bearing) and certainly if a receiver changes, a new deployment should be created. There is a way to mark a station as a “test” station, which should hide it from the maps. It’s not currently exposed, though; that will have to be done from the Motus end once the station has been created.

There is a lot more about station metadata management at the link below.

Station Management | Motus Docs

Hopefully that all makes sense! Once the additional pieces are in place, you’ll be able to view the status, including the detections, on Motus.org. Note that because the data transfer goes first to CTT then to Motus, there is often a delay of a few hours or more for this to show up (usually not more than 24). The CTT portal will show up more up-to-date status indicators.

[user975]

Thank you for the advice, Josh!

Following the steps you outlined, I think I’ve isolated a problem. I have the SS connected to my laptop via an ethernet cable, and my laptop is connected to a WiFi network. Going to Network -> IP Address gives me a valid IP address through which I can connect to the CTT Sensor Station Overview page. However, the SS seems to be only connected to my laptop, and not to the actual internet network. Using Network -> Ping gives me a Disconnected message, and when looking at the SS through the CTT portal, the last check-in was in April 2024. I’m not entirely sure why it is not connecting to the WiFi to which my laptop is connected. Perhaps it’s a firewall problem. I’ll look through the forum to see if anyone has run into similar problems. If I find a solution, I’ll post it here.

[user975]

Connecting the SS directly to a router via an ethernet cable lets it connect to the CTT portal with no issue - I can now see that the SS has checked in today, as opposed to April 2024. It also looks to be uploading data, so I’ll check the Motus portal tomorrow.

I still haven’t been able to get the SS to connect via my laptop’s wifi. The problem appears to be a classic “Windows moment”, where you have to change some setting and it refuses to work anyway. Supposedly you can change some Sharing settings under View Network Connections, but after a few hours of attempts I gave up trying to get it to connect via my laptop.

[user975]

Last week, I registered a tag as a test tag, and I also registered a station for testing purposes. I had a tag right next to an antenna connected to the SS, and I can see in the CTT portal that the SS has synchronised its data (I can even download the zipped files which contain the pulses). On the Motus website, the station also says that it received data last Friday.

However, I cannot find any actual tag detections, not even in the project for which the station is registered. Is this intended behaviour? Is there a way to verify that my test tag is being recognised from the pulses uploaded to the Motus database, or does that only work when a tag is actually registered as though it’s been attached to an animal?

Edit: it seems that the tag registered as a testing tag does actually show up in the station timelines on the project page.