Best Practices

Best practices for using Scout

Do not deploy Scout until you see some recent messages in the app.

Ideally deploy Scout with battery level greater than 70% (unless that's the only option)

Store unit with battery levels at roughly 70% to maintain good battery health

Give yourself 24 hrs to charge and test the unit before deployment

Store the buoy and beacon indoors on the boat or office to reduce damage from the elements

Turn the Scout on about once every month to check battery level and ensure everything is working as expected.

Use a 'Ross Clip' to attach the Scout buoy to the trailing line

Also called a 'galvanic release' these clips are designed to dissolve after 2 weeks in the ocean. This will allow the Scout to detach from the animal.

Actively manage the message interval to stretch out the number of days the beacon telemetry will last. The following would be an ideal scenario:

• Use default interval of 10 minutes for initial deployment and continue to use if teams are escorting and observing the whale

• Once the team departs leave the reporting interval at 10 minutes for the next 2 hours to get a sense of the effective transmission rate (see Telemetry Beacon page for details)

• After 2 hours set the reporting interval to 1 hour and let the beacon run overnight

• On day 2 of the case, decide whether to put the buoy to sleep and for how long (4, 12, 24 hours). This decision should include factors like weather, likelihood / availability of mobilizing a team, and beacon battery level.

• If the buoy has been put to sleep, upon waking reconsider sleep again and for how long

• Use the 1 hour interval for 'keeping tabs' on the case. This option uses a moderate amount of battery

Use message interval settings in the following way

interval	condition
3 minutes	For 'last mile' pursuit when teams are on the water and actively trying to relocate the whale. Keep in mind the every message uses battery so use this option only if the 10 minute option is not providing enough messages.
10 minutes	Default. Use on initial deployment for 2-3 hours. Use for active relocation efforts (teams on the water)
60 minutes