Four kilometres on one node and updates over the air

4 October 2026

The antenna comparisons paid off, and collars, nodes and the app now update from the phone. The first outside test group has started.

The season is on, and the month has been a full one. Four things.

The first group that knew nothing

Until now Lauma's testers have been ourselves: people who know why a button is where it is. Now the first outside group has started in Tervola with the whole package – collars, a coverage node, a cloud node, the app and the guides – with none of us standing next to them explaining. Feedback and pictures from there will come in over time, and more on that later.

Reach is now where it should be

Antennas have been compared all autumn on Laikku's neck, two collars at a time, and now we know which one carries furthest. The difference to the stock antenna is big exactly where it matters: far from the dog.

The weekend's longer hunting trip showed what that means. On flat ground the dog was heard by one coverage node from more than four kilometres away. The node hung about 15 metres up, and through that one node the dog was on the map for the whole trip. A personal node in the pocket would not have been needed.

The weekend's route on the map as the node heard it. The colour says how well the dog was heard: green strongly, red faintly – but heard.

The dog on the map with its track behind it – also when there is no internet.

Two different antenna designs going into the comparison.

Next we try an antenna that does not stick out at all but runs in the collar strap at the side of the dog's neck.

Updates over the air

Lauma is half hardware, half software, and the software now changes weekly. So updating had to be easy. Now it is: the Lauma app updates collars and nodes over Bluetooth, with no cable and no computer. The app says when a new version is available, and installing is one tap. Keep the phone next to the device for a few minutes, and then the collar or the node restarts and carries on where it left off. A node keeps its settings, and a node hanging in a tree does not have to come down. The app also updates itself the same way: it announces a new version and installs it.

So a collar or a node on an old version does not stay old. It gets the same fix as everyone else the next time a phone is next to it.

What next

The season moves fast, so that is the pace. The next outside group starts next week. The antenna comparisons go on, two collars on one neck, until the best solution is found and survives branches and rain too. And the app is moving from hand-installed builds to Google Play and the App Store, so it gets onto a phone the same way as any other app.