Balto Beacon User Guide

Balto Beacon User Guide

This guide is for SAR team members and handlers using Balto Beacon in the field.

Overview

Balto Beacon connects to your Loko hardware and can show live positions of multiple dogs on a map, while also relaying those positions to your team's shared CalTopo map so incident command and other field teams can see them too.

Operational limitations: Balto Beacon is a supplemental tracking aid. It depends on GPS signal, LoRa radio range, and Bluetooth connectivity, all of which can be affected by terrain, weather, and battery state. It does not replace standard SAR communication, navigation, and safety protocols.

Before You Go

Hardware needed:

• 1× Loko Ground unit (carried by the handler or base team)
• 1× Loko Air unit per dog, mounted on the collar

Checklist:

1. Charge the Ground unit and all Air units fully before deployment.
2. Confirm each Air unit is powered and securely mounted on its dog's collar.
3. Power on the Ground unit.
4. Open Balto Beacon on your phone.
5. Confirm Bluetooth is enabled on your phone.

Pairing / Connecting to Hardware

Balto Beacon uses a remembered device system: once you've connected a Ground unit in the app, it will be automatically reconnect as long as the app is still running.

For a full first-time setup walkthrough (charging, collar mounting, pairing, naming trackers), see Balto Beacon Loko Hardware Setup. Quick version:

1. From the main screen, open the device scan/connect view.
2. Select your Ground unit from the list of nearby devices.
3. Confirm the connection. The unit will now appear as connected, and any Air units reporting through it will begin to populate on the map.

Note: If you're using a new or unrecognized Ground unit, you may need to confirm it once before it's added to your remembered device list.

Tracker Settings

In Balto Becaon, each tracker (dog/Air unit) can be given a custom name (e.g., the dog's name) so it's easy to identify on the map and in CalTopo. Tap a tracker's entry to rename it. If you have a CalTopo Connect Key configured in the CalTopo menu, what you need to use as Call Sign in a CalTopo Locator object will appear. You can use the little copy button to copy the name exactly rather than trying to type it in. The Upload checkbox determine whether this particular tracker's positions will be sent to CalTopo. The Record button allows you to see a trail on the map for where that tracker has been. Note: tracks aren't currently saved by the app.

Reading the Map Screen

The main map screen shows:

• Live position for each connected tracker, updated as fixes arrive.
• Track lines — a trail showing where each dog has been during the current session.
• Battery gauge — a fuel-gauge style indicator per tracker, showing estimated remaining charge.
• Compass heading — your current heading, shown relative to your position.
• Distance to tracker — live distance from your position to each connected dog.

Main map screen

Display Settings

The Display menu has some options for the map source, imperial or metric measurement units, and the compass bearing display. The compass bearing display allows you to figure out which way your dog is and how far away they are. Aim the top edge of phone in the general direction of the dog and turn your body until the compass line turns red. The distance will be displayed at the bottom of the screen.

CalTopo Integration

Balto Beacon automatically relays tracker positions to a CalTopo Shared Location map layer for Team Account users, so anyone with access to that map (incident command, other teams) can see live positions without needing Balto Beacon installed themselves. Your Team Account administrator can create an Access URL in the Trackable Devices page. The Connect Key presented there is what you can use in Balto Beacon.

Note: Receiving Beacon's position reports only requires a CalTopo Locator object on the target map — this works on any CalTopo account, including the free tier. A Team account is not required to receive tracker positions, though teams tracking many dogs regularly may still prefer Team-level device linking for convenience (see below).

How you set this up depends on whether or not you have a Team Account and want to use a Trackable Device that your administrator has set up. That Connect Key is what you would enter into Balto Beacon.

If you don't have a Team account or don't want to use a Trackable device, you can still get the tracker's position on to CalTopo. Enter something into the Connect key field. Valid characters are A-Z, a-z, 0-9 and the underscore. So, Joe_Mama_123 is valid. This name gets combined with the Tracker name and is what you use for the Call Sign when you set up the Locator in CalTopo.

Notes on CalTopo uploads:

• Uploads are movement-filtered — Beacon avoids filling CalTopo with redundant fixes when a tracker isn't moving.
• If your device loses cellular connectivity, Beacon buffers positions locally and backfills them to CalTopo automatically once connectivity returns. You will not lose track history due to a temporary outage.

Running in the Background

Balto Beacon is designed to keep tracking and relaying positions even when the app isn't in the foreground:

• iOS: Beacon continues receiving and relaying positions while running in the background.
• Android: Beacon runs as a foreground service so tracking continues while you use other apps.

Note: For best battery life on your phone, avoid force-closing the app during an assignment — this can interrupt tracking.

Battery Life Expectations

Based on field testing, Air unit battery life is approximately 3 hours 10 minutes to 3 hours 45 minutes at a 5-second fix interval. This currently falls short of a typical 4-hour SAR assignment — plan accordingly:

• Start assignments with fully charged Air units.
• Consider carrying a spare charged Air unit for long assignments.
• Battery life work is ongoing; check with your team lead for the latest guidance.
• Increase the interval from 5 seconds to something larger. The level of detail of the resulting GPS track is reduced when you do this.

GNSS Mode

Loko hardware supports a GNSS "fitness mode" that reduces position jitter for low-speed moving applications (i.e., a working dog). This generally results in smoother, more accurate tracks compared to "normal" mode.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
Ground unit won't connect	Bluetooth off, or unit out of range/not powered on	Enable Bluetooth; confirm unit is powered and nearby
Tracker missing from map	Air unit out of LoRa range, dead battery, or link dropout	Check unit battery; move closer to reduce range; gaps will typically resolve as connectivity returns
Track has gaps	Radio collisions/link dropouts (not a GPS failure)	No action needed — onboard logging on the hardware preserves the full track even if the live link drops
CalTopo not updating	Cellular outage on the phone running Beacon	Beacon will backfill automatically once connectivity returns
Short battery life on Air unit	Expected at current hardware generation (~3h10m–3h45m at 5s interval)	Plan for assignment length; carry spares for long assignments

Getting Help

Contact your team's Birchwood Limited point of contact for further support.