Quick Start

Five steps from a fresh CollarID Mk II to a synced, deployable device. About 30 minutes total.

This is the abbreviated path. For the full reference — every LED state, every troubleshooting case — see the Device Manual.
1

Charge to full

Open the cover (six screws around the perimeter) and connect a USB-C cable to the port on the top edge of the front PCBA. The cover must come off — there is no pass-through.

  • Charge LED red = charging in progress
  • Charge LED green = battery full, ready to deploy
Photo: USB-C Connected
Cover off, USB-C cable plugged in, charge LED illuminated.
/media/manual/usbc_plugged_in.png
Full charging procedure →
2

Format the SD card as exFAT

Use a freshly formatted exFAT card. We recommend industrial-grade Kioxia cards — they handle power loss, sustained writes, and field temperatures better than consumer cards.

  • macOS: Disk Utility → Erase → Format: ExFAT
  • Windows: Right-click the drive → Format → File system: exFAT
Why card brand matters →
3

Power on, outdoors, with a clear sky

Insert the formatted SD card and slide the side power switch to ON (silkscreen-labelled). Bring the device outside before powering on so it can acquire its first GPS fix.

You should see this LED sequence on the paw print:

  • Boot animation (green pulse → soft white-cyan glow → off)
  • Steady green — SD card is being scanned
  • LED off briefly
  • Flashing blue — searching for GPS fix (up to 10 min)
Photo: Power Switch
Side switch with silkscreen ON/OFF labels and an arrow indicating the ON position.
/media/manual/power_switch.png
Full power-on procedure →
4

Configure a schedule via BLE

A freshly formatted SD card causes the device to enter BLE mode automatically (steady blue LED) once boot finishes. Connect from one of:

  • Web: CollarID.org → Configure (Chrome or Firefox only)
  • iOS: the CollarID app on the Apple App Store
  • Android: the CollarID app on Google Play

Edit your schedules (up to 5 windows), check the power-budget estimate, then disconnect. The schedule commits when the steady blue LED turns off ~10 seconds later.

Full schedule procedure →
5

Verify the GPS fix and close it up

Confirm the flashing-blue LED has turned off on its own — this means the device acquired a GPS fix and synced its clock. If the LED times out after 10 minutes, the device will run unsynced; bring it outside again and re-trigger BLE with a magnet to restart.

Replace the cover, hand-tighten the six screws in a star pattern (do not use an electric drill), and the device is ready to deploy. For long deployments, apply Loctite 242 or 243 (medium-strength blue threadlocker) to the first 2–3 threads of each screw before closing.

Photo: Star Tightening Pattern
Top-down view of the closed cover with arrows numbered 1→6 across the six screws.
/media/manual/star_pattern.png
Full long-term deployment prep →
You're done. Mount the collar with the solar cell facing up to maximise charging in the field. If you run into anything unexpected, the troubleshooting section in the full manual covers the common cases, or send a note via the Support page.