All TrailMaster trail monitors come with a comprehensive instruction booklet explaining how to set up and maintain your trail monitor. But here are a few tips to help you avoid some of the pitfalls so you get better results straight away.

Think about the animals you want to trigger the monitor. If you have an active system then place the two parts at a height suitable for the type of animal you have in mind. If you want all animal activity to trigger it then you must place the units as low as possible so all movement along the path will break the beam regardless of the height of the animal. If you only want taller animals such as deer to trigger it then place the units at such a height that small animals will pass underneath it but that the main body part of the animal of interest will break the beam. Remember the system cannot distinguish two types of animal of the same size.

Remember that the infrared beam will be competing with the infrared light of the sun. So try not to place the receiver somewhere where it will be 'blinded' by the sun. This can be a particular problem at sunrise and sunset when the sun is closer to the horizon.

Make sure the trail monitors are attached to steady trees or posts. This is especially important for active systems. If the two units move at different rates in the wind the beam will be broken and an event will be triggered without any animal activity. This will fill up the monitors memory with lots of false readings and if there is a camera attached a lot of film could be wasted. Push trees first to make sure they will not move.

Take time to make sure that the two parts of active monitors are aligned properly as mis-alignment can cause false events to be triggered.

Do not visit the monitors too often as your smell could put the animals off and make them choose a different path.

Take a bit of time to consider what the animals likely actions will be within an area, especially if the activity is to be photographed. Position the camera in the best site for the type of activity you would like to photograph.

Set up equipment when you do not expect the animals to be around so you do not frighten them away.

If you have several monitors invest in a datalogger so all the events can be downloaded from the monitors in the field and stored in one unit for transferring to a computer.