What a Jikita is

A Jikita is a small radio tag you carry with you. It has its own battery, its own long-range radio, and no screen, no buttons to learn and nothing to charge every night.

Its job is to keep you findable when your phone cannot.

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File: img/myjikita/jikita-01-device.png Shows: A Jikita tag, with a scale reference and the serial number sticker visible.

The problem it solves

Everything myJikita does through your phone depends on your phone: on it having battery, on it being in one piece, and on it finding a mobile network.

All three fail, and they fail in exactly the circumstances where being found matters:

• The battery dies — faster in the cold than anyone expects.
• The phone is dropped, soaked or broken.
• There is no coverage, which is most of the interesting terrain.

A Jikita is a second, independent answer. It has a battery measured in months, it is small enough to leave permanently in a jacket, and it is heard by radio systems that have nothing to do with your mobile operator.

How it is heard

A Jikita speaks to two different kinds of listener, and it does so continuously, without being asked.

Bluetooth, at short range. Roughly once a second the tag broadcasts a short message — who it is, how it is, its battery level, and where it last knew itself to be. Any phone running myJikita within range hears that, including phones belonging to people you have never met. Those phones pass on what they heard the next time they have coverage. See How a Jikita is found.

Long-range radio, over kilometres. The tag also transmits on a long-range low-power network of the kind used for industrial sensors. A single receiving station can cover a large area of open terrain — which means a tag can report from places where there is no mobile coverage at all.

Neither of these needs your phone to be working.

What it broadcasts

Its identity	A unique number, printed on the device and shown in the app as Jikita- followed by its serial.
Its battery level	Including its own judgement that the battery has become critical, which is more reliable than a percentage.
Whether it is moving	A moving tag is on a person. A tag that has not moved for hours is a different situation.
Its last known position, and how old that position is	So a sighting can say where the tag believes it is, not merely that somebody heard it somewhere.
Its state, including distress	A tag in distress says so in the clear, in every broadcast — no pairing, no ownership and no permission needed to hear it.

That last one matters more than it looks. A tag asserting distress can be recognised by any phone running myJikita that comes within range, and by rescue teams' own equipment, with no relationship to you at all.

What the app adds

myJikita is how you live with the tag day to day:

• Pair it to your account, once.
• See whether it is with you, and what its battery is at, before you leave.
• Make it beep, to find it in a rucksack or under a seat.
• Check its radio is working, rather than assuming.
• Keep it supplied with the time and your position, which it needs in order to say anything useful about where it is.

That last point is worth being clear about: the app feeds the tag your phone's position and clock while you walk, quietly, riding along with the positions it is already sending. It costs no extra battery schedule of its own. Everyday use is described in Everyday use.

What it is not

It is not a satellite beacon. A PLB transmits to satellites and works anywhere with a view of the sky. A Jikita needs somebody's receiver — a phone nearby, or a long-range station within range. That covers a great deal of populated mountain terrain, and it is not the same guarantee.

It is not a tracker for other people. A Jikita belongs to one account. Pairing requires physically holding the button on the device, which means nobody can quietly claim a tag they walked past — and it means you cannot be tagged without handling the device yourself.

It is not a substitute for telling someone where you are going. It shortens the search. It does not start one. That is still the plan you shared.

Looking after it

• Carry it on your body — a jacket pocket, a strap — not in the pack you might take off, leave at a col, or lose in a slide.
• Check the battery in the app before a long day. It is shown without connecting to the tag, so it costs nothing to look.
• Keep the serial number somewhere your contacts can find it. A rescue team can use it. It is printed on the device and shown in the app.

Next: Pairing a Jikita