Why a FunniPets collar missed Bark Alerts beeps

Method

1. Took the collar off the animal, left it still on a shelf, and recorded it with a PC webcam and its microphone.
2. Counted a beep as received only when the recording showed the collar's green light and a tone near 6.3 kHz.
3. Let the collar sit idle for different lengths of time, then sent the beep through Bark Alerts, using either Test beep or a real automatic detection.
4. Repeated the send shortly after a successful send, and shortly after a press of the collar's physical remote.
5. Compared the stored beep code with the code in a separate Home Assistant script, and checked Home Assistant's log for errors.
6. Built a longer version of the beep, about 1 second with 20 frame repeats, and sent it after a long idle.

Setup

Collar

FunniPets TrainerPro training collar on 433.92 MHz, beep function only.

Transmitter

Broadlink RM4 pro, controlled from Home Assistant.

Software

Bark Alerts v0.2.4 during the bench tests on October 29 and 30, 2026, and v0.2.5 for the later worn-collar observation.

Measurement

Webcam video and audio, reviewed for the light and the tone. Home Assistant's outcome was compared with what the recording showed.

Results

Sent after a long idle, with no recent remote press

Five requests produced no light and no tone: two automatic requests about 9.6 and 12.4 minutes after the last good send, Test beep at about 10.7 and 16.9 minutes, and a second Test beep 37 seconds after the last of those.

Sent soon after a good send

Test beep worked about 3 minutes after a good send.

Sent soon after a press of the physical remote

Two Test beeps about a minute after remote presses worked. Later, a Test beep at about 9 minutes idle worked right after a remote press, a separate script worked 26 seconds after that, and a real automatic request beeped the collar shortly afterward.

Same command, no reported error

The stored beep code had the same checksum as the code in the separate script. Home Assistant's log showed no Broadlink or Bark Alerts errors during the failed sends.

Longer beep burst

The 20-repeat version produced no light and no tone after about 17 minutes idle, so a longer burst did not get through in this one try. I did not show that this longer code works on an awake collar.

Collar worn on a real bark, November 3, 2026

I heard the collar beep about 34 minutes after the previous command request. This was not recorded. Three requests went out in that episode, so I do not know which one it answered.

Explanation

The receiver goes into standby after about 5 minutes with no operation and wakes when it is moved. That is how I understand this collar to behave, and it fits these results. Manual text I found says the same, but I could not confirm that manual is for my exact model. Bark Alerts has been updated since these tests and I consider it working; the standby remains a catch of the collar.

Failures

• Six sends produced no beep while nothing in Home Assistant reported a problem: the five long-idle requests and the longer burst.
• My first attempt at the longer burst was invalid because the code was damaged when I pasted it by hand. I discarded that result and sent it again from a checked file.
• I did not run a controlled test of standby, where an untouched collar misses a beep, is moved by hand, and then responds. Movement waking the collar was not isolated in a recording.
• The separate script was never tested after a long idle with the recording running, so these tests do not compare it with Bark Alerts on a sleeping collar.
• These are a small number of sends on one collar. They do not measure how often a worn collar misses a beep or show how other collars behave.

Removed for privacy

• Clock times of the tests and of the real bark
• Home Assistant entity names, device names and network addresses
• Room and camera details
• The webcam recordings, which include room audio
• The RF codes

Idle times are given instead of clock times, which does not change the comparison. Without the recordings or RF codes, a reader cannot check these observations directly or repeat them with the same command.