The Sable Systems TurboFox is a unique, integrated, patent-pending "metabolic measurement toolkit" that allows you to measure the metabolic rate of practically any animal with ease and style.

Packed and tightly integrated into a tough, hermetically sealable case are: A high flow rate mass flow generator, a low flow rate subsampler and mass flow generator, a water vapor analyzer, an oxygen analyzer, a carbon dioxide analyzer, a data acquisition system and much else besides. Using the TurboFox, you can, with just one instrument, measure the metabolic rate of practically any animal from an insect to a whale. And you can do so practically anwhere.

For large animals, the high-flow generator produces a precise, controlled mass flow rate of air. It can be operated in push or pull mode, but is most commonly operated in pull (or mask) mode. For smaller animals, a low flow rate system takes over. Mass flow rates are used exclusively, so barometric pressure and temperature corrections of flow rates are not required.

The individual analyzers in the TurboFox are all high quality research-grade instruments, and offer maximum flexibility. Because oxygen concentration, CO2 concentration, water vapor pressure, and barometric pressure are all measured accurately and with high resolution, it is possible to correct "wet" flow rates in pull systems to dry equivalent rates without requiring desiccant. With care, it is even possible to eliminate the need for any scrubber chemicals at all by correcting the O2 and CO2 signals for water vapor dilution and other effects. We offer full technical support for achieving this goal.

The TurboFox is normally operated with a laptop computer. ExpeData is strongly recommended as the accompanying data acquisition and analysis environment. However, the TurboFox can also spool data in a form suitable for loading into spreadsheets, or it can store data in non-volatile memory and upload them later.

While designed primarily for field use, the TurboFox equally suitable for use in the laboratory.