Thank you Greg and Adam, your descriptions helped greatly.  Here is a better
description:

The system is to be designed to present a computer to figure out which
heffer cows are in heat.  The transmitters are located on the backs of the
heffers, and when the "dummy steers" try to mount them, it is a prime
indication that a cow is about to come into heat.  The computer comes in
here, it can take the cows history and come up with all sorts of numbers.
The microprocessor is used (instead of a simple beacon) to provide a single
component that can debounce the switch, keep an internal history as a backup
for that cow, and most importantly, protect against contention.

Contention does not seem to be likely, but it is a curious issue.  If this
system is properly used, only the females up for heat, as calculated by the
computer, would be kept in the "holding area",  the "holding area" would be
closely monitored by the computer for "mounts".  Females in the holding
area, however, are more likely to be mounted at or near the same time, very
large ranches can have several hundred cows in holding.  The ranchers can't
watch them all, but the computer can.  Mounting usually occurs around peak
times, about 1 to 2 hours of the day, further increasing the chance of
contention.

Lost data packets, however unlikely,  could easily cause the computer to
miscalculate, thereby corrupting, albeit slighty, the history of the cow.
The bottom line is missed "heat" calculations, a possible $10,000 cow per
missed packet does not cost money, but I would like to know about it.

Legal Question:  "Perodic Operation," as stated by the FCC in Title 47,
Part 15 Section 23; does allow the transmission of an identifing signal.
Can a data packet still be included?

Anthony