Garmin Alpha MINIs Issues

[snowshoehareguide]

ive had 3 garmin alpha minis since they came out--- ive had big problems- lose gps signal and they never get it back- shows collar to be somplace it isnt-- could be 75 yards or a mile and a half or anywhere in between--- if im able to catch dog ,,shut them off and turn back on and they work again- .....until the next time- i have one fail about every other day--- - sent some back and same problems with replacements- i have a couple full size that have had very few issues-
been working with dealer i got them from and a couple of garmins testers that tried to help --- nobody seems to be able to fix my problem-- ive done all updates regularly-- ive been told its a regional problem ,maybe it is ,ive been told nobody else has this problem--i know that is not true--- ive sent files to garmin and they are suposedly working on it- but months going by and i hear nothing from garmin-- id like to hear from anybody else haveing this problem--or anybody knows anybody at garmin that might care , feel free to contact me- pete richardson- 802-754-- 1084 peterichardson57 AT gmail.com

[steve w]

I had problems like you described with the mini's and alpha, just started the last couple times out, the thing I noticed was poor communication with satellite. Three out of 5 collars have acted up, did the update last night but haven't used them to see if it helped. On the DC 40 when they gave me problems a new antenna usually was the fix, I expected better as my system is only 5 months old.

[Panther Creek]

I.ve had problems with my Alpha mini's also. When I turn them on, it takes forever for them to find a satelite. We're talking a half hour in some instances. I've tried turning them off, and then back on. Sometimes it.s one, sometimes all 3.
Sometimes all 3 will find it right away. Last evening it showed 1 dog 125 yards south of me. I could see the dog 200 yards ona ridge north of me. They are only a month old. For $1400, they should work better than that. It's pretty frustrating.

[snowshoehareguide]

would you message me your name phone number contact info- ---call garmin-- make some noise ----- dealer kept telling me , nobody else is haveing problems- dont start a shtstorm on the internet etc, -months going by- need to get this fixed now--- the way i understand it -its software problem and not mechanical - i think if they make it top priority can be fixed fast - can send them files from collars or send collars back for replacement and let them extract files- - garmin needs the info from collars that fail to fix it- ive left one on in my truck many times and never had one fail that wasnt on a dog - dealer told me he couldnt make collars i sent back fail--- but he can see where they failed from the files i sent him--

[snowshoehareguide]

Last evening it showed 1 dog 125 yards south of me. I could see the dog 200 yards ona ridge north of me.

yes that exactly whats happening with mine--- could be 75 yards or 2 miles --- if i can catch dog look at light its slower single flash--- usually shows 1 bar of gps- wait forever its not going to work until you shut it off turn back on- and then sometimes it is very slow to regain gps- --other collars working fine in same place ---

[S.R.Patch]

My boy has been making "trackers" for football team players. He just got back from Florida after selling a prototype. Maybe garmin needs some competition? lol ...hummm
I never cared for garmin after they bought out tri-tronics and dumped all the owners who had purchased them. jmho

Pete, I know your a good honest guy and just want to be treated the same. Hope you get satisfaction.

[warddog]

I agree S.R. Patch as I believe what we see is an industry monopolized by a handful of companies. It seems to be the BIG problem in the U.S. these days where corporations buy out the competition and then mandate what consumers get. I witnessed this as a government regulator in the meat and poultry business when the regulator became the regulated by the industry. Seems the government equaled the industry as the policies for regulating those businesses came from political appointees who got there via dollars form corporations vying for favors for their specific business. Once corporate conglomerates get so big they actually care more about selling goods rather than producing goods that meet consumers expectations. HEY, if Garman made a tracking device that worked as expected for a lengthy period of time they would NOT be seeing as many units as they do. This is kind of like computers as they are nearly obsolete as soon as a consumer buys one and they are programed to force the consumer to continue to be hooked with a specific label. I remember when tri-tronics used to be into dog training equipment alone and they were the best on the market, bar none. When they sold out to Garmin that turned that dog training business into a business too big to fail just as Wall-Street is. They are NO LONGER focused on dog training devices but every kind of global positioning electronics there is and one of the biggest worldwide. You folks with problems just have to get in line behind ALL the other problems they have. By the way when they get an industry controlled by a handful of companies they can control the price as well as the quality. Minus good competition they do as they please. it would be GREAT if some of the old tri-tronics business folks started that product line back up under a new name as their quality seemed to be the best.

[snowshoehareguide]

Garmin just called me-- They do care, thats all i ask is i know they are working on the problem-- -

[Budd]

Please know I have spent HOURS on the phone and computer with Garmin, they are addressing this issue.

[Panther Creek]

I put my Garmins on my dogs every evening when I turn them out in the yard for exercise. I know this sound weird, but when I turn the collars on, I just hit the on button once and let off. It will soon come on to green and then blink slow 3 blinks-pause-3 blinks etc- then it has the satelite. If I hold the on button down until the light turns green, it will start flashing green real fast, then you dont have the satelite. Like it screws it up or something. idk
Its weird.

[steve w]

Finally got to try out my collars after updating and they worked like a charm. There was an optional update after the 2.40 I think it might have been 3.0. I kind of blew by it on the first collar but made sure all 5 got done, they sure link up faster guess all I can do now is hope for the best.

[snowshoehareguide]

my problems have been slightly less lately--- i have one collar that has quit 3 times in last two weeks -- the last time i couldnt get it to work until reloaded software- im giveing up on that one - sending it back to garmin today to exchange-

my other two minis have been a little off a few times- - but never totally stopped working -- i had a hare run two miles straight out one day ---- take a left turn following a brook for roughly a mile- and start circling again 2.3 miles away - didnt drop signal at all i was pretty impressed by that - same day had one come back and go out fartherr and farther - thicker cover and gps was off and on but was on probably 90 % of the time --- again they ended up 2.3 miles but in opposite direction -- --i dont know if thats farthest ive ever had one run but i know it is farthest ive seen since ive had gps collars-

[KILLNTM]

Yesterday I had one of my mini collars stop blinking completely. It will chime when you turn it on or off, but no red or green light to go with it. The red light won't come on when you plug it into the wall charger and there's no real way to now when it's fully charged because the green light never comes on either. Everything else on it seems to be working GPS wise, it's just like the light itself is burned out. I ran all updates on it, but nothing has changed. The only sure way to know if it's on or off is to check my Alpha. Is it better to send it back to the dealer I purchased it from or straight to Garmin?

Thanks,
BiL

[Hare Chaser]

Yesterday I had one of my mini collars stop blinking completely. It will chime when you turn it on or off, but no red or green light to go with it. The red light won't come on when you plug it into the wall charger and there's no real way to now when it's fully charged because the green light never comes on either. Everything else on it seems to be working GPS wise, it's just like the light itself is burned out. I ran all updates on it, but nothing has changed. The only sure way to know if it's on or off is to check my Alpha. Is it better to send it back to the dealer I purchased it from or straight to Garmin?

Thanks,
BiL

I had a TT10 do the same thing. Bought it from DU Hound Supply. Sent them a video link showing the issue and they sent me a new one no charge. They sent the new one the same day I sent the faulty one back.

[snowshoehareguide]

i sent one back a week ago-- my other 2 minis have worked good for 2 weeks-- until today--- had one lost gps for a half hour or more- dog running circles close by-- was just running one dog so nothing to compare it to but no special reason for it to lose gps---same cover i ran in all day - working great before that -