New Garmin Astro (Review)

[Boomerx]

To fasttrack pa; Here is an e-mail I received this afternoon from Garmin Customer Service (the first info I got was via a phone call.
"Thank you for contacting Garmin International. Unfortunately, there are
no plans at this time to change or alter the DC30 collar system. The DC
30 collar systems are sold as a complete kit and we do not sell the
collar separately. Please let us know if you have any additional
questions."
I'm going to order a collar replacement from you ASAP.

[fasttrackpa]

Boomer, they are really out of touch there, I am looking at about 20 of them right now, the antennas are attached already and they are listed @ 59.99 We do not have them on our website yet http://www.lcsupply.com . but, I can be reached at 1-800-662-5202 my name is Andy. Give me a call

[Chip E]

Terry you can buy the Collar with the Antenna and it also comes with The Piece in the back of the Collar for $60.00, I ask about that today when I saw your Collar, they told me that the extra weight in the back of the collar had something to do with the signal and the antenna about it being matched up. Just you would like to know that since you were told you had to buy the complete unit. I have 1 more Coimbo left and three more DC-30 left that I should receive by Friday, as they already have been shipped.

Thanks Chip Eisenhut
Eisenhut Dog Supplies

[PREACHERS,KENNEL]

so whats everybody doing with the dc 20?? mien works good one is still almost new been thinking aboutr selling them and buying me more dc30

[Chip E]

You can contact Garmin and get a $50.00 rebate on the new DC-30 but you have to go directly to Garmin to get the Rebate. I do not know all the details except that they offer a Rebate on the old DC-20 collar to the new DC-30 collar.
Chip Eisenhut

[NorWester]

Here's a question for you guys that are running the Garmin unit...... what frequency is the telemetry? When the Satellite reception goes down (and this does and probably will happen) is it possible to use a regular telemetry tracker to find your dogs until the GPS was back "online"? Also, what sort of battery does the unit use? Is it sufficient for cold weather running?

[deerhost]

norwester........i've never had the unit go down....ever....dh

[NorWester]

Regardless, I know of some GPS units that have gone down....not for long mind you but down none the less. The one unit would loose all stored info when it happened. Just curious that if part of the unit is based on telemetry, wonder what the frequency is and if it could be tracked by say a conventional yagi and receiver. Also wonder that as folks appear to be stampeding to buy these systems up and seeing as there IS some conventional telemetry used, what would happen if two fellows were running their dogs within 5 miles of each other, both using the Garmin system would they both pick up each others dogs? Does each unit use it's own tracking frequency?

[deerhost]

I,ve had and used GPS units for bowhunting since they first came out and were sold to the public. Everyone I had would loose the signal in deep ravines or under heavy cover. With the Astro , it seems that it just locks on and stays locked. Also the unit can not pick up other signals from anothers collars. Each collar you have gets married to your astro with the perticuler dogs name. It shows up on your screan with the dogs name, you can not pick up someone elses collars...dh

[NorWester]

Do you know what frequency your collars run on?

[DIXIEDOG]

I,ve had and used GPS units for bowhunting since they first came out and were sold to the public. Everyone I had would loose the signal in deep ravines or under heavy cover. With the Astro , it seems that it just locks on and stays locked. Also the unit can not pick up other signals from anothers collars. Each collar you have gets married to your astro with the perticuler dogs name. It shows up on your screan with the dogs name, you can not pick up someone elses collars...dh

Did the unit stay locked or did Garmin create a buffer for when their GPS loses signal? I have had several hand held GPS units but I have yet to have one that never loses it's signal, maybe when it loses signal for say 30 seconds they just don't update the screen or they use the current pattern to predict where the dog would be if he continued along the same path.

[RABBITBUTCHER]

FIRST THE DC 20'S ARE THE BIGGEST PIECE TRASH I HAVE EVER OWNED.
GARMIN OUGHT TO HAVE A RECALL ON ALL DC 20'S BUT THEY DON'T CARE.I THINK ALL OF THEM USE TO SELL USED CARS BEFORE WORKING FOR GARMIN.
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT WE CAN DO WITH THE DC 20'S?

[fasttrackpa]

I don't believe the collars operate on a frequency like the telemetry collars. I could be wrong. As bad as the dc20's are, there are some folks that actually like them. We are still selling a few here and there. Put the Dc20's you have up for sale, I bet you can sell them to someone that does not run beagles. I have one that is a year and half old that works flawlessly. I still use it on coonhounds.

[steve w]

Here's a question for you guys that are running the Garmin unit...... what frequency is the telemetry? When the Satellite reception goes down (and this does and probably will happen) is it possible to use a regular telemetry tracker to find your dogs until the GPS was back "online"? Also, what sort of battery does the unit use? Is it sufficient for cold weather running?

NorWester here's the specs on the Astro https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=8576 you can see that the frequency listed would not be able to be picked up by any regular tracking system. As for battery's it's AA's and I would expect that prolonged exposure could be a problem.I would use lithium battery's. I run them in my TRACKER MAXIMA and ended all cold weather problems with that unit.

[NorWester]

Ok, under frequency band it says .... MURS... What does that mean? Translation anyone?