New Garmin Astro (Review)

[deerhost]

I purcased a Garmin astro with the Dc-30 Collar from chip a few weks a go and I must say the unit is Fantastic. After using it for a few weeks I can honestly say it is worth every penny. I hate to go into the woods with out it now, and can't imagin going back to running dogs with out one. It tracks dogs constantly and you now were they are and how far they are from you all the time. You can watch them circle a rabbit on screen and walk right to there location. It is just out of this world. The best feature is the senstivity of the GPS system once it locks onto satalites, it stays locked I can walk into my house and the unit still stays locked and tracks. Here in newyork its very thick with alot of dense tree cover and I have yet to have the unit loose the dogs or satalite locking. I have not one bad thing to say about the unit. The only problem I had was with the collar being a liitle to big for my dogs. Now, my dogs are tiny, about 12" and 18 pounds. I think anything over that and you won't have a problem. I had to unscrew the GPS antenna reciever and move it back and inch on the collar and then drill an extra hole on the collar for it to fit my dogs. When I buy another collar I'm going to call Garmin and see if they can make one from the factory a little smaller for me. And also Chip was great and I got a good price.......Hope this helps someone looking at this unit ...DH

[PREACHERS,KENNEL]

i already had the garmin astro with the dc20 collars now i had the 30 alos 2 of them really like them ,, i run with guys that have wildlife trakers and such they want to sel,theres now and get some like mine ...

[bluegrass]

A friend of mine got his last week, we took the hounds out and had one on his female...kinda neat watching it come in and go out running that rabbit and we can tell just how far away they are...I gotta get myself one of these as soon as I can afford it



Tony

[sgc]

I'm going to have to see the collars. This sounds great but I heard the weight of the collars is pretty heavy?

[bluegrass]

Stan, these new collars weigh about the same as my G2EXP collars do...they have slimmed them down and took a LOT of weight off from the old collars they used to use.



Tony

[DIXIEDOG]

Is it true that these collars use telemetry technology for the dog tracking portion of the unit?

[TurnLeftBeagles]

Is it true that these collars use telemetry technology for the dog tracking portion of the unit?

Yes, The coonhunters reviews aren't as positive as the ones on here. They are complaining about the lack of range with the Garmin compared to standard telemetry.

[PREACHERS,KENNEL]

the dc 30 is supposed to be 2 miles farther than the 20 was. however with my beagles i never lost range with the 20.s...i tinkthe farhtest my beagles have ever got was like 500 yards i like to stay as close as i can to listen.

[deerhost]

I put the DC-30 on a scale and they are 8 oz. My tritronics G2 collar with a bell and name tag wieghts the same. The DC-30 is biult like a tank. DH

[fulcount]

what happens if the dog gets out over a mountain 2 miles away or further
and thats not unheard of running hare in the northeast or anywhere else where
hare are run
John O

[deerhost]

I havn't had that happen John, I tell you what though the reciever is so sensitive that I can walk around houses and obstructions with the unit on and it does not loose the sinal. I walk into my house on the botem floor and I do not loose the satalite signal

[PREACHERS,KENNEL]

supposed to reachb 7 miles of courser i really doubt it will but if i let my dogs get that far away i need slapped!

[Ohiohntr]

I have personally seen one of these systems in use a few times and I must say It is a very cool system.....I would say traditional tracking systems are in trouble if these units turn out to have very few "bugs" in them. It brings in a whole new aspect to running dogs. I rarely use my QT10M because if I have to walk to the truck and pull out the antenna then something has gone completely wrong.....can I locate a dog, yes.....can I find my dog, yes.....can I stop the problem before it becomes a problem, nope...can I tell instantly if my battery is going dead on my collars, nope....can I tell instantly if my pack is split, nope. With the GPS technology you can tell right away if something is not right....ie the dog stops moving on the screen, straight line running, dog is off by itself in coyote country....etc.

Knowing how many miles your dogs have traveled and their average MPH would be a feature that I would rate right up there. What a great asset to make sure you are putting not only the time, but miles on a dog.

Another thing I found interesting with the system is that there are "trends" you don't nomally take notice of such as rabbits running very similar circles and areas where rabbits stay vs. areas where they run......it is interesting and could help in habitat building of your running grounds. Not to mention it is something to mess with to ease the bordom factor when conditioning dogs.

When you figure in the cost of this system vs the traditional systems the difference is not really that big for the extra features you get. I would say I will end up with one soon enough.

Just my .02

[primetime21]

I was wondering what something like this costs. Is there diffrent systems as of now or only one and if more than one is cost diffrent and what does one do that the other does not do. And who carries them or where can they be purchased?



Thanks Ken

[T LEE]

Gun Dog Supply has them for around $600 (One Collar + unit).

Extra collars can be added on ( as many as ten per unit).

$200 PER EXTRA COLLAR

Christmas is coming ..and this is on my wish list.