Yes Clay the range of the DC 20 is poor at 2.5 km if you have long range dogs
What Garmin are saying is that the DC30 has a range of 7km
If we can believe what Garmin say is yet to be proven
As for losing the signal in poor weather I have tested the Astro out in a winter storm and had no loss of signal .
Being able to track up to 10 dogs on the LCD screen and know exactly where they are is a hunters dream
If your dog goes off screen you go to where the dog lost signal and pick it back up again .
Clay in your case you would of seen your dog go by the road and get picked up by some towny and hit the panic button
If that was what happened to her
The range of the GPS collar is only going to get better !
The battery life at 17hrs is not the best. But the Astro with the LCD screen has won me over
watching my dogs working through a thick scrub on the LCD screen is teaching me more about each dog and how they hunt all the time
The big test for me is going to be how the DC30 handles the salt water, as a lot of hunters hunt off boats around the NZ coastline. The salt water KILLED :'( the DC20
