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Circle C
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« Reply #60 on: December 30, 2009, 11:46:18 am » |
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UPDATE: I have not had the opportunity to really put the new antenna to a test, other than a few hunt where the dogs did not range out very far. A week ago, hunting near the Trinity river, north of Madisonville, the dogs were continually crossing a creek at 2.25 miles. The collar would drop while they were crossing, but would pick back up once they were on the other side. At one point, I did lose signal for a couple minutes while they were near the creek. Not sure if they were in the water, or if the system had trouble picking them back up for some other reason. On that hunt, 2.25 miles was the farthest that I ever got from the dogs... Last Sunday, I hunted in some open country in Fort Bend county. Dropped the dogs at a little under a mile with just the handheld. Plugged in the new antenna, and picked them up right away, and never dropped them again for the rest of the hunt. The furthest that they bayed that day was ~1 mile out, so once again, I did not get to put the antenna to the test. This is not a good photo, but its the best on I have of the antenna. Just a magnetic mount, with a ~40 whip.  Hopefully I will be able to report back with some better info in the coming weeks. If I take the dogs out west, I feel confident that they will range out several miles and I can see if the new antenna will work better in a real world situation. |
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Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
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Hog Dog Mike
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« Reply #61 on: December 30, 2009, 12:47:10 pm » |
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My name is Murphy and I am the guy that they wrote the law about.
I hunt alot down around Franklin, Tx. and several of the guys I hunt with have Garmins. Sometimes they work great--I have seen 3 different ones working at the same time and did a good job on that one hunt.
Other times the collars got the antennas torn off and then they were inop. Sometimes they lose signal for a while and I don't know why this happens. One hunt they were not able to use them because they would not lock on the collars. They seem to have alot of trouble with the batteries.
One hunt I will not forget. They had Garmins on two dogs and we were in a bunch of hogs. The hogs swam to an island in a lake. The dogs went after them and when they hit the water that was it for them. No signal--no nothing. We caught one hog but evidently the others broke and left the country taking the dogs with them. We rounded everything up except the dogs with the Garmins. One dog was found the next day and the best dog was not found for 17 days.
I have a Wildlife TRX-10 and it works. A little more bulky but when you turn it on and track a dog you WILL pick up a signal. If you use the ear phones you can get pretty close on the range.
I know that they are probably the future but for now I am sticking to what works for me.
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Circle C
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« Reply #62 on: December 30, 2009, 12:49:35 pm » |
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Hog Dog Mike, That's the reason I use both, Garmin and Quicktrack  Get the best of both worlds. |
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Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
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UNDERDOG
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« Reply #63 on: December 30, 2009, 12:52:44 pm » |
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My name is Murphy and I am the guy that they wrote the law about.
What law or did I not read something correctly? |
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Circle C
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« Reply #64 on: December 30, 2009, 01:00:09 pm » |
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"Murphy's Law"
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Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
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Monteria
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« Reply #65 on: December 30, 2009, 01:02:07 pm » |
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"Murphy's Law"
Wow! That went so far over my head that air traffic control didn't even log the flight plan!  Steve |
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UNDERDOG
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« Reply #66 on: December 30, 2009, 01:03:01 pm » |
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"Murphy's Law"
Duhhhh....thats funny NOW,,you know I am a little slow  Steve, I am glad it was just not me lol |
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make-em-squeel
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« Reply #67 on: December 30, 2009, 03:53:24 pm » |
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Circle c thanks for the pm with there contact info. I got the 40" magnetic whip and had them out to 5 mi with no problem it was GREAT!! Do you have an upgraded one for feild use? if so is it doing better than the stock rubber antenna... I just ordered the folding after market antenna from valleycreekhuntingsupply.com, susposed to double it.
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Circle C
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« Reply #68 on: December 30, 2009, 04:12:26 pm » |
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I have an upgraded rubber antenna sitting in front of me, but I have not tried it yet. I plan to turn out Friday AM hunting coyotes and hogs, so hopefully I can field test it a bit while I am out.
5 miles sounds like a pretty good distance out of the Garmin. I know I will be pleased if I can consistently get 5 miles out of mine.
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Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
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Hog Dog Mike
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« Reply #69 on: December 30, 2009, 05:19:48 pm » |
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When they are working they are slick. You know exactly what direction and how far.
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lilmisshogdogger
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« Reply #70 on: December 31, 2009, 09:26:45 am » |
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I JUST GOT ONE FINALLY, ONLY GOT TO USE IT ONCE, BUT SINCE DEER SEASON IS BOUT TO BE OVER IMMA GET TO PUT IT TO MORE USE... IF ANYONE HAS ANY TIPS THEY ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED! BUT FOR THE MOST PART WHEN I HAVE HUNTED WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE THEM THEY HAVE BEEN GREAT!
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~SAMANTHA FRAZIER~
"REAL HOG HUNTERS DO IT DOGGIE STYLE"
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Circle C
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« Reply #71 on: January 04, 2010, 10:45:45 am » |
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Another update: As I type this, my handheld is in a box waiting on the man in the brown shirt to pick it up and send it to Garmin Intl. in Olathe, Kansas. I have had a few strange things happen with my handheld, first is the issue that started this thread, then during a number of recent hunts I have had the screen go completely blank. I am not sure if the unit is powering off, or if the screen is just blanking out. Whatever it is, I can hit the power button, and the display comes on and is immediately tracking the dogs.  Last thing happened on my last hunt. I was dropping the dogs at 100 yards or less. no difference between the factory rubber antenna and the long range antenna. This morning I called Garmin tech support. We tried a few things, removing all collars and reloading them. No improvement. We did a master reset, then reloaded collars. Again no improvement. So the tech said to send the unit in to them and they would repair it. I mentioned that I have had it for close to a year, and that it could actually be a little over a year old. He said not to worry and that they would repair the unit free of charge, and have it back to me within two weeks! By rights they could have had me provide a proof of purchase, and tell me it's out of warranty, then charge me. They sure impressed me today with their attitude toward customer service. |
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Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
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chainrated
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« Reply #72 on: January 04, 2010, 10:53:49 am » |
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Garmin has been great to me and my huntin buddies when it comes to customer service..
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Our houses are protected by the good lord and a gun, you might meet em both if you show up here unwelcome son..
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Goatcher
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« Reply #73 on: January 04, 2010, 12:24:05 pm » |
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Garmin has been great to me and my huntin buddies when it comes to customer service..
Same here, no BS. Great repair and warranty service. I have two Astro units, around 12 collars. I just had one of my Astros shut off on me last hunt, the blank screen thing, with good batteries. I had to hit the power switch and turn it back on. Did not lose any data. I was hunting around 3 others with Garmins, so who knows the issues. |
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Circle C
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« Reply #74 on: January 12, 2010, 03:49:08 pm » |
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Got my package in the mail from Garmin yesterday. They sent out a new unit (possibly a refurb?) whatever it is, it looks brand new, and has a different serial number than the unit that I sent them.
I also got my collar back that I had sent in to Quick Track. Looks like they sent back a brand new collar as well. It might be the same internals, but its a new collar, antenna, and body.
Outstanding customer service from both companies.
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Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
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