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« Reply #40 on: December 15, 2009, 03:56:39 pm » |
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On my roof mounted antenna....about 2 miles at best. Sometimes a little more if I am on a hill.
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Rex Bumpus
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crackerc
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« Reply #41 on: December 15, 2009, 06:38:15 pm » |
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The incorrect compass reading may very well been operator error. It just wouldn't have helped me out of the woods that night!!
Having not owned a Garmin (yet anyway) I don't know about having to reset/recalibrate before each hunt or downloading updates from Garmin. Seems like if you forgot to do that before you turned dogs out (which is something I would probably do) you would be out of luck.
I use a handheld Garmin GPS all the time for marking spots in the woods, tree stands, etc. I do know my hand held loses signal if I get under thick trees (which is most of the time down here). Does the Astro/ DC-30 have a problem receiving a signal in thick woods? I have never had that trouble with a regular radio tracking unit, but have had the dog closer than I thought, due to thick cover. Just curious if the Garmin loses satelite signal under heavy cover.
I think the Garmin would be a great tool to have, being able to see where and what your dog is doing would be really helpful. I just am not convinced all the bugs are worked out of the system yet.
Plus I would like to see more consistent range estimates. Some guys say they are getting 2 miles. I have talked to guys that lose their dogs at 900-1000 yards max.
Other than that I would love to have one!
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Florida cur dogs for almost half a century....now I know I am old!!
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chainrated
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« Reply #42 on: December 16, 2009, 01:29:22 pm » |
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Circle C. As I think you have already figured out, you need to ALWAYS check the communication status of your dog on the dog screen. We have had the same thing happen to us several times but you can check his communication status and it will tell you if you're getting a false reading.
As far as the antennas, you can get some that will give you more range but nowhere near 5 miles. The mag antenna will get you about 2 miles in the woods..
We still always run quick track collars on the dogs too just insurance.
AND lijke has already been said,always calibrate your compass before every hunt and if your hunt lasts over about 6 hours you will probably have to calibrate it again.
The garmins could definitley use some improvement but they are worth every penny and the little bit of aggrevation. If you get one and learn how to use it you will wonder how you ever hunted without it..
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« Last Edit: December 16, 2009, 01:35:09 pm by chainrated »
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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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AnthonyB
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« Reply #43 on: December 16, 2009, 06:59:14 pm » |
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I have had some similar problems with moving updates and such. I usually turn it off then back on, and will reupdate. What mine usually does is drop the collars in order then pick them up then drop them. I turn it off and on and it goes back to working right. Here, the best range you are going to get is 1 mile with the handheld alone.
Anthony
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I hunt and breed FBMCBO,inc. dogs. (Weatherford's Ben)
TDHA BOD
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Wmwendler
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« Reply #44 on: December 16, 2009, 07:04:28 pm » |
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I use a handheld Garmin GPS all the time for marking spots in the woods, tree stands, etc. I do know my hand held loses signal if I get under thick trees (which is most of the time down here). Does the Astro/ DC-30 have a problem receiving a signal in thick woods? I have never had that trouble with a regular radio tracking unit, but have had the dog closer than I thought, due to thick cover. Just curious if the Garmin loses satelite signal under heavy cover.
Yes......however, when it comes to GPS the limiting factor would not be the hand held it would be the transmitter/collar. If I am not mistaken the garmin system works like this........ The Collar communicates with a GPS satelite which then sends a message back to the collar and then the collar sends a radio signal with the coordinates to the Reciever/hand held. The Collar and Hand held DO NOT communicate via satelite with each other if they did the range would seemingly be unlimited if both had GPS signal So if the hand held did not have GPS signal but was recieving radio signal from a collar that did have GPS signal then it would show the dogs location but not YOUR current location. The problem arrises when the collar does not have GPS signal which Can happen with a thick canopy or multiple canopys, ie. a cover of vines and and a Tree top canopy. That being said, I have yet to notice a time when I was so close that I should be recieving radio signal but have not dog location due to the collar not getting signal. But usually if i am that close to a bay I can hear the dogs and dont pay any attention to the garmin. Circle C......I have a magnetic mount antenna but lost the screw on antenna part the first day I had it in the woods but still had the magnetic mount. Rather than trying to get just an antenna from garmin or buying a whole new setup,I tried using an extra radio antenna that I had purchased to put on a chevy suburban and it fit and the unit works with it. I can get about 1 1/4 - 1 3/4 mile with my riged up antenna. I have nothing to compare with as far as the stock magnetic mount antenna goes, because I only used it once and never at long ranges. However, sometimes I can only get about 600 yards with the small handheld antanna in thick cover, so even a mile and a quarter is an improvment. Keep us filled in with what ever you find out. Waylon Waylon |
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bigo
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« Reply #45 on: December 17, 2009, 09:23:24 am » |
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You young breeders need to start working on longer necked dogs. It sounds like there will be a market for them. Regular collar, shock collar, GPS collar, radio collar.  |
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The older I get, the better I was.
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principle difference between a dog and a man.
Mark Twain
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Bryant
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« Reply #46 on: December 17, 2009, 09:57:11 am » |
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A truly rich man is one whose children rush to fill his arms even though his hands are empty.
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chainrated
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« Reply #47 on: December 17, 2009, 10:10:09 am » |
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Bryant a buddy of mine just bought one. Used it one hunt and broke it. It will get you a little more range but if you go in the woods much with it ,it wont last long.. It's just like an antenna on an old radio, bends easy..
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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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chainrated
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« Reply #48 on: December 17, 2009, 10:34:40 am » |
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One thing we figured out to increase range significantly in one of those situations that your dog gets way out of range of the garmin. If you have an old telemetry antenna that is tuned the 155 frequency, a lot of the old ATS antennas run on 155. You can buy an adapter for it and hook it straight into your garmin astro. This has gotten us more range than anything else we've tried. Just keep one of the old antennas with an adapter on the cable in your truck or boat or whatever you hunt off of and in an emergency you can hook it up to your garmin and usually get the signal back so you will know which direction you need to go..
You can buy an adapter that will fit it at most electronic stores. I have no clue why someone has not already started selling a setup like this on the interent.
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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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Bryant
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« Reply #49 on: December 17, 2009, 10:40:26 am » |
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Bryant a buddy of mine just bought one. Used it one hunt and broke it. It will get you a little more range but if you go in the woods much with it ,it wont last long.. It's just like an antenna on an old radio, bends easy..
That's what I figured when I first looked also. Looks like the folding, unfolding, telescoping, etc would end it up broke pretty quick. Just as a sidenote, thanks to my two boys I also discovered that the Garmin long range antenna's absolutely SUCK when used for the purpose of a sword. I straightened best I could and it's functional, but far from being 100%. Boys....  |
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A truly rich man is one whose children rush to fill his arms even though his hands are empty.
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chainrated
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« Reply #50 on: December 17, 2009, 10:42:12 am » |
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lol..
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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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Circle C
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« Reply #51 on: December 17, 2009, 12:27:42 pm » |
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Just got back from the radio shop. 7 miles, still showed 4 out of 5 bars on the comm. I did drop the signal at ~7.25 miles and I turned around at that point, I am not sure if it would have picked it back up or not, and I dropped it a time or two around 3.5 miles as I was driving by some large office towers. I assume they had something to do with the dropped signal. Radio man says I should see much better range once I get away from the radio interference in the city.  |
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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 #52 on: December 17, 2009, 12:45:09 pm » |
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HOLLY number 2!
Is it a huge antenna or still serviceable size? Give me a call about that!
Steve
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Circle C
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« Reply #53 on: December 17, 2009, 12:48:06 pm » |
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The antenna I used is a magnetic mount with a ~40" whip. It looks like your standard issue FM radio antenna.
I will continue to field test. Might have been a fluke...
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Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
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bghogdogtx
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« Reply #54 on: December 17, 2009, 01:00:56 pm » |
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Yea let us know how it works in the field..
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THEY BAYED!!!!
TDHA Member
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Circle C
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« Reply #55 on: December 17, 2009, 02:22:49 pm » |
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Just did another mod to my Garmin system. I stopped at the parts house and bought some shrink tubing. One color for each collar. In the past I have always labeled my collars by number, that I etched into the housing. Sometimes with mud and dirt buildup, the etching was hard to read. Now I will have an easy to identify color antenna on each collar.  |
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Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
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make-em-squeel
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« Reply #56 on: December 17, 2009, 02:33:06 pm » |
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The antenna I used is a magnetic mount with a ~40" whip. It looks like your standard issue FM radio antenna.
I will continue to field test. Might have been a fluke...
PLEASE TELL ME WHERE TO BUY THE UPGRADED ANTENNA,,,I have green paper burning a whole in my pocket. I will start my own feild studies I just want one asap!!!! |
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Circle C
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« Reply #57 on: December 17, 2009, 02:35:52 pm » |
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Pm sent.
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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 #58 on: December 17, 2009, 02:45:47 pm » |
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Just did another mod to my Garmin system. I stopped at the parts house and bought some shrink tubing. One color for each collar. In the past I have always labeled my collars by number, that I etched into the housing. Sometimes with mud and dirt buildup, the etching was hard to read. Now I will have an easy to identify color antenna on each collar. Now THAT is an awesome idea! Everything that I have tried to mark mine with has either come off or become unreadable.... Including etched numbers. I'm going to have to try that. Steve |
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Goatcher
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« Reply #59 on: December 17, 2009, 02:57:21 pm » |
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I have ten or more collars, so my son started using the heat shrink tubing and colored plastic electrical tape wrapped collars in various color combinations. Also makes it easier to see the dogs in thick brush and woods. Tape is surprisingly durable.
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