Garmin Astro 220 How far will yours work?

[nthogger]

We have 3 Garmins we bought about 6 months ago so far im not impressed it seems like 600 or 700 yards and it looses the dog ,tonite we were on wide open river in an airboat and lost the dog till he was back within 500 yards of the boat. Thats not too good to me I can usually hear the dogs at 500 yards.Did we get bad ones or is there something we are doing wrong?

[HIGHWATER KENNELS]

I am kind of new to the Garmin myself cause I aint had mine but for a month and a half, but we hunt in very thick cutovers and in places where there are pretty good ridges and I can tell u that I have been able to track my dogs in both areas out to 1.3 miles without putting the extended ant. on it.  When the extended ant is placed on my unit I have reached out to 1.7 miles with no problem.  I dont know how far it will possibly reach cause that is the fartherest I have had my dogs out before I made ground closer to them.  Hope that helps

[Bump]

I think it depends on the cover and terrain. I read somewhere to have the collar setting on higher end numbers. I would buy a roof mount antenna and/or the long range handheld antenna.

I typically have no problem picking them up at 1.5 + miles in any terrain or cover.

[Tcoots]

They sell a long range antenna for them i got one and it helped the range on mine but depending on the terrain  i have tracked my dogs up to 2 miles away the long range antenna does help it to go farther  hope that this helps a little

[nthogger]

How do you change the settings on the coller?

[airduster29]

i live in nm and its flat and open for most part I do good to get 1 mile i dont like it either

[nthogger]

well 1 mile is better than 1/3 mile like mine but thats still not good for flat ground.Its bad my 40 midland 2 way radios are way better and reach farther you would think garmin would do better.

[hillbilly]

Mine usually goes out with the short range antenna at about 700 to 900 yards. I have put the long range antenna on and got out ot 2.2 miles. That is as far as I have ever let the dogs get. I like the garmin but I agree the range I think could be alot better with the short range antenna.

[buddylee]

I have gotten up to 900 yards on mine but lost it after that cause the dog went over a hill. The thicker the brush the less range you will get. The farther you go, the more problems you have with signal loss when they go into a creek bed or dip in the land. Friends of mine average over a mile in flat farmland.

[elliscountyhog]

We use it to see rivers and trails mostly if it will track 200yrds that is about as far the dogs go anyway

[coyote hunter]

i sumtimes loose my dogs at 600 to 900 yrds  but very rarely  with just the short range antenna i get 1.3 to 1.7 miles   have tracked up 1.9   thats as far as my dogs got from though

[Bump]

How do you change the settings on the coller?

Trying to go off memory.

Have the collar on and picking up signal. Go to the dog list. Select the coller/dog. Hit the menu button. A list of options should come up. A selection should be "Identify dog unit" or "change unit ID" one of those will allow you to change the number setting.

[dub]

Here is a funny story for you. I called Garmin to ask if the range would be increased. They told me that the area and cover effected the range but it could get up to FIVE MILES!!! I wanted to call it a big fat lie but I stayed polite. Then he said an antenna could be added to get more range! Has anyone ever got five miles? Someone should just take it apart and put the GPS part with my Midland radio. I have not hit maximum range on that yet.

[Mike]

Mine is usually good out to a mile, but a lot of times it drops out after .75 mile... that has been in most of the country i've used it in. Heavy woods and open country.

[t.wilbanks]

I can usually get mine up to around .7 miles in heavy woods. I have the long ranged antenna, but havent got to use it and see what i get with it. Kinda glad i havent had to use it yet, that would mean i have a long walk ahead of me.  :'(

[Circle C]

They told me that the area and cover effected the range but it could get up to FIVE MILES!!! I wanted to call it a big fat lie but I stayed polite. Then he said an antenna could be added to get more range! Has anyone ever got five miles?

My handheld with the standard antenna frequently drops dogs between 3-800 yards. These days I just hook the handheld up to a "custom" antenna and I don't worry about dropping the signal.   On my initial test run I got over 7 miles.  I have not had my dogs range out that far since I started using this new antenna, so I can't say for sure what it would do in a woods situation. I have had them out over 3 miles on a number of occasions and still picked them up.

[t.wilbanks]

Chris, is your custom antenna mounted to your vehicle or is it something you can carry through the woods?

[Circle C]

It is a whip antenna. I guess you could carry it, but it would be as bad as carrying an old Yagi antenna   Mine is on a magnetic base, that sits on top of my Mule, until a low hanging branch knocks it off, then I have to stop and put it back on top of the mule. This probably happens a half dozen times in a hunt.    I only used a 30# magnet, I might go ahead and step up to an 80# magnet so that it will stay hooked to the mule roof.

[tnhillbilly]

just got mine, so havnt used it alot but noticed that i loose mine about   .7 to mi. looking for a mobile long range antenea but havnt settled on one yet. bought the roof mount from gcps, but its still in the box, 
 

[Florida Curdog]

Mine is good out to about a mile before I lose them. I pick them back up pretty quick.