DC 30

[kiwibacon]

 I owned a Tracker Maxima for 4years and run five collars . Im a mad keen kiwi pighunter   hunting every weekend and two or three times in the summer  , I learnt how to use the tracker maxima  very well And was happy with it .
 Sitting  around  in the bush or back at the ute   after the hunt   telling stories  we would often say it would be unreal if we could  have GPS tracking gear. Our dream has arrived with the ASTRO As soon as it was out i was very Happy to sell my Tracker Maxima which had  saved me many hours of time looking for lost dogs The Tracker Maxima found my dogs when lost ! Got me to pigs that i would of never found  with out radio tracking gear    I could not believe it  I sold Tracker Maxima  and was able to buy the Astro and four DC20 collars  and still had a $100 in my back pocket for being a guinea pig 
 Having the LCD screen on the Astro with the tropigraphical map of your hunting area is  hard to beat , I have been running the DC 20 with a whip antenna under the necks of my dogs and have had them water proofed     THANKS to  the Astro Im getting   to the pigs  a lot FASTER than ever before  and have so much  more info on each dog and where  they are and what they are doing then ever before.   The Astro has changed my hunting for the BETTER    My  FRUSTATION is with Garmin  and the change of release dates and the bundle being released first .
I believe the hunters that have been running the DC20 collars would of been the ones to put the DC30 to a true test and  could give Garmin {the liars that they are} good or bad feed back on the DC30.

I believe the knockers of the GPS tracking gear are living in the stone age

Get the cobwebs out of your pockets GPS is here to stay and will only get better

[Hogger]

Well said Kiwibacon.

[Clay]

My only question for kiwi is what happens when your dogs leave the range of the gps unit? I dont have long range dogs nor do my hunting partners. But i can tell you this for sure with quick track i have found dogs that would have been lost with out that quick track. I tracked my dog through a town and out the other side i think around 13 miles. How she got there who cares but i still have her to hunt because i had a good system to find her that pointed me to her. Also what happens when you get under some clouds and lose satalite signal?

[kiwibacon]

 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

[got2catchem]

  I guess its just a matter of preference. As for me personally, I dont need to watch a LCD display to let me know that my dogs are working and what they are doing. Its simple, as long as my dogs hunt hard and find hogs, I'm happy. I decided recently to buy a tracking system and me being me, I wanted to do as much research as possible before buying. I hunt with a buddy that has the astro and DC 20's and also have hunted w/another buddy who has the radio collars. I called my buddy with the astro and DC 20's and asked what he thought of them and his reply was,'' that if I decide to buy the astro and DC 20's, would I mind buying a couple of extra attennas and backplates because his were broken." Well that right there told me all I needed to know. My other buddy highly recommended the radio colars(quick track). He said the service was great and he has had few problems w/em. Between that and me figureing that people have been using radio collars successfully for a long time, I ended up buying one. I got it in the mail on friday and ended up useing it Sunday to find a rangy gyp of mine. Good luck with the DC 30's.

[Circle C]

Kiwi,

   
 

I believe the knockers of the GPS tracking gear are living in the stone age

You may be right. Most of what I have read is knocking Garmin as opposed to new technology

Get the cobwebs out of your pockets GPS is here to stay and will only get better

I agree that GPS is here to stay. Once there is more demand for the GPS systems, other companies will begin marketing the GPS, and Garmin will then have some real competition. As it is, they pretty much have the market sewn up, and are able to sell a product with questionable longevity. With competition, the quality will improve it just takes time.

For the time being, I decided to get a different set of cobwebs in my pocket. I sold my Tracker Maxima, and last week bought a QuickTrack 6000, with the quickshot antenna.    I am sure it is only a matter of time and I will buy a GPS system. Just hoping that a company like quick track or Marshall will offer one, as opposed to Garmin.

[jhy]

After thinking about this for  a while, I dont think that the GPS systems will ever be as reliable as the telemtry.  There is no way to fix something to get a signal out of thick cover.  If the transmitter cant get a signal to a satellite then you cant track.  With telemtry the satellite is not in the equation making it a more direct and reliable means of dog recovery.  Im not going to rely on it to get my dogs home.  Not to mention the battery life.
Joey

[kiwibacon]

  Garmin     That  is not a good word  in my home  at the moment  And I bet the suppliers of hunting gear  that sell for GARMIN  are living a nightmare! And  as for paying money out on a roomer  I have never been so embarassed       I hope like hell the DC 30  is going to live up to my expatiations . I  will be a very tough critic on any gear that GARMIN release on the market .I will not be buying anything but the ASTRO  from GARMIN for the LIES  they have told  about the release of the DC30 .       

[kiwibacon]

I am happy as with the DC30 works well in the same places the DC20 lost signal . Have not had the dog go out over a km so im not to shaw on the distance in the bush.I put DC30 on ute and went for drive lost signal at 5km , not 7km Think the speed of the ute mite have something to do with lost signal at the 5km mark just a thought  For the price of the Astro and DC 30 it's going to be a hard one to beat in my book