Garmin Astro 220 Problems

[eROKv]

i assumed there would be a new model number if/when they made a change like that...

[clb]

..

[bluedogs249]

[BuckNAze]

You got to try it out since you got it back? How does it do in rugged country, just a lot of drainages, high ridges? My buddy has one and it seems to work alright, sometimes you have to get closer though to find them and get a signal again but it worked pretty good. Just wanted to know your thoughts on it.

[bluedogs249]

[BuckNAze]

I wonder what date they fixed that at so that you can pick up the collars at a longer range? Im going to be getting a 3 collar setup here about early september after my wedding. Wonder if I would have to buy straight from Garmin or not to get the newer setup? Meaning they fixed the range on the unit. I know on ebay I can get the 3 collar setup for like $869

[eROKv]

four weeks into my experiment to see if keeping the antennas far apart will help delay the astro from getting fried by the vhf radio. they are just about 20 feet apart on my truck. i only use low power (5 watts) on my vhf radio and i try to use it as little as possible. if i have to use high power, i always disconnect the antenna and turn it off. 80% of the time even using low power i will disconnect the antenna if at all possible.



i hunt 3 days/week and after a month, it could be just my imagination but it seemed like this past weekend my astro started showing signs of getting weaker like the last ones did. i will know for sure in the next month because the other units were always completely burnt out before kill season started (september).

[blackpaws]

i just thought i would share an experience with my astro. i have had my truck mount antenna connected to my astro for about a week. screwed it on to the unit just finger tight. last night i went to take it out of my truck and tried to unscrew the antenna and all that happend was the post that the antenna screws on to just spun around. the damage was already done. i finally got it unscrewed after holding the post with a screw driver but now i can only get 50 yards of reception. when i got the antenna unscrewed i notice that there was a nut that holds the post in place. that nut wasn't tight at all. that must hold the post in place. if you have a unit, you may want to take a socket(i think it is a 3/8)and tighten that nut to hold the post in place. needless to say my astro is on its way to garmin for repair today.

as for my hunting with the garmin this season so far it has been going pretty good. i have been doing a little test of my own. i have been tossing around ideas to be able to leave my astro on and kind of settled on one thing. i use my truck radio(25 watts) in the morning when first getting started and need longer reception and as soon as i get a hunt going, i just use my handheld set on 1 watt. i took the rubber antenna that came on my handheld off and noticed it was the sma connection the same as the astro. so i am going to hook that roof mount antenna on to my handheld and just use that set on 1 watt while a hunt is going. i have other handhelds to carry in the woods. i should be able to just leave my astro on then and maybe buy another roof mount antenna to hook to the astro. the handheld set on one watt shouldn't hurt the astro at all since it is only one watt.

[bluedogs249]

I am reading about using low power on your radios.
I have a Yeasu VHF radio and can adjust the power.
I plan to use 10 watts of power.
My antennas are about 8 feet apart.
I will start training on the 8th.
Wish me luck and hope the Garmin holds up!!

[doghunter]

I have been searching all over trying to find someone with the same problem I am having with the loss of range.

I recently spoke with Garmin and they said the original units would be damaged if used close to a 25 watt radio but all the new units and any remanufactured units now have a beefed up board that can handle up to 50 watts. I have sent back a total of 8 units for the same problem. I wonder if this fix will solve our problem.

I continue to ask what the high watts damage so may be we can get someone other than Garmin to find a fix but I have had no success.

Does anyone know what exactly is damaged and has anyone used one of the new units with the upgraded board.

Also does anyone know how to hook up a bigger screen.

The range here in Florida is between 1 and 2 miles and there appears to be no difference in range between the dc20 and dc30.

[Steve White]

Well some of you know that I have been posting very detailed reports on the Garmin. Thier use, testing, and so forth. For those that do not visit those sites let me add a few things. Please excuse me if I get a bit blunt as I am getting tired of some of the BS guys are slinging!

First blowing up the units. Well most of this comes from the guys that are transmitting on or near the garmin channels. You would not do that with a beep beep box, but think you can with a much more advanced piece of equipment. That is just wrong. I hear people say that they are are doing it on the marine band. Well, like one guy said it is illegal, but I really doubt the truth is being told. The reason is I have extensively tested this. Taping the Garmin to my antenna of my 65 watt radio and transmittng. Not a single problem has come of it. The unit is still working just fine. I still use the radio on high power all the time with out problem. I did though make a stupid mistake. I hunted with some guys uisng the 151 band. Left mine on for maybe 30mins and transmitted a few times. Sure enough blew one up. Garmins fault? I think not!!!Yes spacing the antenna will help. Making sure your equipment is probaly tuned also makes a big difference in everything. Yet I have not been able to duplicate most of the problems guys say they have. One post said they could only get 2 miles of range. Well that is pretty decent depending on your antenna. Range is based on line of sight no matter what type of radio you are using. I don't care what anyone says or thinks. You can not beat basic physics. Yet, there are still people out there that feel a rock falls faster than a feather. You want more range get higher with the antenna or your unit. Just like with anything else. Really if you want to break it down to simple form. It is like talking handheld to handheld. That is your range. Want more change the antenna, and height. I get real tired of people telling me they can track a collar for 20 miles using a blue box. BS! The only way possible is to get higher with it. If this was possible why do we have towers for fire/police radio and cell towers. You think they build 300ft towers for the fun of it. When these little tracking boxes can do so well without them. Climb a 300ft tower and see how far you can track your dogs! It seems the guys with an open mind that have been using them are finding out how far the old beep beep stuff can actually track. Just because you have to drive 10 miles around to get to the dogs does not mean that is how far you tracked. It may have only been 1 mile.

That is enough of that rant. I hope someone learned something. Now a few other things.

I am a Garmin dealer. I talk to them several times a week. Not once has there been any mention of a change in the units. It may be in the works, and I hope so. Yet as of now that is not the case. Service is great overall. So when you do have a problem it can be taken care of fairly quick. There is going to be a few problems here and there. Name something that has not had them. I have had far more problems with my beep beep stuff than the Garmin so far. Also right now there is nobody else really coming out with anything. Tracker is working on something, but cell phone based. Which is a joke. Maybe something is in the works, but it is being kept under raps.

interference? Well like said hit enter twice and good to go for the most part. it does get to be a pain if 2 collars are on the same channel. So change the channel, and problem solved.

Picking up the collars- Well they are not beep beep collar. Cannot just pull the magent and go. They need to aquire the sattelites and such. it is best to turn everything on long before turning a dog loose. Some boxes block these signals which delay the response time. In some cases this does not help. Changing the collar id at this point seems to help a whole lot. Some id's work better in some areas than others. Just like radio channels do!

In closing for now. I will tell you this. All my dogs where nothing but a garmin collar now. My biggest problem with them is that it has screwed up my summer weight loss program. Also it has put more money in my wallet in gas savings which I just hate!

More problems/issues let me know. More than happy to help all figure it out. It will just help everyone.

[scotty]

All I can say is that in the western United States they can definitely be in spots where they CAN track 20 miles. I know from experience. Anyone out west can verify that!

[Steve White]

Scotty, I agree, and dont doubt it. Yet if you look at it. You will most likely notice you are on a hill/ mountain. Thus increasing the line of sight. Remember folks the curvature of the earth applies as well. Take a row boat on the ocean vs a cruise ship. Standing on the beach what do you see 7miles out. bet it wont be the row boat!! See how line of sight works. Even with binoculars once an object at the same height as you goes beyond the curve you will not see it. You could have the huble telescope and not see a rowboat at 10 miles. Given it was at the same height as you. It would be beyond the curve of the earth. Now you raise the height and the distance increases.

Again, this is why we have radio/tv towers. Also way we have fire towers in the forest. Can't see smoke 20miles away standing on the ground!

Hope this makes sense to some of you!

[eROKv]

after six weeks of using our astros, heres where my group stands:

• one guy who only has been hunting three days - his astro works fine

• i've been there every day but i take precautions like unhooking the antenna and turning it off and only transmitting my radio on low power and keeping the antennas far apart - im losing the dogs signals at a mile or maybe a little more now where when it was brand new i never lost them inside of a five miles no matter what terrain or line of sight.

• one guy who didnt take any precautions and transmitted on high power all the time and was there pretty much everyday - his astro doesnt work at all anymore as of sunday.

i dont wanna debate whether or not its garmin's fault that the marine radios burn out the astro - thats not the point. the main thing is that this pretty much shows that the astro is not the answer for my hunting group and we will have to wait for the next big thing, unless they can do something to address this issue.

(FYI using a marine band radio on land in wisconsin is perfectly legal - the only catch is that if you get up close to the lake and are interfering with marine traffic and the coast guard tells you to shut up then you have to do so. we have been using them for over 20 years)

[blackpaws]