Garmin Truck Antenna Problems

[kirpa]

When you get so low range out of garmin have you tried to do software update?
I downloaded latest update 3.5 and now i get 2.5 kilometers out of mine with stock antenna. Before update i got only one kilometer. I dont know does it work there but here in Europe it worked.

[Steve White]

Kirpa- It has helped some, but nothing that drastic that I have heard. Glad it worked that well for you. Now update your collars!!! The current for them is 3.6. That has helped a lot of folks especially with the DC40's. I had a couple of collars start to get flaky after the putting in the 3.5. Updating to 3.6 had them working better than ever.

[Caincando1]

Seen as how we have such a big discussion going, I might as well continue it. Here are a couple picture of the section we ran last weekend. As you can see it’s not perfectly flat but has just a little bit of roll to it. That may be all it takes to lose line of sight connection. But because the roads aren’t any higher it’s hard to get the Astro up above the rolls to get better reception. BTW this is an old picture, the corn is long gone this year.

[Caincando1]

Here are a few pictures of some very typical sections that we run. Again as you can see it’s flat, but not perfectly flat. There is just enough elevation change to lose line of sight. But again, the there isn’t any high ground to get up onto with the Astro. I think antenna height will make a big difference for us.

Doghunter, have you guys tried experimenting with antenna height? I’m curious what happens if you get the antenna or Astro up 10 feet or so off the ground. Could you stand on top of your truck or something and see if you get more range? That would be a quick way to tell if you are having line of sight issues.

[Steve White]

That sure is purdy looking! I have to be on a lake to see that far. I can see how some of those ditch lines and such will make a difference. Form my hunting in the S WI in areas like that. A deer would use those lines and not be seen a few hundred yards away. Even though it is wide open. Unless you got up in a tri pod or something. Seem them things belly crawl brush lines to stay out of sight.

I have many times before Garmin and after. Stood on top of the truck. Happens a lot in the summer months. Sometimes will even try that to gt that extra 2ft by balancing on the water cooler It does help a little.

Will have to try to snap a few shots tomorrow while hunting. The only ones I got today are from the guy carrying the yote out, and have not loaded them up yet.

[doghunter]

central Florida where i live is just as hilly or hiller than that picture and i do get better range with dead spots than the flat spots i hunt in. I have tried getting on the dog box and it does not appear to help, but i know it has to help line of site.

[doghunter]

just read your post Mr. White, thank for the reply maybe we can get it figured out. Happy hunting and I look forward to your future post. we probably need to worry more about a place to run our dogs than how we are going to find them

[Steve White]

Dh, you are right. Please though, don't call me mister. I put me pants on the same as you. I want tracking systems that work all the time same as anyone else. Have done and tried just about anything I can to increase range. It's why I have an antenna made for me to help with this. We are all in this together.

Here is a pic of what a lot of the area we hunt in looks like. Some areas thicker, some more open with larger trees. Most critters stay out of the open hardwoods though.

[Caincando1]

We have a few areas around here that thick. But they are only a couple hundred acres big and we call them the "big woods".

[Steve White]

Broke a range record yesterday in the area I normally hunt. Have gotten a little better in some flatter more open country to the south. But around here 3 miles is about the most. Hard to say as rarely do I use the long range antenna. Still I believe the longer range overall lately has been due to the improvements to the software. It does seem that range has been better since the updates. With the long rubber ducky I have been getting as much as 2.6 miles. 1.6-2 is normal. The portable long range though held a signal yesterday to 4.1 miles. Very consistent at 3.5. 1 sled short yesterday so I played road man. Which really stunk as the yote was really lining out. Nobody thought to get out front enough. Dogs were caught off it sight running it. Man did that tick me off!!!!

Here are some pics. Since there was nothing I could do but take pics since I was out of it without a sled!

Here is one of the garmin showing the range. The signal on the dogs behind the ones that just got lost were the collars on the sleds. You can see how they were way behind. The front sled was at 3.8 miles.



Here is one of the normal range with the long rubber duck. Of course I just lost signal taking the pic. Would have waited for it again, but partner was broke down and needed to take his truck to him to load the sled.



This one is just for those that have had concerns with power lines. All ranges, were achieved while sitting under this high tension power line. With a feeder line breaking off with transformer right a few yards away.



A close up of the cover in front. Just to show it does get thick. A few hills between me and the dogs. Along with a couple of swamps, a creek, and many snow covered trees!!

[J HUNT]

Steve - Were results achieved while using the DC30's or DC40s?

Also if I update my Garmin Software will I lose all of my map points that I have stored?

Thanks , Jason

[Steve White]

Jason, That was the DC30's. No you will not lose your info when updating. It is best though to save those waypoints, and tracks. It is real easy to do from the mapsource software. Just receive the info from the unit. Once it is uploaded to the mapsource save the file. Name it with a date so when you add way points and such later on you can keep them separate. By saving this info it will also help you later if something happens to the unit, and you can easily upload the info to a friends unit. Since the unit only holds 50 tracks. I have seperate files fro different areas I may hunt where I have added roads/trails in the area that do not appear on the map. Some of the old or new logging roads that were not mapped out. Sure makes things easier to know for sure where to walk in.

[Paul Conway]

Hurry up Marshall !

Marshall has already failed us. That same statement I pasted above was used when the Astros first came out, and we're still waiting for Marshall, tracker (we'll maybe were not waiting for tracker anymore) to come out with a GPS system. garmens first collars were what they were, but it served the purpose of getting them into the hunters hands and showing thier potential. Garmin sure learned quickly. They've made meaningful collar upgrades twice while were still waiting for other companies to come out with thier units (are others even working on them at this point? The DC30 is worlds apart from the DC20, but Garmin got us to all buy thier systems back then. Our group of houndsmans all have an astro and 2-4 collars, how would we ever recoup a good portion of our money on those to sell them and invest in a Marshall GPS or Tracker GPS?? I field tested the Tracker GPS system several years ago, based on a cell phone. While it worked better than I thought the collar was inferior to a DC30 or DC40 collar by a lot in my opinion. How could that have been? and we all know basing a recovery collar on a cell phone,presents a huge cell coverage and confidence issue. not to mention cell phone battery usage, battery life when it needs to search for signals repeatedly even when on and not in use, etc, etc, etc. It seems like they've scalled back thier entire US operation as a whole since that time. A representative tried to convince me that they had not "come late to the dance" as I suggested to them years ago, but it's apparrent all comers have come late to the dance, but Garmin and tracker already had a GPS unit being used in Europe prior to Garmins coming out................... Paul Conway

[Steve White]

Paul, that was a good post. I beleive tracker has given up on it as well. Garmin has now come out with a cell based unit. Not really for hound use though. Faces the same logistic problems again with cell coverage, monthly cost, etc.

Garmin is not without it's faults. Just like any other product. Yet they are constantly working on making improvements. Just can't wave a magic wand and fix everything overnight.