DC30 loosing "COMM" with the 220

[Spokerider]

One of my DC30 collars is not working as good as it once did. The 220 alarm goes off every few minutes to tell me that the communication with the collar has been lost. This happens even when the dog is close, like 15m away. Why?? When I scroll to the collar info screen, it shows that there is no communication happening, with the "COMM" bars and the "GPS" bars empty. After a short while, it communicates again and all is good until it happens the next time, often just minutes away........repeat. Gets to be a PITA after a while.

I can sort of see this happening if I watch the collar info screen. First, the "COMM" goes down to just 2 bars, then the 2 bars turn red, then it goes to no bars and the 220 alarm sounds. The "GPS" bars do not waver, [ until alarm goes, then no GPS bars as mentioned above ] and remain strong and green, it's just the COMM bars that decrease this way. It seems to follow this pattern, time and time again.


I have;

* updated the 220 software to current, twice
* updated the collar software to current
* removed and then re-added the collar to the 220
* tried a new "tuff skin" antenna, and then put the OEM antenna back on...with no change
* have never used the 220 around a VHF radio, ever


What is going on?

[Rod Vinson]

Have you replaced the GPS antenna??? it has a real small wire that can break very easy..

[Spokerider]

Have you replaced the GPS antenna??? it has a real small wire that can break very easy..

You talking about the GPS antenna [ little square box on top of collar ] on the DC30 collar? If so, no, I have not opened it, or replaced the thin wire threaded through the collar strap. Reason being, when I watch the dog info screen, the GPS bars are all there, full strength. It's the COMM bars that diminish, go red, then dissapear. That means it's a radio communication problem with the 220, no? and not a DC30 GPS to satellite issue.

[Steve White]

Is it the only collar you own? Do other collars work with the 220? If so, then look at the GPS antenna. If not, then look at the 220 itself.

[Buddyw]

That means it's a radio communication problem with the 220, no? and not a DC30 GPS to satellite issue.

You are correct. I would check you antenna connections really good (sounds like you did) , Make sure they are clean, etc, but it sounds like it's something with the Collar, ie the electronics and it comes and goes.

Perhaps disconnect the battery for 10 minutes.. I don't think this will help but it's worth a shot to save 90 dollars.

Garmin will charge 90 dollars to replace it with a refurbished 30. if that's what you want to do.

Buddy

[Spokerider]

It's not the only DC30 I have. I have one other. It too looses COMM more often than it did when it was new, but its not nearly as bad as the one I'm troubleshooting now.

I did disconnect the battery for an hour........made no difference.
Have cleaned the radio antenna contacts well, again, no difference.
Will try reinstalling software on both the 220 and the DC30 again for loss of what else to try.

Was trying it out again in the yard.........me with the 220 in hand and the DC30 on a stump.
When the alarm goes off and " communication is lost" is displayed on the screen, the 220 still seems to track the collar. The arrow in the compass points in the direction the collar is, and the distance is displayed, and these change as I walk around the yard. But the dog status shows just a ?, and not what the dog is doing. Also, when communication has been lost, the COMM and GPS bars, [ on the dog info screen ] and battery status do not get displayed. Nor will the term "nearby" be displayed with lost communication.

Maybe this explanation is thorough enough for someone to be able to pin-point the problem.

Also, I calibrate the compass each time I use the 220.......if that matters.

[Steve White]

I asked if the 220 worked with any other collars. You now say that 2 are not working properly. Soooo, does the 220 work properly with any collar? Perhaps it is not the collars. Starting to sound like the 220 itself, and a broken antenna connector. There should be no side to side movement of the antenna at the base. Easier to tell for me at least with antenna off. If you can wiggle the connector there is a good chance it is broken. It's a good idea to check the nut once in awhile to make sure it is tight. Just in case.

All that you have said is normal. If you do not have a signal between the unit and collar. It is not going to give you any info on the collar. The 220 will still show a direction arrow to the collar, and the distance. This is the last known position of it before signal was lost. If you do have a comm signal. But a poor gps signal. It may show a question mark in regards to what the dog is doing. In many cases like this though. You will still see the question mark moving. It still has a fix on the collar, just not enough to show the state of dog.

[Spokerider]

I asked if the 220 worked with any other collars. You now say that 2 are not working properly. Soooo, does the 220 work properly with any collar? Perhaps it is not the collars. Starting to sound like the 220 itself, and a broken antenna connector. There should be no side to side movement of the antenna at the base. Easier to tell for me at least with antenna off. If you can wiggle the connector there is a good chance it is broken. It's a good idea to check the nut once in awhile to make sure it is tight. Just in case.

All that you have said is normal. If you do not have a signal between the unit and collar. It is not going to give you any info on the collar. The 220 will still show a direction arrow to the collar, and the distance. This is the last known position of it before signal was lost. If you do have a comm signal. But a poor gps signal. It may show a question mark in regards to what the dog is doing. In many cases like this though. You will still see the question mark moving. It still has a fix on the collar, just not enough to show the state of dog.

Steve,
Thank you for the explanation on what I am seeing on the 220 when communication has been lost. You have explained it well, as things were not adding up in my head....why the 220 was still tracking the collar, arrow pointing to it, even when the COMM was lost, but with a "?" in place of a proper dog status icon.

I will investigate the possibility of a broken 220 antenna at the base, as suggested. I did have a problem with the little rubber ducky antenna.........the rubber top being pulled off exposing the coil wire inside. I have a new long range 220 antenna to try also.

I do not have any other 220 or 320 to try the collars on, and I just bought a brand new DC40 from Buddy but had to send it back as it was not turnng on. Awaiting on a new one.

[Steve White]

Not the antenna. The antenna connector on the 220 itself. When the nut comes loose it breaks the solder connection to the board on the inside of the 220.

Wish you would say if it is working with any collar or not.

[Spokerider]

Not the antenna. The antenna connector on the 220 itself. When the nut comes loose it breaks the solder connection to the board on the inside of the 220.

Wish you would say if it is working with any collar or not.

I did some more testing with the two DC30 collars and the 220 today. Both collars were left on a stump in the yard, and I did a walk-about with the 220 in hand, as before. I wanted to see if it was just one collar loosing communication with the 220, or if both of them were, as Steve has been asking me to determine.

To start, they both lost communication right off the get go. Confused by this, as I thought one to be working ok, I decided to remove the original rubber ducky antenna on the 220 and put on a new 14" flexible antenna. Immediately, the one DC30 I thought to be ok, started working properly again. The other DC30 did not work properly. It was out of communication more than it was receiving it, again, this was walking around my yard 40m away from the collars. So, no change with one collar and one seem to work ok during the 10 minute test. I tried wiggling the antenna at the base as I walked, to see if maybe a loose antenna connector was the issue, but no change. I could not feel any movement, side to side or front to back, at the 220 antenna connector with the antenna in place or removed. On the rubber ducky antenna I had on at first, I discovered that the coil wire inside was completely severed from the connector nut........no wonder it wasn't working.

I have tried to tighten the antenna connector nut, but it was not loose.

So, back to the DC30 that is not working....... could it be the WCX plug, terminal, or whatever it is called.......where the wire from the collar gps little square box, that feeds through the inside of the nylon collar and goes into the collar circut board? Maybe a break in that wire itself? In the Astro manual, it says that if a "?" shows on the dog screen, it means that the collar has lost gps reception with the satellites.

I don't have another 220 to try the collar on, and have not yet received the new DC40 to try on my 220.

[Spokerider]

I asked if the 220 worked with any other collars. You now say that 2 are not working properly.

On my last trip with the dogs, I experinced the two collars not working properly, and the trip before that, it was just the one collar. That left me wondering WTF is going on?......now the other collar is on the blink. In hind sight, I think it was the buggered rubber ducky antenna that I had put on the 220 for my last trip that caused both collars to loose "COMM". The trip before that, I had the 14" flexible antenna on the 220, and only the one DC30 lost COMM.


The testing today was only 10 minutes long, so this theory is not solid until I get the good collar on the dog for a few hours......

[Steve White]

Yes, the book is right. It will show a ? if GPS comm is lost. But if you have no comm at all. It will not know if there is a gps signal. So it will show lost. If you have comm but no gps. There is a gps problem. You have no comm at all. That is a unit problem. Even if the antenna connector is broken. At close range(next to each) it will still work. You will have little range beyond that as it has no antenna. I have seen connector nuts both loosen and tighten. I have seen them go in and out as the antenna makes contact on occasion. If the board got burned up. It gets progressively worse. Until tracking beyond 50yds or less becomes impossible.

If the collar is blinking properly than you have a GPS signal.

[Spokerider]

So if the collar has a GPS to satellite problem, the "?" appears.

If there is NO communication between the collar and the 220, the "?" will still appear, because the 220 cannot know the GPS signal has been lost, via the no communication problem.

Communication between the collar and the 220, at very close range......as in almost touching, but not at longer distances indicates vhf antenna or possibly antenna connector nut problems.

NO communication, even when almost touching the collar, indicates a 220 problem.

Communication bars lit green, but NO gps bars green, indicates collar gps problems. There will still be a "?" showing with this problem.

If the collars are blinking 2-3 concurrent blinks, then there IS working gps function.

Steve, have I got this correct?



I may have corrected the problem with the non-working collar.
I replaced the original vhf antenna with a tuff skin antenna. I had this one on once before, but had since replaced it with the original when trying to trouble shoot this problem. Anyway, it's working with the Tuff skin on now.......

I also disconnected the WPX terminal on the collar, and most gingerly spread the tabs on the connector, almost not at all, and then removed the wire from the nylon collar. I couldn't see any obvious breaks or faults along the braided wire, and so cleaned the crud out from the collar, replaced the wire, pressing the WPX terminal firmly into place. Consequently, the collar worked as it shoud again, with the COMM and GPS bars full and green. So, I'm not sure what exactly fixed it [ or hope it is finally fixed ], maybe taking the WPX terminal off and putting it back on? Dunno. Where the wire goes into the square plastic box, it is all selaed, so one can't open it up to look for a fault inside there. Anyway, I hope it is fixed.


I have learned that these are fiddley, fickle gadgets at best, and no matter how well, and how carefully you care for your Garmin equipment, it can and will give you trouble one day. Oh how we come to rely on these trackers.

Thanks to those that have helped me troubleshoot this problem. Hopefully others will find this thread of help when the need arrises.