BigGameHoundsmen.com

Anybody out there have any new info on when the DC40s are going to be available. See they are being advertised.Thanks

Where are you seeing ads for a DC40???? Garmin has not said a word about that yet.

DU Graphics has one but says out of order 175.00 should be available early fall?

That is beyond funny!! Might just get banned for this. Yet, is it not funny to be selling something before it is even out, and to be advertising the selling of illegally pirated software chips, IE topo chips for $15!!!! Isn't that funny Buddy???

Steve,

I'm Sorry if you are offended or have your feelings hurt. I didn't think I was doing anything misleading, ... If you notice or you look on my website I'm very clear and honest about what it is. But I'll answer a couple of your questions...

#1 Yes I'm getting into the Rat race for DC40's in the search engine placement that's the only reason I have it on my site. (that's also the only reason I bought the "www.garminastrodog.com" site (although when I get the time I plan on doing some tutorials for the garmin and frequently asked questions).. It's all So it starts to show up in Google.. I'm Just forward thinking instead of waiting until Everyone and their brother is selling them and then I'm trying to compete for google Placement.. If that bothers you, I'm sorry...

#2 Garmin Is talking. Maybe not to you, so you think it's all B.S. and probably that I'm full of shit.. But they are going to come out with a Collar, they don't and won't give a date... Your guess is as good as mine, Rumor was Spring. but I know better than to believe the rumors, they've been rumors since last summer.. Not only have they said they will come out with one, they've also spoken of Limited entry and Direct sales for the first X days.... How can they say.. "You will only be able to get a DC40 Direct from garmin for the first (I think it was 90) days if they haven't been talking about it.." Anyways.. That will suck for me.. and you.. and customers because they will have to buy from garmin, and They'll have to pay full price during that time.

#3 Go to walmart and tell me how much a Blank 2gb Micro SD card is?? .. I'm not selling maps, I'm selling the card. But I do setup someones Garmin for them with maps if they buy the Blank SD card. I dont' see anywhere that I can't Program more than One Garmin with my maps...

More than 1/2 of our customers don't have or wouldn't know how to program the maps into their garmin. So I do it more as a service to my customers to be nice..

I answer ton's of questions, from folks that didn't buy from me, Just saturday I had a Guy call me up and come over with his unit still in the box from another supplier... And I took my time to show him how to use it answer questions, no questions asked.. two hours of my time for a huge return of $0.00 But I treated him right and I'm sure He'll probably call me next time.

Here is the text on my Dugraphics site conserning the DC40's... let me know If I'm some how misleading.. Sounds pretty simple to understand for me..

____________________
Garmin Astro DC40 Collar.

We are anxiously awaiting the next version of the Garmin Astro DC40 collar. Please check back often for information.

Our Sources are that Garmin will release the new Garmin DC40 collar late 2010.

As always we will have the best price garantee. You can sign up for our Newsletter for updates and be the first to know when they are made availible.

Buddy, There is nothing wrong with setting up the unit for a customer. In fact that is what separates us from the online sellers. That sell for a lower price without ever being able to get a hold of anyone. Sometimes even near dealer cost using a paper company to get around the distributor rules. Most of the time none of these people have ever turned a Astro on!!! Setup, and tech support are just a service that folks like us provide with out charge. Even with that the dollar still plays a big role. Nobody likes to pay for service, but wish they had when there is a problem.

The rumors on the DC40 have been flying around ever since the first DC30 came out of the factory. Only in the last few months has Garmin started to let some of the rumors slip out of the factory. Still it is all rumors until they actually release something. Which could be today, tomorrow, or next year. I think some of the Garmin staff has gotten fed up with the questions, and started to tell people what they wanted to hear. Which makes it worse. I was told about the 90 day release thing. I asked why they would want to basically screw over the dealer base on this. I was told if they did do such a thing. It would be to help deal with any bugs that came up right away. Some pencil pusher probably figured it was a way to increase customer satisfaction. Not considering what other effects it would have!

Lastly those chips on average are running $30-$35 at Walmart, and Radio shack. Walgreens did have them on sale a week ago for $20. Selling the chips at a better price only helps our customers. Setting them up for them hleps. One just has to be a bit careful with things when it comes to the copyright laws. I have heard of a few people getting in trouble for making chips for sale from one set of software. Hard to catch, and harder to prove. Unless it is being advertised as such. Like some have been doing on a few of these sites. Perhaps this is why Garmin has made chips available with the whole US on them, and the software available for download on their site.

Your are 100% right that some folks cant set them up. Still my favorite thing to date. Was a customer that had called saying his unit was not working. All he could see was gridlines on the map of the US. I said you need to zoom in your zoomed all the way out. Frustrated he said I did that it don't work. Let it sit for a few minutes, and walked him around the unit as a distraction. Then had him go back to the map screen. Asked him to look at the mileage scale. Then hit the in button until it said 20 instead of 500! He then laughed saying he should have listened 15 mins ago. A service call that could not have been made to Amazon.com!!!

Yep.. It's all just rumors..


Here is the link to the Owners manual.. (It's a large file, so it will take a while to load I had it with a previewer, but it was taking too long so you'll just have to download it)

Doesn't look good, It's just a draft copy.

Save a copy on your computer so you don't have to download it allot of different times.

http://www.biggamehoundsmen.com/buddyw/ ... manual.pdf


I'll post More information and any differences I can find as it becomes availible at
But initial look doesn't boad too well for the hope that Garmin was going to listen to us about what we want.. Who knows it might not be in here for Confidential reasons..

www.garminastrodog.com

There are some Dimension Changes. (Let's cross our fingers and hope Garmin has a Surprize for us that is not evident in this owners manual.)

There is more talk of Being Water Proof with some specs, So they may have changed the Case and made it more water proof, Or they have stuff a little more battery in there???

Size of DC40
1.5 width, 1.9 Length, 3.7 D
Weight is 4.7 oz without collar
DC30
1.4 Width 1.7 Length, 3.3 Diameter
Weight 4.1 oz without collar

Looks like they are being advertised on gundog supply.Wont be out till august.

http://www.gundogsupply.com/asdcco.html

...

The official press release came from Garmin today at 1:20pm. A preliminary release came at 10:04 am.

There have been some minor changes. Nothing that is going to make me wait to buy another. In fact if anything will hope to see some close out pricing!! RIGHT NOW THEY ARE NOT AVAILABLE!!!!!! Only a press release stating the upcoming event. Expected ship date of the first ones are not until AUGUST!!!! Here a statement Garmin on the matter.

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Notice on Forward-Looking Statements:

This release includes forward-looking statements regarding Garmin Ltd. and its business. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and actual results could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Garmin, including, but not limited to, the risk factors listed in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 26, 2009, filed by Garmin with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission file number 0-31983). Copies of these filings are available at www.garmin.com/aboutGarmin/invRelations/finReports.html. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Garmin undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

***************************************************************************


I will not pre sell these or take a nickel for these collars until they are available. Since things may change. AS OF RIGHT NOW!!!!! Our pricing will not change. If it were today the price would still be $160. If shipping changes, Garmins pricing changes then the price would change. Based on the pricing info I got today though. The price on everything will remain the same!!! I will generate a wish list with your name on it, and ship in the order they are received.

Here is the overall info on the collar coming out.


**************************************************************************

New Product Announcement

GPS-enabled dog tracking transmitter









DC™ 40
Garmin International is pleased to announce the new DC 40 transmitter for the Astro® dog tracking system. The DC 40 combines a high-sensitivity GPS receiver and a VHF antenna, all in one small transmitter. A bright, orange polyurethane collar makes for great visibility, extreme durability and easy maintenance so you can focus on the hunt. The redesigned charging contacts are flush with the unit, so they don’t get clogged with dirt and mud. A new flashing LED-charging indicator lets you know when the battery is charged and ready to go. You can mount an e-collar receiver next to the DC 40, eliminating the need for two collars on the dog. A Collar Lock option uses a four-digit PIN number that helps prevent others with Astro receivers from tracking your dog’s whereabouts. Get into the hunt with the DC 40!


Product Features and Specifications
· Dog position updates every 5, 10, 30 or 120 seconds
· 17 to 48 hour battery life
· High-sensitivity GPS receiver
· Seven-mile range, depending on terrain
· Rugged, IPX7 waterproof design
· User replaceable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery
· 5.1 oz for transmitter and antenna
· 8.0 oz total weight

NOTE: The current Astro bundle with DC 30 (010-00596-01) and DC 30 (010-11049-00) will be discontinued on 11/30/10.

Product Configurations

cabelas is advertising them in the new fall catalog for $199 and will be available july 15. they dont really sound like thy have made much of an impovement over the dc 30. they have longer battery life only if you set the collar to respond at 120 second intervals. also they are advertising them to have only a 5 mile range where as the dc 30 has a 7 mile range. i am pretty dissapointed in them and dont think i would spend the extra money. you would think after all this time they would have come up with something better. i personally am going to wait and see what marshal comes out with.

Both myself, and Buddy wish we could make an extra $50+ dollars on a collar!! We are lucky to make a dollar or 2 for the trouble. While stores like cabela's make the big bucks. Must be nice!!

I keep hoping they will correct their short comings but they keep disappointing everyone. I wonder if they will keep coming up with little changes to keep sales up like Ike alluded to in a previous post. I think there are a few changes everyone wants and they did nothing to accommodate our request. I’ll bet everyone that owns a Garmin has called and gave some input.

We need /want a more dependable system
1. No changes to stop frying the units.
2. No longer battery life just a longer setting between reports
3. No better range (I know about line of site but range is what we want)
I would say this is the three most requested changes and they did not address a single one.
But I must give credit where it is due the collar material appears to be much better and they did reconfigure where the GPS receiver is so you can now combine collars. (But that will probably cause “Lost Satellite Reception”) we will see.
Did they fix the interference problem with other Garmin users in your area? Only time will tell if the 4 digit pin will work.
Dennis with Marshall Telemetry; I hope you are reading these post we need someone that actually knows something about hunting to produce a collar that we can depend on.
In regards to the loss of range I keep coming back to the hand held radios we all use in close proximity to our truck radios. Whatever they do to prevent them getting damaged is what Garmin needs to do the 220. (Same frequency same set of circumstances but no problems. So what is the difference? And it is not that Garmin is so sensitive because I have compared and the range of a handheld radio on the same 151 freq will get out about the same as the Garmin collar but does not get damaged by a truck mounted 151 radio pushing 25 watts.)

DH, I'm not sure to either ignore you, or keep on posting a rebutal to your comments. Since I seem to be a glutton for punishment will continue with this.

On your first item. You are dead wrong. They did add a shield to help prevent problems. I suppose it helped, but have not tried it directly. As I have not ever had a problem in the marine band or above. From what I have found those that have were using a magnet mount antenna on those channels. Using the same channels well, lets just say Mama Gump was right. As for other radios, well please come, or send your radio to me. Be glad to blow it up transmitting on the same channel close by. What do you think all that squealing is about? It sure is not helping the radio!!!!

The second item you are right. Yet, we did go over this many times!!!! More battery life means bigger battery. So the collar will weigh more. People complained from the get go about an 8oz collar compared to a johnson 16oz. What do you want them to do.

The 3rd item. Well, I just cannot talk about this anymore. I'm so tired of repeating myself on this. May just punch the next guy who brings it up in person square in the mouth. Just for being the stupid person on that day. If all these folks that think a magic wand can be waived to increase distance, and spout off about. Were smart enough to do something to change the laws of physics. Then they would have more money than Bill Gates. As every cell phone company, Law/ems agency, and hell every thing in communications would be changed that day. No more 300ft cell towers. No more antennas period. Boy would that not be nice. Hell, these folks think the range can just be changed with a few diodes. Wish they would do it here for the cell company. I had work to do on a drive today. Had a 30 mile dead zone in northern WI/UP of MI. No towers allowed due to the Nicolet National Forest. Geeeeee, Guess I was outside the 5 mile line of sight to a digital tower had an impact. Don't suppose that is ever a problem in FL!!!

I apologize to those of you that understand how things work more than others for my ranting. After almost 2 yrs now this has sure gotten redundant!!!!!!!! I am like everyone else, and would love to track my dogs from coast to coast. It just cannot happen right now. So let me be the bad guy. I'm OK with that!