BigGameHoundsmen.com

This is not the best or worst you ever tracked but what you can expect on an everyday basis

Used to be only yards, but since I got the long range antena I have a 1 mile range and it has went as far as 7 miles but I had a good straight shot.

I see a couple of people have posted over 4 miles of tracking range they can count on. If everyone else had that kind of luck with range I think we all would be happy and could stop agravating steve with the fact we all want 4+ miles of tracking before getting a ? mark. So i wonder if they are hunting where they are tracking on a hill and it helps with the line of site or if there is just a few good Garmins out there that do exceed the normal 1.8 miles or less most of us get.

I know of someone that claims he gets 5 miles continuous in Central Florida and another that claims about the same in North Florida (neither are on this site) I wonder how they beat the line of site thing (no mountains here). The people i am speaking of i do trust them to give a honest report of their range.

This was not to call out anyone on range but to show that some do get the range Garmin claims it can. So i dont think we need to figuare out how to beat the line of site. It is just not all Garmin units are created equal and most of us have the run of the mill unit that gets average reception. If they can make a few right then they should make them all to the same standards. I know I would like one of the good ones that get 4,5 or 6 miles.

bout 600 yards

James,

I am having lots more trouble with collars than with the recievers.

We are finding that with the newest collars shipped range is a problem. Also battery recharge properties have been suspect at best. These newest collars are not giving near the service that some two year old collars are giving.

Good luck with getting a reciever that works as good as ours. Lets hope that the Marshall rumors are true....I think that Garmin may be trying to the jump on Marshall with the DC-40 launch(how disapointed I am with the DC-40).

See U in October!

CJC

Ok with 40 awnsers it appears 70% can not track over about 2 miles with a few (3) claiming they can get over 4 miles every day. If i had one of those units that was also protected from getting fried You would never hear me complain about the Garmin again.

So if these 3 people can count on over 4 miles of tracking on a everyday basis then what does "line of site" have to do with it.

before i get bombarded with line of site responces I do understand Line of Site and do agree it is a limitation that has to be delt with. but I am pretty sure I know one of the people that responded and my Garmins will not do 4+ miles in the same woods. I have one Garmin that has never been used around any type of raido it is new and it tracks about the same as the one i have sent back over and over for burning up because of high raido output in close proxmity. I get about 800 yards with the small antenna and between 1.2 and 1.8 miles with the long range antenna.

i will bet that if the poll was only with the stock antenna you would have 80% under 1 mile.

any ideas or responces to the fact that some of the units may be better thatn others.

here is another thread that supports the same issuehttp://www.biggamehoundsmen.com/fo ... 20&t=13688

It looks to me like line of site is not as big of an issue as Garmin just not building all units equal.

while running bear this weekend up in the adirondicks mnts. in ny, i was getting about 1.5 miles.

My Garmin will track just as far as the telemetry boxes. If the dogs go over the ridge, you loose both types of tracking. I have not seen one time where it would be better to track with telemetry than GPS. Telemetry is a thing of the past, like records, 8 track or cassettes. The battery life is a bummer, but I have not had a problem finding my dogs within 17 hours. Every one keeps hashing this out over and over again. The bottom line is if any one thinks they can track better with telemetry they haven't figured out how to get all the advantages from the GPS. Like I said, with real life in the field comparison I haven't seen where the telemetry had any advantages other than battery life. I have not had a problem with frying the Astro. For the price of a good telemetry box you can buy an Astro and a spare. I have had the long range antenna for the Astro for about a year and haven't used it at all. I just use the factory little rubber antenna. The month before I bought the GPS I had dogs lost over night 3 times. That was almost 2 years ago and my dogs have made it home every day since. Best piece of equipment available today.

I do think the Telementry collars work further than GPS But not much i will admitt. The real problem I have is once they get out of range you better get up with them pretty quick because of the battery life.

and then you have the uncertinty of if they are working because they may be fried.

i am just wanting Garmin to fix the Frying problem and i want mine to work as good as the next persons.

I rearly take out the telementr any more but when i need it I need it. most people dont have 10 plus dogs on the ground at one time. but i do and split races are common. I am often over 2 miles from my dogs just driving around the block to the other end. so i know telementry works a little further but is is way more consistant. (never hunter in mountains) I feel lost now when i dont have a GPS on my dogs and agree telementry is probably a thing of the past. but I still put one on each dog and when a race takes me north for 7 miles and i catch my dogs i drive back to where I last had signal on the GPS and get a ? out comes the Telementry and it allmost allways will pick up before the Garmin and gets me started in the right direction.

(I would say the telementry only works for 2 or 3 miles where I hunt. (depending on conditions) and garmin with the lonng range antenna works for 1.5 to 2 miles.

George Streepy wrote:My Garmin will track just as far as the telemetry boxes. If the dogs go over the ridge, you loose both types of tracking. I have not seen one time where it would be better to track with telemetry than GPS. Telemetry is a thing of the past, like records, 8 track or cassettes. The battery life is a bummer, but I have not had a problem finding my dogs within 17 hours. Every one keeps hashing this out over and over again. The bottom line is if any one thinks they can track better with telemetry they haven't figured out how to get all the advantages from the GPS. Like I said, with real life in the field comparison I haven't seen where the telemetry had any advantages other than battery life. I have not had a problem with frying the Astro. For the price of a good telemetry box you can buy an Astro and a spare. I have had the long range antenna for the Astro for about a year and haven't used it at all. I just use the factory little rubber antenna. The month before I bought the GPS I had dogs lost over night 3 times. That was almost 2 years ago and my dogs have made it home every day since. Best piece of equipment available today.

You must be in some dam flat treeless ground. I wish I could get 17 hrs out of a collar too. I can't hunt without the garmin but would never count on finding a lost dog with it out here. always gotta run telemetry too.

I hunt steep nasty timberland. We probably have more roads in timber country but I stay with my dogs almost all the time. When they start to head out of range I have a good handle on the direction and head around that way. I don't keep signal on them the whole time but you can look at the map and know exactly where they were. That helps alot. I charge my collars every night. I have never had an Astro get cooked, But I don't use radios that much. In steep country if the dogs go over the ridge 3/4 of a mile away it doesn't matter what you are using. Telemetry won't pick them up either. If you are hunting with a Garmin and using it to its potential, you know or have done some research on the area you are hunting, and with simple map skills the GPS is just fine. I haven't been away from my dogs more than a few hours, so the battery life hasn't been much of an issue for me. I turn my Astro and collars on when I start hunting, I know they are working, battery condition, etc before I am ever looking for dogs. I could truly care less if people don't like the Garmin, I just can't see many benefits to telemetry. Oh boy, I remember the horrible head ache I used to get listening to a damn beep-beep trying to figure out where the dogs went. How frustrating.

come down here and hunt in the winter time and you will be praying for telemetry. I bought my first garmin when they weren't even on the market yet so I feel like I know what there is to know about them. I have the maps and long range antenna, charge the collars every time I use them, make sure they are fully charged when I start, got them set on 30 sec etc. I don't use radios much at all, and I'm lucky if I get 8 - 10 hrs out of these old and new collars. not to mention burning two double a batteries in the hand held for every 8 hrs you have it on. sometimes less in cold night conditions. even my new collars are coming appart(poorly built). screen always scratched on the handheld. The only time I end up leaving dogs on the mountain is when I put gps only on them. Don't get me wrong I would hate to hunt without the gps, but they have a long ways to go to be bulletproof.

Thanks for all the real world experience. I don't think I've been so torn on a purchase. Looking at a grand or more for a three dog system with either telemetry or gps...not pocket change in my pants.

On the one hand I hunt shorter range curs so I don't have the issue tracking dogs that are miles away, at least under normal hunting conditions. GPS and all its features (topo maps, tracks, way points, etc.) can't be beat, but the reliability factor is holding me back. Plus, sometimes I'm out in the woods for a few days with my dogs away from the car, which means I don't have a place to charge the units. Seems pretty risky.

Of course there's the other factor of it currently being illegal to hunt with GPS in California. . I believe that will change sometime soon but still, that's the situation today and at least for the next year.

I wish Garmin made a reliable GPS tracking system with longer battery life. All this talk about Marshall has my hopes up but who knows when that is going to come out. And like most first iterations it probably have its own problems to overcome.

Burning up the AA batteries is a bummer. I was wondering if they made an adapter to go to a cigarette lighter yet? I know some guys around here that still run both collars. I have posted before that if I am in a new area or country with very few roads, I will wipe the dust of those old telemetry collars and throw them on the dogs too. The only reason I even posted is it seems like people are quick to complain about the Garmin. I can't imagine not having it. In my opinion it is leaps and bounds better than telemetry. I became pretty good with the telemetry over the years, and I wouldn't have even considered letting the dogs out of the truck without a telemetry collar on. Now I hardly ever even think about it. And by the way, I have more money out of pocket on my telemetry equipment than my Garmin. I was thinking of making a trip down to California this winter, the thing that holds me back is I would have to use the telemetry exclusively again. I don't know if I can take it.

Houndnem, it is rare that we agree on anything. If I ever get down that way I will have to show you how to dry ground some lions with only GPS collars on the dogs. Or maybe you would just laugh at me running around in circles trying to find some trashy mutts wearing collars with dead batteries. I guess there is only one way to find out. I may be lucky but I haven't had a single problem with any of my GPS stuff. I have enjoyed the heck out of it. Straightened out some misconceptions on what exactly my dogs were doing also. Not really a gift from God at this point, but pretty dang useful at any rate. Happy Hunting.

Like I said george, I cant live without my garmin. I just think there are still a couple bugs to work out before it will be the only collar around their neck. down here where I dry ground hunt you could definately go gps only. and it's for the same reasons you said, more road access and the warm temps don't drain the batteries like - 30 in the snow does. as for agreeing with ya, it happens quite a bit I think. it seems when you become a certain caliber of hunter with a good success rate, it is hard to agree with anyone who doesn't call it exactly the same way we do. the reason is that we know our way works cuz we got the catches to prove it. and at the same time other guys doing it totally different with the same success. that's what makes this site interesting to me is to see how everyone else does it. but I'm always gona feel like my way is better because it has worked for me. back to the garmin, what on earth is californias deal with the gps? why are they against that?