BigGameHoundsmen.com

got astro 220 with 4 dc 40's. can't get it to track past .8 miles, well short of advertised 7 mile range, any ideas why i can only get such short range out of it?

if you havent updated everything may want to try that.. I dont think ive heard of anyone who is getting more then a couple miles very consistanly. You can go threw the garmim website to find the updates hope this helps good luck

everything is updated

I would recomend sending them to buddy at double u Hes got an update he does for $50 that makes them like a dc 30 thats where all mine are going cause mind do the same thing yours are doing. most the time mine dont reach as far as yours are. Everything ive seen of his updated dc40 collars most are working as good or better the the dc 30s Good luck hope you get them to work!!

tuff skin antennas and the flexible 14 inch hand held work really well for me. i have tracked them out to 3 miles in some hilly land.

7 mile range is open field tracking man. add trees, brush anbd stuff and it dramatically decreases. i have the 320 and my long range antenna tracks 1 mile. but i hunt in western washington where its really thick and rough country.

Jesse wrote:I would recomend sending them to buddy at double u Hes got an update he does for $50 that makes them like a dc 30 thats where all mine are going cause mind do the same thing yours are doing. most the time mine dont reach as far as yours are. Everything ive seen of his updated dc40 collars most are working as good or better the the dc 30s Good luck hope you get them to work!!

I agree with you that the "upgrade" that Buddy is offering for the dc40's is a good idea. However, it will NOT increase the effective range that the 320 (or 220) will receive signal from a FUNCTIONING collar. It only increases the ability of the collar to receive GPS signal. Your collars are not loosing communication with the Astro at .8 miles because they lose GPS signal at a certain distance from the receiver. They are not communicating with the Astro at that distance because the signal sent from the collar is not being fully received by the Astro because of lack of signal strength.

Just my .02

Scott

Well Said Scott, My Update will not Help this. It only affects the GPS Signal and The GPS signal has nothing to do with how Close or Far the Dog is from the unit.

In fact this is probably very Normal with Standard antenna's. (Some Recievers get a little better range, and some Get a little worst Range.)

I rarely see more than a Mile range with Stock antenna's. I get 2-3 miles with a Magnet Mount antenna or a Long Range Handheld antenna. If you need more range You'll need to Change the antenna or get on Higher Ground. Don't expect 7 miles unless your going Mountain top to Mountain top with nothing between you and the dog..

Buddy

sheimer wrote:

Jesse wrote:I would recomend sending them to buddy at double u Hes got an update he does for $50 that makes them like a dc 30 thats where all mine are going cause mind do the same thing yours are doing. most the time mine dont reach as far as yours are. Everything ive seen of his updated dc40 collars most are working as good or better the the dc 30s Good luck hope you get them to work!!

I agree with you that the "upgrade" that Buddy is offering for the dc40's is a good idea. However, it will NOT increase the effective range that the 320 (or 220) will receive signal from a FUNCTIONING collar. It only increases the ability of the collar to receive GPS signal. Your collars are not loosing communication with the Astro at .8 miles because they lose GPS signal at a certain distance from the receiver. They are not communicating with the Astro at that distance because the signal sent from the collar is not being fully received by the Astro because of lack of signal strength.



Just my .02

Scott

Antenna is the missing information. If just the stock antenna for the 220 then that is about average. Depending on terrain of course.