BigGameHoundsmen.com

Hi anyone have the alpha yet? like to get a set for my beagle and hound. I like to hear any good and bad about it. thanks

The ALPHA is the best thing for a Houndsman since.......well since the Lee Bro.s got together with Mr. Smarty and developed the Tri-tronic systems!

I was reluctant to switch as my Astro and 6 dog Tri-tronic systems worked so good. I was aggravated that Garmin did not make the ALPHA compatible with the Astro.

Then it was explained to me Why and How Garmin did what they had to do to come up with the ULTIMATE Tracking and Training tool!

What you can do with the ALPHA is amazing (go to the Bobcat Section and read the Garmin/Tri-tronic thread). You can shock a dog much further than before, if you have the dog icon displayed rather than a ? you can reach the dog. Tracking is much more consistent than with the Astro and even the best DC 30 collar.....range about the same just much more consistent.

But the ALPHA is so much more than a Tracking/Shocking system. I am able to communicate commands to hounds who are well beyond hearing. To do this the Hound/Dog must be PROPERLY back grounded with the System, and not be frightened to death of hearing the Tone sound. Adjust your thinking to the fact that the TONE can be used like a Whistle to send various commands LONG Range to your Dogs/Hounds!

It is well worth the Investment to upgrade....the Better News is that Buddyw at DU Supply will take your old gear in trade in lots of cases!

Hope this helps!

YEP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YES............the positives far outweigh the negatives. Main points hit on by dads dogboy.

By far the best system made!! Everything across the board has been improved.

I can understand why folks may not upgrade if they already have a system from a cost standpoint. Even if you have the means, but hunt in a group. Everyone may not. If it's your first system, hunt alone, or first in the group to get a system. By far the way to go.

If you read these forums. Next to the collars not being compatible with the old systems. The number one reason you will see folks saying for not going this route is the same. I don't want the shock system in it. My dogs don't run trash!! I always get a chuckle out of that. Maybe because I have either had junk dogs all my life, or am just honest. Since every dog I have ever owned ran trash at some point. That does not matter really. There are so many other reasons to use that sort of tool. Dogs barking in the box is a good one, but that never happens either for some. Really though like John pointed out the tone can be a great tool. Effectively using it as a whistle. Really does not even take that much to train a dog in this way. None of the dogs in my yard were trained this way. Until the Alpha came out. It was amazing how fast they learned it. Some would just shake their heads at the highest setting of any E collar. Yet that tone goes off and they about jump out of their skin. Can save you from going hoarse yelling at the top of your lungs. When the dogs can't hear you anyway.

Yesterday I hit the ice taking one of the young dogs along. Let her run around all over the place, having fun. She would get out 1/2-3/4 mile at times. Straying just a bit to far, or getting to close to others on the lake. Now I could have sat there like an idiot. Screaming across the lake. Trying to get her to come to me. Disturbing everyone in the area technically breaking the disorderly conduct law. Instead all I had to do was hit that button and tone her. So much nicer for all to not be screaming my head off. No reason at all to zap her for exploring. But being able to call her back to me silently is wonderful. Don't know why I never trained my dogs in this fashion before. In my opinion the guys doing this before were much smarter than me!!!

One feature I absolutely love. Is the geofence portion of it. I use this every single day!! Mostly on the dogs that get to stay in the house at the time for whatever reason. Can put them outside freely. Don't have to sit there and watch them, or chain them up. The can wander around the property at will. I don't have to sit and watch them. When they cross the boundary I have set. The Alpha will alert me, and I can take the appropriate action. Peace of mind is a great thing!

Like I said, I understand the cost factor. Which I why I have been doing as much as possible with trades to help others as well. Just don't buy into a lot of the negatives that are said because money is at the root of most of them. I know of at least on guy that has done nothing but bad mouth these units since the first day. Every single thing in the world is wrong with them. The man has never owned a gps system period. Just knows a guy, that knows a guy, that killed a guy. Yet, some of his viewpoints are believed regardless.

2 tools that were greatly improved by putting them together. If you want honest input on all the features. Just ask about them. Many of us will let you know. Results will vary on some things from area to area. There is no perfect system out there. Garmin is certainly not going to be an exception to that. But if you follow these threads. You will see how many have changed their viewpoints on many of these things. Once they have had a chance to use them for the first time, or have gotten more familiar with them!!

Just one poor broke hound guys opinion though!

I give it a Ya! I have had my unit for 5 months now and I am very glad that I bought it. At first I just got the one collar with the unit. I have one older female that is well seasoned and have never ran a e-collar on her but I have one of her offsprings that seems to get excited about anything that lays down a scent. So rather than purchase a trashbreaker and have to run 2 collars I thought I would give the Alpha a try. It works great! I got tired of having to run 2 handhelds though to track the 2 different collars so I purchased another collar for my older dog. If you don't think you will ever have to use the e-collar feature you can remove the 2 prongs from the collar.
I have only had 2 bad incidents with the unit so far. For some reason one of my collars shut down during a hunt. When I got the dog back I turned the collar back on and it worked fine. The only thing I can think of is maybe a stick got wedged up between the collar and the dogs neck and shut it down. It has never acted up again. The other one was my screen locked up and I couldn't get it to move. I shut the unit off and turned it back on and it worked fine. About 15 minutes later it did it again and I shut it down again and turned it back on and it worked fine again. It has never acted up since. Other than that I have nothing but good to say about it. I really like the 2.5 second update. I can give my dog a tone and now instantly how she responded to it. Several times I have had her on a full blown deer run at over a mile away[pretty sure anyway] and tone her and watch the screen. Usually the way it goes down is she stops instantly and sits still and shows she's treed. The first time or 2 she started to continue forward so I toned her again and she would stop again and sit for abit. And then you could see in a couple seconds that she had turned and would come back on her same track. After a couple times now she turns instantly with the tone and comes right back on her track.
Being able to see where your hunting partner is all the time is also nice. A guy don't realize how nice that is until you have that ability. Well I could go on and on about how nice it is but I would just recommend going out with someone that has one and knows how to use it well. You will deffinately be impressed.

I love mine ! But the only negative is getting someone else to collar your dogs and then accidentally switch collars and shocking the wrong dog !

well that settles it then... after putting 1000$ in tires on the dodge I will save up for one.. I may have to get another collar cause I may be getting a 8 month old plot... I think I may have a problem...... hehehe cheers from maine