Garmin Astro GPS capable collars

D

DTOM

New member
Anyone had a chance to check out the new GPS tracking collar from Garmin? The thing looks sweet. It has a reciever and transmitter on the collar and you carry a reciever that has mapping software built in that shows were your dogs are and the path they took to get there. Looks like it would work well on a elec. collar. It sits high on the back of the collar or includes a vest type thing to put on the dog.

Other features are:

5 Mile Range.
Alerts hunter to a dog on point or treed.
Tracks up to 10 dogs w/ additional collars.
Has a home and 12v charger.

Hand held unit works as a GPS
Tells distance and direction to dogs.
Avg. Speed of dogs.
Reception status of both the comm link and the GPS link.
Distance traveled by dogs.
Guide to lead you in the right direction to your dog.
Map screens of where your dogs travelled.
ability to log way points for both you and the dogs.

It just came out and sells for about $599.

Looks like the ticket for you hound guys or guys that like their birddogs to really range.

Let me know if anyone has any exp. with it.

Tim
 
If they had a 10 to 12 mile range I would sell what I use now.My exp has been that range is line of sight,and somtimes my 15 mile trackers leave me making circles looking for dogs.I get in some real high,or real low country,line of sight is not an option.In the canyons i'm lucky to get 5 miles out of long range trackers.Maybe GPS would be different,but there are many times my GPS doesn't get a signal.Please keep me updated as to the true tracking ability of these collars.
 
A couple reasons I'm not giving up what I already have to jump on the GPS bandwagon.

First, as has been mentioned, you have to be close enough to get a strong signal in order for them to work. I'm sure there a lot of you out there have experience with GMRS radios, the same technology Garmin's GPS system uses. Sometimes in the hills, when you get a ridge between you, you lose signal even though you may be less than a mile apart.

Second is battery life. If you're hunting in some really rough country with a bunch of dogs, it may be infeasible to go in and get everyone of them before the batteries fail. I've lost dogs for up to two weeks before bear hunting near the Idaho wilderness areas, and thank god their radio collars were still working or I might never have found them.

Third, I'm a little suspect on the durability of the antenna. A dog going through heavy brush all day is going to put a lot of strain on the antenna.....and I'm just not sure the rigid looking antenna Garmin uses is going to hold up.

I dunno, although the Idea of GPS tracking systems has a lot of appeal, I think I'll hold off getting one until the next generation of collars comes out. Maybe by that time they'll have addressed some of my concerns....:)
 
Garmin has introduced a product that dog hunters have been waited a long time to get. Unfortunatly I'm not sure if they made some of the best choices. I don't understand the need for the VHF signal from the collar to the reciever. Why not just go from the collar, to satallite, back to the receiever. That would be much easier. Then you could have an unlimited amount of dogs you could track, by like serial number of collar or however they do that. That would also eliminate the distace factor between you and your dog. There will always be a problem with mountains and GPS units. We all know that.

The collar probably does need built stronger. These tracking collars now take so much abuse. I haven't seen them in person, just pictures, but it looks like hardened plactic. That just won't cut it. And the harness that comes with it, I have heard people say they are junk. I would just put it on another tracking collar, and use both.

With that said, now I'm gonna say the good points. Everyone wants to know where their dog is at all times. If you are within range, you will know what your dog is doing and where at. What I thought was, if somebody shoots your dog and destroys your collar, the reciever will show the last place it got signal. If someone did that with a regular tracking collar, you have no proof, just what you heard. WIth this GPS you have proof right in your hand where you dog was last before the collar was destroyed. Same way if he got hit on a road.
In my case with coyote hounds, I can see which hounds are leading the races, all the places the hounds have jumped coyotes at. If they are bayed I know which direction is closer to walk in from.
You can buy an external antenna that helps with the range. If I were to buy one, I would definatly buy the extra antenna. I would also run my regular tracking collars too, at least until I fully trusted the new system.

I listed some pros and cons of the system I have seen and heard. I would say its not for everyone, espically in the mountains. But if I had the money (not a college student.. lol) I would probably try this unit out. I believe that other dog tracking companies will have to jump onto this new technology soon if they want to compete. The first major company (Wildlife, Quick-Track, Johnsons, Magnum, Marshall) to come out with a GPS tracking system will probably leave everyone else in the dust then for sales. I will predict they will use the problems with Garmin's GPS system and perfect their's and it outta be good. But until then I would still try this. I just don't have the money.

See ya later, MOyotehunter
 
I have an astro with 2 collars for my GSPs and they work just fine.

VHF is much faster than back up to satellite and back down, also there is FCC licensing involved for sure. Because you cannot bounce them off the GPS satellites themselves you would have to use someone elses birds.

To say the collars are not sturdy without having seen them is a little presumptious at best.

There is an external antenna for the handheld that will greatly increase the range. This weekend on an elk hunt I put a collar on my buddy's pack and as we would work through canyons separately I could always track right back to him.

My only gripe is that the collar is a little heavy and when you use it with a regular e-collar it does tend to rotate under the neck.

Steve from GDS has a great write up.
http://www.gundogsupply.com/garmin-astro.html

Also, besides being a great tracking unit. The handheld is a very capable handheld GPS. When used with City Navigator it provides TBT directions, with topo's you have most all the NFS roads.

I use mine with a RAM Mount on my Polaris Ranger and really use the heck out of it.
 
Gtim......not to be smart,but have you ever had 10,000$ worth of dogs lost on a lion or bear?I will stick to what I have untiul the bugs are worked out of the "GPS" systems.
 
Gps systems are the future of tracking systems for sure. What is out know is not that great. The distance is know where near what they claim. Radio telemetry is still the way to go. Someday GPS units will replace radio units. Look at the Marshall systems best that I have found. Never lost a dog with one.
 
I remember thinking when I purchased my first telemetry system back in 1990 that this was only a temporary fix until a good GPS system came out. I figured the technology was out there for GPS tracking so there would be one on the market soon. I am surprised that it has taken this long.

Radio telemetry is not a perfect system, sometimes you have to be about half wizard to figure out exactly where your dogs are and how far away they are with all the bounce and interference you often times experience in rugged country. Still, it has proven to be a reliable system and most houndsman have grown to depend on it. That is why it is hard to let go with what we know works to embrace Garmin's system that we know is going to have severe limitations with battery life and range.

I've already waited 17 years for a good GPS system, I guess I can wait a couple more. To me, however, this is a good first step.
 
Quote:
Gtim......not to be smart,but have you ever had 10,000$ worth of dogs lost on a lion or bear?I will stick to what I have untiul the bugs are worked out of the "GPS" systems.



No, but I have 10k+ invested in my 2 shorthairs. Granted they are closing working and rarely more than a few hundred yards away.

But do not knock the GPS until you try it. For birddogs it works great.

I am far too out of shape to chase hounds. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Ya that is what the system was designed for. Close working gundogs. The problem is I run All Age dogs. The system is two big and bulky, and is not allowed by any field trial body. Like I said it is the wave of the future in tracking systems. Right now they are not up to par with what is available on the market. In five years, I believe they will be. To many people have run out and bought this thing thinking it was the best thing since god made woman. Problem is it is still line of site, and the range is a major issue. It is also pretty funny that counter balances have been made for the collar already, just to keep it upright.
 
I wish the GPS collars would work out to 10miles and shoot a signal straight up to a Sat and back down to my receiver.But for now I need to stick will radio tracking.It will be handy when GPS is reliable ,for my needs.
 
In a different place I would share a story of why its very important to me that my trackers work.To para phrase, A dog that's hurt "bad" needs to be found and doctored.Its all relative to how and where we hunt what kind of traking equip. we need.I work 80 hrs a week in the summer ,and run dogs 3 nights a week.I need to know where my dogs are and make sure they are safe.I have never seen a bird whip a dog"lol". But in my case things are different.I wish all the dog men to have safe and memorable hunts,whether its hounds,decoy dogs, bird dogs ,coursing hounds ,or poodles. We all put lots of time,effort ,and money into our style of hunting.We are all in the same boat,I want that to be my clear and solid stand. Duane
 
It's hard to believe that the collar unit will hold up to running hounds. That antenna stands straight up. I've had the whip antennas break off. What will happen to that??
No bird dog I've ever seen ranged out far enough to need GPS to find it. If it did, I would have another kind of collar on him. One with the two prongs pointing toward the throat!
I think I'll keep my Wildlife Materials stuff for now. If they come out with a GPS system, I'll likely give it a look.
 
Here is another technology currently avaliable that may eventually develope into a dog tracking system. It uses cell phone towers to triagulate the GPS position of a signal. The limitations, of course, is that it needs to be within range of at least 3 cell towers to work. Where most hound hunting in the west is done, you're lucky to get reception on one cell phone tower let alone three. Still, the technology is out there.


http://www.sat-gps-locate.com/english/index.html
 


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