Garman

[Penny]

Just wondered what every ones opinion is on the Astro Garman.I know they are not allowed in Canada but that doesn't seem to stop most people.
I think it is a good tool to keep track of your dog but is still in second place if you need to find a lost dog.
Battery life on the collar is an issue and it doesn't have the range it boasts.I think it is popular because the ease of use but with a little effort in mastering telemetry it is just as quick.More info on the Garman but some of it is useless.I don't need to know how far my dog ran or his average speed.

[cody]

Sure is a lot of people using them! The hound guys here love them. I still like my tracker!

[AD18]

Pray tell why they are not allowed in Canada? Not politically correct or offends a minority group? Government hasn't figured out whether they should be registered? Anti hunting? Seems like a perfectly sane piece of equipment. Just wondering..........

[Penny]

I did a quick search and found this



1. The Garmin Astro is not approved for use in Canada. This is because...

2. The Garmin Astro uses the MURS band to transmit from the dog's collar to the hand-held reciever. Unlike in the US, the MURS band is not free to use in Canada. You need to buy a licence for a specific frequency on it. Anyone can get a license for an approved devise like a radio and base station. It costs a few bucks, but is pretty much available to anyone with a walkie talkie. You just purchase a license from the Gov. and voila! You are good to go. Farmers, foresters, pizza delivery guys all over the place have licences for a MURS frequency. So in theory, you could just buy a licence for the frequencies that the Astro uses and head to the field. But....

3. The Astro is not approved for use in Canada. From what I gather, Garmin has not jumped through the hoops of submitting it for approval (yet?) since they know that MURS band is not free up here and in order for them to get exclusive use of the frequencies for the unit, they would have to buy out a lot of folks to get them off the band...ie: $$$$$$ Either that, or they realize that every Canadian Astro user would have to fork over more cash to buy his/her own license to use the thing in the field.

[jobbershunting]

There is a version approved for sale in Canada but it operates at a lower frequency (and results in less range).

I figured if I was spending that amount of cash I was getting the highest powered one, purchased mine from Lion Country Supply, no problems getting it over the border.

I haven't had any issues with the collar battery life, or the hand held battery life. Once you load the topo maps on it, it is just as good as any other Garmin personal GPS but gives you the added option of tracking your dog (and all the useless stats)

It is perfect for hunting thick cover, never been out west to hunt the parrie fields but I imagine a handler running big ranging pointer could benefit from one. You can add up to ten dogs if you have that kind of cash

[gundog]

There is a version approved for sale in Canada but it operates at a lower frequency (and results in less range).

I figured if I was spending that amount of cash I was getting the highest powered one, purchased mine from Lion Country Supply, no problems getting it over the border.

I haven't had any issues with the collar battery life, or the hand held battery life. Once you load the topo maps on it, it is just as good as any other Garmin personal GPS but gives you the added option of tracking your dog (and all the useless stats)

It is perfect for hunting thick cover, never been out west to hunt the parrie fields but I imagine a handler running big ranging pointer could benefit from one. You can add up to ten dogs if you have that kind of cash

Not sure where you heard of this "Canadian" model. I only know of 1 model that exists. As for the reason why they are not approved, here is the exact text off their site:

"Due to varying international regulations, this version of the Astro is approved for use only in the United States. The sale and unlicensed use of the Garmin Astro GPS Dog Tracking System in any form is presently prohibited by the Canadian government. According to a document published by Industry Canada dated June 2009, the MURS radio frequency used by the Astro will be permitted to be sold and operated on a license-free basis at the end of a five-year transition period (June 2014). This Industry Canada ruling may be found in its entirety at http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf09543.html. Parties interested in the implementation of this spectrum utilization policy or with questions should contact their local Industry Canada office."

[cody]

There is a new collar out there that has tracking and shock and cheaper than garmin!
google sportDOG Brand tracking and training!

[RyanGSP]

There is a new collar out there that has tracking and shock and cheaper than garmin!
google sportDOG Brand tracking and training!


You cant compare a sportdog to a Garmin.

Like comparing a Kia to cadillac.


I would still rather have my Tri-Tronics and Astro around my dogs neck than a sport dog.

[GUNDOGS]

You cant compare a sportdog to a Garmin.

Like comparing a Kia to cadillac.


I would still rather have my Tri-Tronics and Astro around my dogs neck than a sport dog.

Well i have a 2005 kia sedona ryan...travelled all over gods green earth with it and just hit roughly 201,000 km...also i think cody was simply saying you can get other brands of equip without the high cost that could do the job!!...plus why do you need a tracking collar? is your beer fridge that far away :lol:....ruth

[cody]

DID you check the site out before giving your expert opinion ?

[RyanGSP]

No but when im at one side of the coulee and my dog is 400 yards away on the other side in the bush I dont want to walk over there to find out they are still huntin or moved on.

I use it alot in the cattail sloughs where I cant see the dog even if hes 6 feet away.

[RyanGSP]

DID you check the site out before giving your expert opinion ?


Dont be mad because I called you on your sportdog comment.

[cody]

Well i have a 2005 kia sedona ryan...travelled all over gods green earth with it and just hit roughly 201,000 km...also i think cody was simply saying you can get other brands of equip without the high cost that could do the job!!...plus why do you need a tracking collar? is your beer fridge that far away :lol:....ruth

I use a traker classic penney had a gagmin went to wildlife but with pointers our fridge
is a little farther away:lol::lol:

[Penny]

I checked out the sportdog unit but it is hard to tell much from the writeup.After it is on the market for awhile we will see.If it has 20 hrs of collar time that certanly would be an improvement.They claim a pretty long distance on the range but so does Garmin and the Astro unit was dropping a signal with anything farther than 1Km.That may sound like a long way but if your dog chases deer or is big running 1 km is nothing.Competition is good for everyone and sportdog won't be the last to come into the market

[RyanGSP]

What kind of terrain were you using it in to get that kind of range Penny?

[Penny]

What kind of terrain were you using it in to get that kind of range Penny?

I live north of Hanna and it's pretty flat up here.
Garman claims miles of range under ideal conditions but the best I ever had was 2.1 k with my shorthair.My beef with the Garman is battery life (9 hrs) and unless you charge it every single time you are taking a chance.My pointer chased some deer and before I found her the Garmin collar went dead.I took three days off of work looking and finally found her on the third day after dark.I have a marshall system now and the collar has 19 days of battery life and when the LED on the collar flashes red you have 5 days of battery life left.For me the tracking systems are for finding your dog.Before the GPS units came along we hunted in cover and still managed to bag our share of birds.There is such a thing as to much technology.

[RyanGSP]

The newer versions are supposed to last longer depending on the time you choose to have the unit updated on your dogs position but its nowhere near that time length.

The other features of the Astro is what attracted me to this unit not just the dog locate.

Its also hard to compare 2 different types of tracking like the Marshall or tracker vs the Astro.

A good Ecollar might help your deer situation :biggrin1:

[Penny]

The newer versions are supposed to last longer depending on the time you choose to have the unit updated on your dogs position but its nowhere near that time length.

The other features of the Astro is what attracted me to this unit not just the dog locate.

Its also hard to compare 2 different types of tracking like the Marshall or tracker vs the Astro.

A good Ecollar might help your deer situation :biggrin1:

The 2 min refresh rate is a joke.A dog can cover a lot of ground in 30 seconds if it's on a mission:lol:
The deer problem has been taken care of

[RyanGSP]

I think its more for batter saving than tracking the dog in an emergency situation.

[Penny]

To each his own.
I'm just giving my opinion
Hope it doesn't fail you when you need it most

[RyanGSP]

I've never had to go looking for my dogs. Trash breaking early cures this problem right away. Down here we can see for miles so unless the dog finds a coulee to hide in its not hard to spot them.

[Penny]

It's not only to do with trash breaking
If you horseback field trial your dogs you train them to get out a fair distance and sometimes reeling them in on foot is a bit of work.I've hunted your area quite a bit and there are lots of places to get lost.

[RyanGSP]

yup if you dont know the area or your dog. Generally the dogs dont run as big while on foot and you gotta know where your hunting to really let them go. This is where the topo maps on the astro come in handy.