Gun Dog Forum

I am seriously considering the purchase of a Garmin Astro 320 / DC40 Collar and would like to hear everyone's
honest opinion of this set up. If you own an Astro 220 / DC30, I don't mind you commenting on Garmin customer service,
but I want to know specifically about the following, respective to the Garmin 320 / DC40 combo:

- ease of use (user interface)
- reliability & accuracy
- battery life (this is a biggie !!)
- durability
- software updates
- value for one's dollar
- best place to purchase one

If there is another tracking collar option out there, please- I'd love to hear of it.

Thanks,

Rob

I'd use the search function on this forum (and others), google and look at the web pages of the places that sell them.

I'm looking for feedback from folks who have used this particular combination. Not from people who are selling it. Sales people will tell you anything.

Rob

I have the 320/DC40 combo.

- ease of use (user interface), Before I bought mine I used a friends 220. The 320 is more intuitive and user friendly.


- reliability & accuracy, As long as you calibrate the unit before you use it you should have no problems. I have noticed some misreadings when I didn't do that before using.


- battery life (this is a biggie !!), For the collar, I have used it all day and never ran out of juice. It does come with an DC charger so if you had multiple day hunts you could charge it at the end of each day. For the hand held, I wish garmin would have made it rechargable like their Rhino units. I always keep an extra set or two of AA batteries in my gear bag.


- durability, I don't put my equipment in a situation that could damage it. The hand held is on a lanyard in a vest pocket, so I wont drop it. The collar is on the dog and haven't had any problems yet with her going through brush.

- software updates, Haven't done one since last December.

- value for one's dollar, I believe this is the best GPS unit on the market for dogs. Worth the price.

- best place to purchase one, Gun dog supply of course.

I use the DC30 and DC40 extensively with the 220. This is a first generation unit that came with the DC 20 (which was a nightmare).

I have used the 320 handheld, and as Brad has posted, it is much more user friendly. If I were buying today I would buy the 320, but my existing 220 with 2 DC30 and 2 DC40 collars has proven reliable and will continue to use it until it crashes and burns.

I have done several software upgrades over the several years I have had the system. Every upgrade was a simple process without any hitches. I use the equipment almost every day on client dogs, and all components have proven both reliable and durable.

I have used it in all types of cover in Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Kansas, Wisconsin and Michigan. I consider it to be one of my best investments in electronics I have made.

brad27 wrote:- reliability & accuracy, As long as you calibrate the unit before you use it you should have no problems. I have noticed some misreadings when I didn't do that before using.


- battery life (this is a biggie !!) For the hand held, I wish garmin would have made it rechargable like their Rhino units. I always keep an extra set or two of AA batteries in my gear bag.

Brad,
So one needs to calibrate before each use? How long does this take? What is invloved?

As for the handheld NOT being rechargable- that's a drag....... if Dogtra can make their 2500T&B handheld rechargable, I don't see what
prevented Garmin from doing the same! :roll:

Thanks for all the info guys,

Rob

Brad,
So one needs to calibrate before each use? How long does this take? What is invloved?

It takes about 1 minute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNH4XGZl3-o

If battery life is a "biggie" ; look elsewhere. 6-8 hours tops on a 320. If I was going to take the plunge, I would invest in the "alpha track and train". The only reason I do not, is that I have 5 collars and have talked my friends with whom I hunt several days/week to do the same. The Alpha will not work with the dc 30s and 40s so I would not be able to track their dogs, nor them me. We grouse hunt and split frequently and like to know where the others are. Everything else with the 320 is pretty great. I just have to pay a fee to the Duracell truck to follow me to every spot

If battery life is a "biggie" ; look elsewhere. 6-8 hours tops on a 320.

I've replaced the batteries in mine 3 times since december of last year. Through hunting season, through trial season and through training. There are settings and things you can do to conserve battery power. If I had to guess I'd say I get about 24hours of life out of the batteries.

Brad,
I have used every energy saving mode on the 320 that exists. The only exception is I use the 5 second update and the only alert I use is when the dog goes on point. I can get 15 - 20 hours from the batteries except the 320 goes into "battery conservation" mode after one uses 1/2 of the battery life. The battery conservation mode will not alert you that the dog is on "point". If one checks the screen often you can see the dog is indeed on point but there is no audio to let me know. So as a practical alert system--it is only good for less than 9 hours. I have friends who experience the same as I but they run with beepers to indicate their dog is on point then they check the screen to locate the dog. I do not like to the beeper but attach to the neck so that if the batteries die on a hunt I can remotely locate the dog. I average 6 hours per day, 4 days / week actually "in the woods" running dogs. I run dogs in the spring for banding woodcock in April and May, just about the same. If my dogtra 2002 fails or my dc 30s or 40s fail, I see myself migrating to the Alpha.

Can you turn the battery conservation mode off?

grouser wrote:Brad,
I have used every energy saving mode on the 320 that exists. The only exception is I use the 5 second update and the only alert I use is when the dog goes on point. I can get 15 - 20 hours from the batteries except the 320 goes into "battery conservation" mode after one uses 1/2 of the battery life. The battery conservation mode will not alert you that the dog is on "point". If one checks the screen often you can see the dog is indeed on point but there is no audio to let me know. So as a practical alert system--it is only good for less than 9 hours. I have friends who experience the same as I but they run with beepers to indicate their dog is on point then they check the screen to locate the dog. I do not like to the beeper but attach to the neck so that if the batteries die on a hunt I can remotely locate the dog. I average 6 hours per day, 4 days / week actually "in the woods" running dogs. I run dogs in the spring for banding woodcock in April and May, just about the same. If my dogtra 2002 fails or my dc 30s or 40s fail, I see myself migrating to the Alpha.

BirdBuster wrote:Can you turn the battery conservation mode off?

grouser wrote:Brad,
I have used every energy saving mode on the 320 that exists. The only exception is I use the 5 second update and the only alert I use is when the dog goes on point. I can get 15 - 20 hours from the batteries except the 320 goes into "battery conservation" mode after one uses 1/2 of the battery life. The battery conservation mode will not alert you that the dog is on "point". If one checks the screen often you can see the dog is indeed on point but there is no audio to let me know. So as a practical alert system--it is only good for less than 9 hours. I have friends who experience the same as I but they run with beepers to indicate their dog is on point then they check the screen to locate the dog. I do not like to the beeper but attach to the neck so that if the batteries die on a hunt I can remotely locate the dog. I average 6 hours per day, 4 days / week actually "in the woods" running dogs. I run dogs in the spring for banding woodcock in April and May, just about the same. If my dogtra 2002 fails or my dc 30s or 40s fail, I see myself migrating to the Alpha.

If you put in a NEW set of battries.

grouser wrote:If battery life is a "biggie" ; look elsewhere. 6-8 hours tops on a 320. If I was going to take the plunge, I would invest in the "alpha track and train". The only reason I do not, is that I have 5 collars and have talked my friends with whom I hunt several days/week to do the same. The Alpha will not work with the dc 30s and 40s so I would not be able to track their dogs, nor them me. We grouse hunt and split frequently and like to know where the others are. Everything else with the 320 is pretty great. I just have to pay a fee to the Duracell truck to follow me to every spot

Astro 320/DC 40
Battery Life - No problems with the DC40 in my experience. Astro 320 has experienced "low battery" message once on a long hunt. I carry a spare set of AA batteries and it is quick to change the batteries. You don't lose your track or the dogs location when you power off and change batteries and then power back on. Tip on the batteries - buy Duracell rechargeables and the Duracell charger. I have two sets of rechargeable batteries and have used them 1 and a half seasons with no problems. Great money saver over buying throwaway batteries. Be sure to set your Astro to the type batteries you are using by going to Main Menu/Setup/System and scroll down to Batteries.

Compass Recalibration - there was a previous question on recalibrating the compass. It only takes a couple of minutes and it does need to be done every hunt or so - preferably before each hunt. The only thing I have found that is affected is the arrow that points to the location of your dog.