Thread: New legal Garmin dog tracker

I'd be a little wary about jumping into this new gear before others have tried it to start with.
Yes it is a little cheaper than the current Garmin gear available through various importers, BUT.....and this is why I say you should hold on...
This new gear runs on a free/public frequency. Anyone who has tried to use a marine VHF on a public chat channel will know that interference is a big problem. I'd be worried about this happening to the tracking gear by other users of the frequency.
Secondly, I have heard they have dropped the output power down to half a watt. The current Astro 320 is running at 2 watts. If this is the case that would potentially mean the range of the unit is a quarter of the existing gear. This is a BIG issue where everyone is trying to get the most range possible.
Thirdly, the new gear will not be compatible with any of the exisiting gear out there. Basically you are starting from scratch, and if your mate stays with his old gear, you won't see his dogs and vice versa.
Forthy, the near gear uses the Alpha 100 touch screen units. They have been around for 2 years now and very few people ever upgraded to them as there were reports the touch screen was difficult to operate when wet or you had blood on your hands. Also that the battery life of the unit didn't last as long as the screen is larger etc.
Fifthly (is that a word?), they are incorporating the new T5 collars. It is a shame they chose these instead of the TT10's or the newer TT15's as the T5's have no shock function which was the real attraction of the Alpha system. So I feel many people would have been getting excited thinking they may be getting shock ones. :-(

There may be other issues, but these are really enough for me to want to sit back and see how they really work.
It is surprising that H&F are asking people for pre-orders and deposits....not much faith in their product if they have to do this.