Gun Dog Forum

Going to buy a GPS tracking system and was wondering if anyone has the new astro 330. I know people with the 220 and they love it. Is the 330 any better ? And the DC40 collars i've heard wasn't any good . Do any of you have a 40 collar ? Everyone tells me to get the DC 30 collars but they quit making them. would appreciate the help before spending 800-1000 bucks.Thanks

I have a 220 and two DC30 collars. I love it! I will eventually upgrade to the 320, but I am going to wait until some good used ones start showing up for sale. I think they had some trouble with the early DC40s, but I think that has been worked out. If I didn't already have one, I would not hesitate to buy the 320/dc40 combo.

I have both the 220 with one DC-30 & the 320 with one DC-40. I upgraded the software in the 220 at the Garmin site. I've used both set-ups on the prairies without any issues. Right now I have both collars synced to both Astros. My 320/DC-40 combo hasn't seen extensive duty yet. I saw a 320/DC-40 combo in a bargain cave at Cabela's a while ago.

Bought a 320 with 2 dc40 collars this fall right before a trip to northern Wisconsin. I upgraded the software on the unit and collars right away and haven't had any issues with either. I've used it the rest of the season and haven't had any issues with either. Some leaking batteries had destroyed my old Garmin (not a dog tracking unit). It was good piece of mind especially in the some of the wolf predation areas I was hunting since my 30 pound runt can get on a roll out there a ways and lose contact. I was somewhat concerned about the collar because she's an 'under' dog (a lot of times in blowdowns or heavy cover she'll go underneath logs, brambles etc that's in her path) and although the dogs consistently got pretty beat up the collars held up well.

Almost all my use was after leaves were down so I can't comment on how that would effect the collars connecting to the hand unit and satellites.

Thought I'd bump this one up for some more feedback......thanks!

You should probably wait til this fall and see if something new comes out. Just saying, with a merge like that.......you never know.

I have had both the 220 and 320, with both the DC30, and DC40 collars.
It think the 320 is a better unit, but just by a small margin.
I have had the same results with the DC30 and DC40. The DC40 seems to take a minute or two longer to synce up to the handheld than the dc30

If I were buying a new unit and collar, I would do the 320 with a DC40 collar.

I now have another DC-40 collar & have not experienced any issues to date. I use the DC-30 & the two DC-40s weekly. I prefer the 320 slightly more than the 220 & use the 320 most often.

I'm in the market for my first Garmin GPS collar / receiver setup, but I'm waiting until fall. I heard from a reliable source that there will be a new product out by then.

nhachman wrote:I'm in the market for my first Garmin GPS collar / receiver setup, but I'm waiting until fall. I heard from a reliable source that there will be a new product out by then.

Just like computers one can wait forever for the next new product offerings.