Tracking collars and e-collar combos

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lpk_moe
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Tracking collars and e-collar combos

Post by lpk_moe » Fri Dec 09, 2016 8:13 am

I asked a while back about buying a new e-collar (still looking) but had a question about e-collar and tracking combos. I have been looking at the Garmin Alpha combo. After reading some reviews from a training a pup stand point would you go with the Alpha or have a separate tracking system and a separate e-collar. I have not used the Alpha but one of the reviews was the change in stimulation settings were not the best.


Thanks
Daniel

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greg jacobs
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Re: Tracking collars and e-collar combos

Post by greg jacobs » Fri Dec 09, 2016 9:27 am

Maybe someone could chime in that knows more.
I know you can set up custom screens on them.
I haven't done this but you may be able to set up a screen that uses the 3 mechanical buttons with 3 different levels.

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lpk_moe
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Re: Tracking collars and e-collar combos

Post by lpk_moe » Mon Dec 12, 2016 7:19 am

Thanks Greg, I was able to see a Garmin Alpha over the weekend. It gave me a little more of an idea of how it worked.

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Re: Tracking collars and e-collar combos

Post by RayGubernat » Mon Dec 12, 2016 1:51 pm

IMO , a lot depends on just what you want to do with the unit or units.

If your primary need is for a training tool, I suggest that you get separate devices. When training, especially a young dog, you want to focus all of your attention on the dog. Timing is absolutely everything when training a dog. The LAST thing you want to need to do when the dog is messing up, is to take your eyes off the dog so you can look at a screen to figure out which button to push.

I, for one, want a training e-collar that I can use without even looking at it. My old Tritronics Flyway Special has three stim buttons... one for continuous and two for momentary on the barrel of the transmitter and it has a click knob on top of the unit. My fingers can go right to the buttons without even glancing away from the dog.

If you have a trained dog that you mostly want to keep track of, when hunting and the dog may only occasionally need a reminder or correction, then a combo unit might be a very good choice.

If you plan on trialing the dog, you will need a separate "locator only" collar anyway. With the Astro transmitter, I believe you can get different collars, but as I said previously, I would want to be sure I could give a correction without taking my eyes off the dog.

RayG



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lpk_moe
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Re: Tracking collars and e-collar combos

Post by lpk_moe » Mon Dec 12, 2016 1:58 pm

Thanks Ray. That is pretty much what I have settled on. I was going to eventually get the Astro and use a separate e-collar. After seeing the Alpha this past weekend I can see where it could cause issues while training. Thanks for the response.

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Re: Tracking collars and e-collar combos

Post by CCBIRDDOGMAN » Mon Dec 12, 2016 2:11 pm

we use the Alpha 220 with dc-40's mounted on D.T. Systems E-collars. I have the collar remote that I am used to and gps, works great for me.

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Re: Tracking collars and e-collar combos

Post by gonehuntin' » Mon Dec 12, 2016 9:22 pm

I would NEVER buy a two-in-one system UNLESS I had a back up. Reason? If either the tracking or training unit go awry, you have nothing. With two separate systems you always have one if the other breaks down. The other problem us the speed of correction. As I understand it, it takes a few seconds to switch from tracker to ecollar to make a correction. That is bad. An ecollar correction has to be made instantly and at point of infraction to be most effective. My two cents only and to be fair, I do NOT own an Alpha.

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Re: Tracking collars and e-collar combos

Post by AAA Gundogs » Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:33 am

My choice is for 2 separate units.

I don't like the combo units because it is much easier to run multiple ecollars on a dedicated unit and corrections are much faster.

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Re: Tracking collars and e-collar combos

Post by SetterNut » Tue Dec 13, 2016 8:59 am

I have e-collars and had Astros and now the Alpha.
If you are training one dog at a time the Alpha will do that well. You have 3 buttons you can preset. If you are training and want to switch between dogs quickly without looking at the unit, you will be better off with a dedicated e-collar in my opinion.

If you are a hunter with a pointing dog with some range, I think you will find that Alpha is a much more important and useful tool. After my setters got the basics down I almost never use the e-collar functions, I use the tracking and the tone to bring them back towards me.

I have had the Astro 220 and 320, and the Alpha is a superior more fictional unit IMO. I still have my TriTronics e-collars, but never use them any more now that I have the Alpha.

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Re: Tracking collars and e-collar combos

Post by greg jacobs » Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:58 pm

Yup. I use the tone almost always. Keeps it quiet out in the field.

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Re: Tracking collars and e-collar combos

Post by Fun dog » Wed Dec 14, 2016 12:46 am

I don't like the alpha for training. I do have it set up to where one dog has the outside button and the other the middle. even so, I think French end up with two collars on the dog. One for training and one for locating.

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Re: Tracking collars and e-collar combos

Post by cjhills » Thu Dec 15, 2016 6:31 am

Most of the time for training you do not need the locater.......Cj

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