Alpha antenna range, is this normal?

[baiz]

So new to the alpha. They just became legal to run in our neck of the woods.

i grit my teeth and forked out for the alpha, 4 collars, and the drivetrack70

I hunt in some pretty rugged terrain and was not expecting alot of range, but was hoping for more than im getting so far.

Went to a buddies where its a fair bit flatter. With the longer whip for the hand held i got about 1.2 miles before it lost contact. So i picked up some quick connects off ebay and the mag mount whip from outdoor gundog supply thinking i would get at least 3 to 4 on flat ground with a slight rise in elevation in between ( maybe 200 feet). I got about 1.8 mi.

I also did a test run where i left the collar at home and run up the mountain climbing in elevation quickly where i can see the canyon below where i live i got about 2mi line of sight. but as soon as i leveled the ridge at about 2.1 mi it lost contact.

Is this normal range for garmin? Seems like when i hit my stomping grounds thats in a more rugged area im going to be limited to .5mi or less. I was not expecting alot, but im fairly disappointed so far.

anything i can do to stretch this abit more?

[Jeff Eberle]

With the alpha my dogs never get any more then that in front of me. And if they do I head to the last place I had them and I can't ever remember it not picking them back up and I've had mine 3yrs now. I think some where in the 2-2.5 is about what I average . My roof mount is from DU the 4ft one. But trust me you will never go back to the beep beep box. I do have the tt10 and like them better then a buddy's tt15 that I hunt with. I hunted ur country (Georgetown) 25years ago or more a few time back when the Royal's hunted it.

[bowtech36]

That's about right I your area James, sometimes in nv I pick up 4 or 5 miles in the valley country.

[baiz]

Sorry for the late reply, dont hop on all that much.

I gotta say im a fair bit disappointed in garmin if that's the limitation. I guess i will see how i like it once the boundary opens and i can do some real running. Im going to keep running my telemetry on top, with so many roads gated now sometimes if they head 1 ridge over i have to drive 30 mins around.

Yeah Jack quit running when they banned the use of hounds on Bears. Between that and forestry closing and gating all the cut roads.

Thanks guys