Garmin and holes?

[Liz ODell]

Was wondering what your experiences with your dogs Garmins if they went into a cave/mineshaft/culvert pipe were....I'm sure the signal quits after they get so far inside but does the handheld record the dogs last position so that you actually could navigate to the hole?

[Unreal_tk]

If you had reception on them when they went in, yes. Leaves a ? Where the collar was last picked up. In dog boxes it is common for this to happen.

[Dads dogboy]

This something I was pleasantly surprised at with the new Alpha collars. I am writing a review of our findings comparing the new Alpha with Astro 220 and DC30 collars.

We ran a Cat through a Culvert 3/4 full of water, it was maybe 24' long, had two Hounds swim through behind the Cat and never lost service with the Alpha collar but did on the DC 30.

Put another Cat in a Gopher Hole (Fl. Land Terrapin) with Rivers in the hole baying the Cat. The hole was about 57 yds off the road and the Alpha collar gave continous signal. In the past with the DC 30s signal would be intermittent, then going away as the Hound got deeper in the hole.

I am guessing that the BETTER antenae on the Alpah Collars is why signal was maintained better than with the older systems.

I do not think that FM Signal will be recieved from very deep in the ground, but we are sure having fewer question marks from Hounds in the Alumin. Dog Box!

However a ? will remain wherever the Collar was last read by the Sat. You should be able to find where the Hound went into the Underworld.

Just what we have found.

[kiwi]

I lost a dog down a hole this year, I was able to find the hole, no worries
But couldn't get a signal from out of the hole,
Interesting comment about the Alpha, might wait a yer for them to iron out any bugs and try that system out

[pup42]

Once the garmin loses singnal, it will tell you on your handheld where exactly the collar lost signal. Thus showing right where your dog was last and how far away. It will do this everytime the collar loses signal, whether or not the dogs are in a "hole"

[Tom A]

Liz it will show a question mark on the map, where the dog went in the hole and lost the signal.

[Ker_man]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the Dc40 looses the satellite signal under ground, it might not reconnect when the dog emerges. Then if the dog moves on the question mark ? will stay where the signal was lost, but no dog.

[Unreal_tk]

Yes that can happen Ker man, but usually a collar will pick up quickly (gps) after that. Granted if the dog moves a long ways by the time you get in the area to get a good signal, it can play havoc. Ill tell you this much, I wont hunt without gps! If you buy a astro or alpha Liz, you've gota buy a truck and or handheld long range antenna. I use my truck all the time and the handheld comes out when hunting off a snowmobile. The rubber ants are good to about 1000 yds mostly, the other ones seem to get a mile or two in my country.

[kiwi]

To find the hole i was looking for on a steep brushy hillside
I came in to the lowest possible screen setting and then used the dotted trail as a guide to show where i'd been
I set up a pattern around the question mark until i had good coverage of the area and eventually found the hole

[ozhound]

What on earth were they doing in a hole kiwi? Hope they got kicked back in it once ya got your collars off em

[Steve White]

It has been said many times already. Yes, it will show where the collar last had signal.

Folks need to remember there are 2 antennas. The long antenna for the FM transmitter means nothing if the GPS has no signal. One depends on the other.

In an underground hole the potential to loose both is high. In the water it depends on collar. Submerged they will loose gps signal. Which is only a small problem with the 40 when the dogs swim. Alpha and 30 with the antenna on top maintain contact. A culvert is interesting. Signal bounce could help maintain contact.

I have seen GPS contact get lost, and reduced. In thick balsams, and swamps after a heavy snow. Sometimes you will see a moving question mark. This is because it has a lock, but not enough to give you a dog status. If you check the dog screen. You will see red on the gps antenna.

[mondomuttruner]

Kiwi...question for ya..why couldn't you follow the dog tracks to the hole?? just curious...

[kiwi]

The question mark wasn't exactly at the hole but about 10 yards away.
The steepness of the hill and the anmount of vegetation made it hard to hard

[mondomuttruner]

I meant the dog tracks on the garmin, but anyhow. At times I would trade our tagalder swamps any day for hills..lol..Rock cliffs I could do without though...lol

[kiwi]

I meant the dog tracks, i followed them to the question mark but these aren't inch perfect
Still took a bit of finding, Some of these old shafts are overgrown a bit