garmin?

Cowboyvon · Post by **Cowboyvon** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:59 pm

You might try Walker Radio in Albuquerque..

There number 1-(800)824-9064

broncobilly · Post by **broncobilly** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:05 pm

Cowboyvon,

Thanks for the info. I called them and they said that they do not have the 90 degree connector, but they do have the straight ones. They also gave me the names of some other stores that might have the 90 degree connectors. Next time I go to Albuquerque I will go by and see if what they have will work.

In the meantime, since Alb is a 5 hr drive, I don't go there every day, I decided to try r-cordell's idea of taping in a piece of satelite coax. It didn't work for me, reception was limited to 132 yard line of sight. I then tried stripping off the metal weave that is just under the outer plastic. That allowed me to track the dog at up to a mile line of sight, which is not nearly as good as I'm getting from the factory antenea, but it is a lot tougher. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong would be appreciated.

Bill

pete richardson · Post by **pete richardson** » Sun May 18, 2008 12:14 am

i think your antenna should be 18 and 1/4 inches long --

mite try experimenting with the length try ebay for a connector-

broncobilly · Post by **broncobilly** » Sun May 18, 2008 1:38 pm

I took Big Swede's 49 cm and divided by 2.54cm/inch and got 19.29 inches, which is the length I tried. I don't know if they are that touchy about exact length, but I will cut off an inch and try it.

I found a couple of connectors on ebay that looked right, but when they got here they were the wrong size, or wrong thread type, so I have got to the point that I am afraid to lay out any more money for a connector unless I can hold it in my hand and try the threads first.

I have to go to alb some time next week anyway, so I will pick up a couple of the straight connectors to see if I can get something that I can track, if that works, then I will start looking again for the 45 degree connector to build on to run on a dog.

If I am using coax for the antenea on the dc20, do I also have to be using coax for the antenea on the astro220, or can I still have a factory antenea for the astro220.

Thanks

Bill

Blue Man · Post by **Blue Man** » Sun May 18, 2008 2:07 pm

I bought mine off of ebay. I didn't like them so I went back to the short ones. You can also get them off of lion countrys web site they are all made up.

duster · Post by **duster** » Mon May 19, 2008 9:28 am

Bill,
You shouldn't have to change the antenna on the astro. Let us know how your connector search goes.

Duster

Big Swede · Post by **Big Swede** » Fri May 23, 2008 12:51 pm

broncobilly wrote:Can anyone on here tell me where I can find an RG58 connector. I went to every electronics store I could find in Santa Fe today, and when I asked for an RG58 connector, they all said that they had never heard of such a thing. Any help would be appreciated.

Bill

Hi
Try this link. http://stores.ebay.com/68-online-store

I have bought from this store and they work and they are not to expensive.

BIG SWEDE

Big Swede · Post by **Big Swede** » Fri May 23, 2008 12:56 pm

broncobilly wrote:I took Big Swede's 49 cm and divided by 2.54cm/inch and got 19.29 inches, which is the length I tried. I don't know if they are that touchy about exact length, but I will cut off an inch and try it.

I found a couple of connectors on ebay that looked right, but when they got here they were the wrong size, or wrong thread type, so I have got to the point that I am afraid to lay out any more money for a connector unless I can hold it in my hand and try the threads first.

I have to go to alb some time next week anyway, so I will pick up a couple of the straight connectors to see if I can get something that I can track, if that works, then I will start looking again for the 45 degree connector to build on to run on a dog.

If I am using coax for the antenea on the dc20, do I also have to be using coax for the antenea on the astro220, or can I still have a factory antenea for the astro220.

Thanks

Bill

Hi

Try this link. http://stores.ebay.com/68-online-store

You can use coax on the dc20 and factory antenna on the astro220. I would try coax on both to improve the distance. The transmiter is not so strong so every help is wanted.

BIG SWEDE

Big Swede · Post by **Big Swede** » Fri May 23, 2008 1:06 pm

broncobilly wrote:Cowboyvon,

Thanks for the info. I called them and they said that they do not have the 90 degree connector, but they do have the straight ones. They also gave me the names of some other stores that might have the 90 degree connectors. Next time I go to Albuquerque I will go by and see if what they have will work.

In the meantime, since Alb is a 5 hr drive, I don't go there every day, I decided to try r-cordell's idea of taping in a piece of satelite coax. It didn't work for me, reception was limited to 132 yard line of sight. I then tried stripping off the metal weave that is just under the outer plastic. That allowed me to track the dog at up to a mile line of sight, which is not nearly as good as I'm getting from the factory antenea, but it is a lot tougher. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong would be appreciated.

Bill

Hi

You have to strip of the metal weave from the coax and the core should be of solid copper 0,8mm and the length 49cm = 19,291". Then you use shrinktube to make it stronger. You have to use glue in the rg58 conector so it would be waterprof!

With this antennas i have tracked dogs for over a distance of 6,5 miles during hunt in northern Sweden (mountains and forest) for bear and bobcats. Open areas, it would be much longer!

BIG SWEDE

broncobilly · Post by **broncobilly** » Fri May 30, 2008 2:27 am

I found some straight SMA connectors for rg58 at walker's electronic in Alb.. When I stripped the woven wire off the rg58 cable, I got better reception than the factory antenna. Still havn't found the 90 degree connectors, but what I have will work untill I find the 90 degree connectors, then I will try them.

I did figure out that you can put an SMA connector on the cable from an old analog cell phone antenna and put it on the astro 220, that really boosts your reception. It's not too handy for walking around, but if you are driving, looking for a lost dog, it works great.

Bill

Big Swede · Post by **Big Swede** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 4:02 pm

broncobilly wrote:I found some straight SMA connectors for rg58 at walker's electronic in Alb.. When I stripped the woven wire off the rg58 cable, I got better reception than the factory antenna. Still havn't found the 90 degree connectors, but what I have will work untill I find the 90 degree connectors, then I will try them.

I did figure out that you can put an SMA connector on the cable from an old analog cell phone antenna and put it on the astro 220, that really boosts your reception. It's not too handy for walking around, but if you are driving, looking for a lost dog, it works great.

Bill

Hi
what kind (name/brand) of cell phone did you use?

BIG SWEDE

broncobilly · Post by **broncobilly** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 6:04 pm

Big Swede,

It was a Motorola bag phone. One of the old analog types.

Bill

duster · Post by **duster** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 12:53 am

You can also buy a magnet mount antenna from Garmin that plugs right in to the Astro 220. Here is the link to Garmins web site:

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=8550

roscosrokons · Post by **roscosrokons** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:18 pm

I looked all over town for a RG58 connector and couldn't find a thing. But boy did I learn alot in the last couple of weeks trying to find it. Here's what I came up with. This is an old connector that they used along time ago its not to popular today because of the carrying capacity. It is actually a SMA Right Angle Adapter. If you punch that into the computer you will come up with all sorts of places to get them. I got mine from customcableconnection.com, The only problem with mine is it is a Male/Female connetor [hard to solder to] I think if I was to get some more I would get a Male connector with a solder connetion on the other end. I just tried out my new antenna's this last weekend they worked great. It would be nice if a guy could figure out a way to get the connection to not stick out so far, but I think this setup will work good for know. Ross

Big Swede · Post by **Big Swede** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:30 am

duster wrote:You can also buy a magnet mount antenna from Garmin that plugs right in to the Astro 220. Here is the link to Garmins web site:

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=8550

Hi

I have one, but i have to pay $80 for this one in sweden so it´s not cheep!!

BIG SWEDE

garmin?

RG58

Astro

antenna

Re: antenna