Garmin Astro Burned up by VHF Marine Radio

[Big Bad Blue Dog]

Yes Jason Waterhouse thats why i started this thread to get some opinions on the garmin but you can't even do that for people like weston running that mouth on things he knows nothing about. This an issue us real hunters is trying to resolve with a company. I also posted for people that don't know about this ,so they might avoid burning theirs out. And bearsnva I don't won't you to reply to me ,the best thing you can do is not be the Internet police and if you got something to say about the garmin thread add it if not SHUT THAT MOUTH! If anyone of you good hunters that has any new info on the issue please share it we need this resolved because ,if you are like me you have a ton of money invested in this.

[John Weston]

I do have the astro and its not burned up.UHF 40 watt radio not VHF.If you would pull your head out and read the thread you will not burn up your next one.This guy says that if you stay away from the channels that are close to what garmin uses that it is not a problem and he is trying to burn one up and can't.Big Bad Blue Dog I sure wouldn't read that thread I would just keep buying new units.

[Blackntanman1980]

My astro will sometimes work when it is close but immediatley goes out of range. I have a marine radio but haven't used it since lion season in the winter, it worked great then. I called garmin they thought it was the collar, now i am not so sure after reading these comments. Is there anyway to tell if its the collar or the astro itself?

[bigboarstopper]

I appologise, Im getting confused. I run a quicktrack box. Im in the 217.000 range. I am on vhf 2 meter in the marine band like 156.475mhz. Those two bands are pretty far appart. Will the transmssion from the 2 meter moble still fry my box??

[Big Bad Blue Dog]

From what i have talked to garmin and experienced it doesn't matter what channel your vhf is on it will still fry the garmin. I have also seen 2 garmins quit without even being exposed to any vhf radios so i ain't completely sold that the vhf radios is the only reason they are having trouble.

[larry]

[Big Bad Blue Dog]

[Jason Waterhouse]

S.O.B. Another good thread ruined Sad very sad

[larry]

[tman308]

Even though a few are arguing under this thread I will still answer the original and follow up questions. Under the topic of Garmin Astro Review you will find answers to many questions however to sum it up. The Garmin Astro and all Tracking boxes no matter who the manufacturer is are radio signal receivers. Your collars whether they are Garmin, wildlife, johnson, Rats, or whatever else is out there are radio transmitters. The collars emit a low wattage signal that is picked up by the tracking unit. The problem with marine, truck, and mobile radios is that they put out more wattage then the receiver can handle. You might get away with using the truck radio and your tracking box together for a while especially if the frequencies are pretty far off, but eventually you will damage or completely fry your tracking unit. No matter what the companies do they can't solve this problem. If you use a high wattage radio you run the risk of ruining your tracking box. The reason this hasn't come up before is that the traditional tracking unit is turned on and off as you use it. The Garmin stays on all the time while hunting so Garmin is taking the blame. I am only speaking from experience with radios and how they operate. Hopefully this will clear things up.

[bigboarstopper]

Thank you for the answer. I still cant believe people are are arguing like this.

[Jason Waterhouse]

Great explanation tman308.

[blackpaws]

my question is can the astro still get damaged even though it is shut off laying on the seat of the truck? i heard that it can still be damaged even when it is shut off if a high wattage radio is used close by. any truth to that???

[tman308]

Blackpaws,

No guarantee but if the Astro is off it isn't receiving a signal so it should not affect it. I have had my Astro and Wildlife box for a year now and drive around with them in my truck while they are off and haven't had any problems.

[Luke J]

Just my input. The raido I use can put out 65, 25, 10, and 5 watts of power. The Garmin Rhino is very much like the Astro. The only differance is the Rhino will track another Rhino and has two way raido communication that is 5 watts of power ware as the Astro will only track 10 colors. Long story short I have been useing my raido on only 5 watts of power and that should keep me in the clear. When the Astro is off then I can bump it back up to 65......
Hope this helps some.