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Read this on the UKC forum...
"Has anyone with a astro had problems picking up there collars with a alpha or a tt 10 on close. They shut mine down."

One other person stated a similar problem. Have any of you run into this? I was hunting with a buddy with an alpha this past weekend and everyone with astros had problems picking up collars. I wrote it up to a bad satellite day. Could it have been from the alpha?

I just talked to the buddy with the alpha and he said he had a dc 30 and an alpha collar on the same dog and could track with the alpha and a 220. May have been an isolated incident.

Before i made the total switch over to the alpha system i ran two dogs with a 30, a 40, and a tt10 on each of them for around 6-8 hunts. I never had any problems like what you're saying. I also had the 320,220,and alpha turned on monitoring them.

Your incident was most likely a bad GPS day.

However, there can be some conflict issues. Not to where it is going to wipe out everyone's tracking ability in the area. Just yours or others very very close by. Most of the time there is a very quick fix. Turn off the Alpha, or turn off it's transmitter. This solve the conflict with whatever collar you are having troubles with. THIS IS NOT GOING TO AFFECT EVERY COLLAR!! Just certain ones with id's close to what the Alpha is using. This can also be cured then by changing the ID of the Alpha, or the ID of the collar that is on the dog.

This is not a transmit issue, but a receive issue. So there is no problem with running both types of collars. I do it every single day without any problem.

There has always been, and always will be issues with DC30/40 collars blocking each other. Or, causing issues with each other. Many times this is chalked up to bad reception days, or any other issues. Rather than the fact that ID's are conflicting with each other. NO, YOU WILL NOT ALWAYS GET A WARNING!

Since I got guys that like to change things on a daily basis it seems. I will get everything working and BAMM another issue. Just had this again a few days ago. Was having trouble with one DC30 collar. Had not put my finger on it yet. It was intermittent at best. Was tracking that collar perfect 1.8 miles out. While sitting on the track waiting for a few dogs that were behind including that one. Then one of my partners pulls up next to me. Suddenly I could not track that collar again. I pulled up about 100yds, and there it was. Went back, and it was gone. SURE ENOUGH HE HAD CHANGED A COLLAR ID! Another DC30 in his truck was blocking the one in the field.

Another example of an Alpha, and teenager problem. Over the course of several hunts. My daughter was not able to track one DC30 collar with her 320. She was the only one of 5 with this problem. So knowing what it was told her to make changes. Everyday the same thing. Since I could track her alpha. Knew she had done nothing. Finally on the 5th day. Had to resort to what teenagers understand. Along the lines of a f bomb, and to turn the alpha off. Suddenly she could track that DC30. So then the Alpha ID was changed and no more issues. The alpha was simply jamming the ability of the 320 to receive that collar. Yes, I could have fixed the issue right away myself when it was not done in the field that day by the operator of it. But that does not help any for the future hearing problems.

Thanks for the info guys. How many alpha are you running Steve? Lets say 3 or 4 get together with a dozen or more collars on, is there going to be constant interference messages like the astro's?

I have seen no major issues with interference. There are so many more ID's that this can be corrected easily. Then it was improved upon with the 320, and a lot less issues. More improvements only means it will be better. As it is now I rarely get messages anymore. But, I also rarely use a 220 anymore. Mostly just as a hard mounted unit. Dont pay much attention to it, but half the time when I do. Need to clear a message to use it.

Most of the interference issues I have had came from trying to stack the collars. Never a good idea.

What do you mean by stack the collars?

Putting them on ID's next to each other. 1,2,3,4,5,6 for example.

Mondo sorry if this is slightly off topic but we have had issues with 151. telemetry and DCs blocking one another. If I remember correctly it is always in cold weather. Do you still use the telemetry with the gps?

I take even numbers, 22,24,26,ect and the other fella I hunt with takes odd numbers. There's always the guy's along with a couple dogs and the other guy with the alpha that throw a wrench into things...

Ker-man.no, I haven't run telemetry in a few yrs but do know a few guys that still do. Haven't heard of any problems but most run 216, 217..Our biggest section is only a few miles across so I don't feel the need for telemetry, bigger than that, I probably would.

Of course their will be issues with using 151 telemetry collars. Especially if they are real close to the Garmin frequencies. Even worse if they are they same. Will get away with being closer because of the band then if using a radio. I ran 151 collars, but mine were about as far away as you could get. After a few hunts the problem was solved. As I got rid of the telemetry collars.

This would not change any with the Alpha. Except the increased range may make you more likely to dump the telemetry.

So if I am correct the real answer is yes the alpha does cause certain dc collars loose communication and if you don't know who it is you are screwed.