Same here????? Woodie one of my pals said check your wire ( that comes out of end of coax) coming out of rooftop antenna it might be bent? Take a pair of needle nose pliers and pull just a little out and that might do the trick. I believe when the box goes it just goes no gradual thing.

kenny with the long antenna that came with the box im getting about 1 mile at cheerybranch havent tried the roof top yet

Thanks Kenny. I bought a new long range antenna just to make sure it was not the old one I had and the range did not pick up any. Bought a new portable antenna for the unit itself and the range did not change. I'll remember your tip and the others shared with me for the future though. BTW, The range dropped immediately from one trip to the next the best i can figure. Hopefully my friends at Garmin will be able to help me but more importantly build these units more reliable and field worthy in the future. it's great techno that we definitely need.

I had been getting 2 1/2 to 3 miles range and then it dropped to 800 yards but my friend could still track them on his box farther so i figured it was a problem on my end. I hope it is just the coax because it doesnt take long for a pack to get 1 mile. Darin thats what i heard about a mile but that isnt going to cut the mustard deer hunting.

The 800 yards is key to me, every box that has "burnt up" that we have used has lost the collars at the exact same distance (800 yards).


We hunt in NW FL, so I'm assuming you guys have a much different style of hunting/terrain than we do. We NEVER should be 2-3 miles from our dogs. With a 320 and Buzz's Long antenna I tracked one at 1.89 miles this year. There is generally always a truck or 2 within a few hundred yards of the dogs.

I'm by no means an expert but just from our experience we haven't lost a box from running the standard antennas. And we don't run the big VHFs either, strongest ones we use are around 15watts. A lot of guys run theirs on 1 watt.

Jack i run a 2-15 watt ham radio and try to run it on low but it is nothing to have dogs get 2 miles from u when we turn loose a bunch of hounds. There are people close to them but not everyone has a box. I guess i will soon find out when i go back top the deer woods friday if mine is toast or not. If it is then i better get a replacement fast. I didnt pay good $$$$ to sit on my hands and wait especially since i havent had it for no more than 2 1/2 months. I was told as long as your vhf and garmin antennas were more than 3 ft apart you were ok. I guess that isnt true either.

Here's the freqs.....
151.820 MHz
   151.880 MHz
   151.940 MHz
   154.570 MHz
   154.600 MHz

They are MURS channels.... That means multiple use radio service. If you have a VHF hunt channel close to them then you may burn one up. If somebody parked beside you fires off a 100 watt Motorola like I use, again it could affect it. I've seen telemetry boxes lock up at deer trials because of this same reason. THIS IS A RECOVERY COLLAR. 913-397-8200 is the magic number to Garmin.

Boy chris you should have saved all that info for tomorrow. I believe our channel is pretty close to one of those? I guess next time i buy something i will have to hire a electonic engineer to see if i can use it for more than 2 months before it explodes. I hope that magic # is really magic.

Woodie, sounds like you have a broken connector on top of your box. I have a man in KY that can fix that for $45 shipped back to you. I can send you a message with his contact info. He's fix many for customers of mine.

Buzz cand u send me that info also im having problems with my asto 220 thanks can email or text me at (910-289-6331)

Well guys i wnt through 5 220 in one winter. What you have to do is put the ariel from your fm or marine at the back of the truck and cut down the gain of the ariel to about a 1.5. Then put the extened range antenna for the 220 or 320 at the front of the truck,no closer. If you send a collar or 220 back to garmin most times or not uou are just going to get a refurb and as far as i know they are pieces of junk. Hope this helps Robert

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