The Wait is Over

[TOBY]

Are any of the company's selling garmins accepting trade in's.
I have the original tt15s

[Budd]

I know that Double-U Hound Supply does.
http://www.dusupply.com/

[Hawk]

How about a hover craft or a drone, say if you lost your hounds in an area you felt they got lost in but not able to travel the terrain, drones are fairly cheap and can be controlled by computer,it would appear a devise could be attached to the drone to send back a location of the dog if it had a collar on that could send a signal to the drone, maybe a chip under the skin just in case your dog was found but the person that found the dog decided to throw away the collar and keep the dog, just an idea???????????????

[Budd]

Side by side comparison, both buckled as tight as I could get them.

[BCBeagles]

They look great! I see a distinct advantage, be it engineering or by choice, but the mini has a keeper for the antenna to keep that antenna across and down over the back of the dog. IF you position your tt15, 10, what ever with that same antenna placement, knowing it is tight enough to stay there, I cant see how it hits dogs on the leg....I have 12.5 inchers....several of them and they don't hit there legs. JMO, but placement is of essence to eliminate that issue in a lot of cases. And the smaller collars from some one who distributes them, I got mine from Plum creek.

I also see a shorter area of mounting on the antenna, internally. Does this change how the antenna attaches internally. It is obvious they trimmed the weight with less battery. The box size is a definite plus......

I am sure the mini will do well. I definitely could see them being better on pups, very young pups, but my old dogs will continue to wear the tt10's until they break then we will go from there.

I see the ease of use, but surely if mine can't carry 3.0 more ounces...they have a special place to be....IMO.

Good running to all!

[Crow]

I see the ease of use, but surely if mine can't carry 3.0 more ounces...they have a special place to be....IMO.

Good running to all!

BC, I see your point and don't necessarily disagree with you but to play devils advocate if you are going out on some sort of strenuous outing that you know will be in thick and rough terrain and you will be traveling several miles on foot as fast as possible and will be doing this for days on end. You also will have a backpack of supplies to carry with you that weighs 3% of your body weight (10 ounces is 3% of a 20 pound dogs body weight, BTW the max recommend for working dogs like search and rescue is 4%). Then someone gives you the option of carrying a backpack with the exact same supplies as the first one I mentioned plus an extra little something as well (the new sleep mode) that weighs 30% less (10 ounce - 3 ounces = 30% weight reduction) which pack would you choose?

I'm not saying it's enough to cause everyone to trash the old units and go buy a mini. The fact that 2 of my 6 dogs do hit their legs, 1 enough to cause wounds if I leave it on her more than a trip or 2 per week, is enough for me to put my full size up for sale and get a mini. The weight reduction is a bonus to me. I'm certainly not saying the full size models are not great units, mine has served me well for over 1 1/2 years, but if I can keep the sores off the legs of a couple dogs, drop 30% weight, have a better collar strap fit for smaller beagles then it's a good option for me.

Not trying to be confrontational at all so I hope it doesn't come across that way.

[OKIEDOG]

We also tested the collars. We run every day but Sunday. In the field right now with a pack of beagles. I am just posting under this thread to answer some questions.

Range: at OKIE DOG SUPPLY we are NOT getting the same range as the bigger collars. Right now, we average 2.5 to 3.1 miles. We are in NE Oklahoma with rolling hills and because of all the rain, we have an explosion of undergrowth so it's thick and gnarly out in the woods. Check out the website. You will see pics of our dogs wearing the units. Main website: http://www.okiedogsupply.com. Another link is: http://www.okiedogsupply.com/Garmin-Alp ... 486-30.htm

I would realistically expect 2 miles and anything over is bonus (in my opinion). Range is based on line of sight. The minis maximum range is 4 miles, the max range on the standard (big) dog device is 9 miles. For your area and your cover, you may get the max range or range around 2 miles. I was on the backside of a hill (technically blocking line of sight) and that was at 2 miles, then we were able to get another tenth of a mile before we lost the collar. We thought that was pretty great!

Battery life specs say 16-30. But, we are getting between 13-15 hours of battery life. Depends on if we're using lights, update rate, etc... Your personal settings and use determine the battery life as much as having a good charge on the unit. Every day running like what we are doing right now, no lights, update rate at 2.5 seconds, we can expect closer to 14-16 hours battery life.

You don't have to purchase bundles if you have an Astro 320 (320 only) or Alpha handheld. You can just add a mini. My personal collection on my Alpha is several minis, a standard TT 15, a T 5, and a TT 10. On my Astro I have a DC 50 and a T 5 and two minis. Minis won't ship to dealers for another few weeks, but, pre-ordering is recommended to get on the list for the first wave of product.

The minis are well worth the purchase for those of us using small hounds.

Mike Franklin

Thanks Mike for the review, I figure if Garmin said range was reduced then it will be, we hunt in the steep mountains of eastern TN and sometime Range is an issue, not as much on our Beagles but Coon & Sq hunting our Curs is a different story. I have ordered a couple mini's but also keeping one of my full size TT15 just for this reason.

Thanks Tuff...We have been working the collars awhile. And, like DU said, the range is pretty good. Yesterday's range test was 1.18 miles for some reason. I reacquired the collars as I closed the distance, but, I've been consistently getting better range than that, upwards of 2 miles to 3.1 miles. On the bigger collars (standard collars), I average between 2.5-4miles with 4 miles being perfect conditions. I'm not sure what happened yesterday with the minis. I've about worn out all 13 dogs. My squirrel feist is almost ready (weaned). I can't wait!!! We'll have to get together and go get us some when she or he is old enough. The squirrels won't stand a chance! :0) Minis are pretty cool and definitely worth the purchase. I finally can get my wife's lemon-colored dog to come and down in the field! She handles like a dream for the wife, but, me, she just smirks and keeps going...but, she's been 'mini-fied' so it definitely changed her tune! :0)

Thanks Tuff-talk to you later, friend.

Mike Franklin
OKIE DOG SUPPLY
www.OKIEDOGSUPPLY.com
918.633.3519

[Remmy]

Hope they are as good as the reviews state. I have a 3 collar set on preorder and hope to have them soon. Should be a nice upgrade over my tek 1.0.

[BCBeagles]

Crow...I hear your statements and agree.

To each there own...hope they work out well for you!!

[adirondackjoe]

mr. hawk, i think that is the best idea i think I've ever heard and i'm not kidding. i'll bet garmin will read your post and kick themselves for not thinking of it first. if they come out with one i would buy it without thinking twice.