Garmin Astro 220

The Garmin Astro 220 is a high sensitivity GPS-enabled dog tracking system targeted for hunters and sportsmen. It is a unique system that pinpoints your dog’s position and shows you exactly where he is even when you can’t see or hear him. The Garmin Astro 220 consists of a bright colour-screen handheld GPS device and a rugged, all-weather DC30 collar that has an integrated GPS transmitter and is specially weighted to ensure that the antenna always points to the sky for optimum signal. It is only available and approved for use in the United States due to varying international regulations on hunting activities.
Specifications
The Garmin Astro 220 is able to transmit your dog’s DC 30 signal to your handheld every five seconds to update you on his current location and a trail of where he’s been on the Map page of your handheld. Besides that, you can also switch over to the Dog Tracker page to view a compass pointing to your dog’s location as well as his current status (whether he is running, sitting on point or treeing quarry). In addition to that, the Garmin Astro 220 can also sound an alarm to let you know instantly when your dog goes on point. Not only that, it also incorporates a high-sensitivity GPS receiver that is able to track your dog’s position even in the densest cover up to a distance of up to seven miles away (depending on terrain). Additionally, the Garmin Astro 220 is also able to track up to ten dogs at one time. The system transmits information by line-of-sight in order to reach the farthest in flat, open territory. Once you have captured your quarry, the Garmin Astro 220 also allows you to mark the exact spot with Astro’s Covey Counter which is a special waypoint that tells you the exact location, time of day and elevation where you found your prey as well as the number of birds you flushed and took from that location. Not only that, the Garmin Astro 220 also allows you to save other special waypoints such as “Truck” and “Lodge” so you can revisit these places quickly and easily during each hunt. There are also special waypoint icons that can be used to represent food plots, tree stands and other hunting related points. In addition to that, the Garmin Astro 220 can also be used as a traditional GPS navigator to help you find your way back to your truck at the end of the day or even back home again. This is because the Garmin Astro 220 incorporates all the features of Garmin’s top-line handheld outdoor devices including a barometric altimeter, electronic compass, microSD card slot, celestial information, area calculator and rugged IPX7 waterproof exterior. There are optional detailed city street maps that can be downloaded to help you find over 6 million points of interest and create a route on roads with exact turn-by-turn directions. The Garmin Astro 220 measures 5.7 inches x 6.3 inches x 1.3 inches (W x H x D) in dimension and weighs approximately 185 g excluding its batteries. Besides that, it also spots a TFT display that measures 3.8 cm x 5.6 cm with a resolution of 160 x 240 pixels and support for 256 colours. The Garmin Astro 220 is powered by 2 AA batteries that can provide up to 24 hours of battery life. It is also waterproof (IPX7) and incorporates a high-sensitivity receiver. There is also a USB interface. Among some of its map features include basemap, ability to add maps, 1000 waypoints/ favourites/ locations, 50 routes 10000 points and 20 saved track logs. Additional features include automatic routing (turn by turn routing on roads), electronic compass, barometric altimeter, hunt/ fish calendar, sun and moon information and area calculation.
Reviews

“I have now been running the Garmin Astro for a little over 14 months. We spent a good bit of time working out issues and problems with the original design, and in the end we came up with a pretty good unit for the field. We got so much feedback from customers on what they liked and hated about the product it was a little hard to keep up. We also spent a good bit of time working with Garmin on ways to improve the collar design to avoid these issues. To Garmin’s credit, they listened to us and their customers and we now have a much better product.” (GunDogSupply, 2009)

“A general purpose GPS receiver, suited for typical tracking and positioning tasks.Built-in altimeter can provide important information for hikers, bikers, and skiers.Has an internal antenna which is desirable for activities where an external antenna would get in the way.This unit is somewhat heavy, weighing in at 6.5 oz.” (CNET, 2009)

“Overall, I thought the system (both the dog collar and the handheld unit) were durable and worked very well. However, there were some limitations with satellite reception in moderate to heavy tree cover. For the cost of the unit, I was disappointed with the clunky, but functional menu system as a GPS unit. That said, for someone who spends a lot of time looking for their BIG running dogs, this system will prove invaluable.” (CoveMountainKennels, 2009)