Registered: Dec 2013
Location: franklin county, va
Posts: 11

I am thinking of buying a alpha unit to hunt with so I will only have to carry on electrical unit in the woods. Please give me you all opinion on whether or wits worth the price to pay.

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Brandon Powell

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Registered: Oct 2013
Location: Maryland
Posts: 2633

Not sure I totally get what you are asking...do you mean like as opposed to carrying separate shock collars and tracking units and a dog with more collars than legs??? If so, I will say that I really like my Alpha. It works great and does exactly what I need it to. That said, I wish it just did what I needed it to for me. It would be a heck of a lot simpler to use if that were the case. I need it to track a dog and show me where he is. I need it to reach out to a reasonable distance {which it definitely does} and stop a dog when I know he's doing something wrong and that's about all I need. It certainly does those things...and about 500 other useless to me, mind cluttering, totally unnecessary, some computer genius "thought we'd need it" crap that almost kills it for the average guy. For every useless snippet on the Alpha there is probably a way to turn it off or otherwise go into the thing and do away with it but who, or better, what coon hunter has the time to learn all that stuff??? We just want to go hunting without having to take another college course in programming and using yet another wonderous gadget!!!!
Here is an example of what I am talking about...every time I go to use this thing I have to:
1. Turn it on.
2. Get to the home page {because it powers up on a different page every time???? Like every other gadget I own}
3.Scroll down twice.
4. Select the "track manager" icon.
5. Select current track.
6 Scroll down again.
7. Select clear current track.
8. Another page comes up asking if that is what I really want to do.
9. Select yes.
10. Wait a minute while it clears the current track.
11. Hit the X at the bottom of that page.
12. Hit the home page icon at the bottom of this page.
13. Hit the compass Icon to track and train the dogs.
14. If it still reads the old track {which is half the time} I have to go back and do all this again.

14 plus steps to do what I need...when I am certain if they can design this thing to do all it does surely they can make work by hitting one or two buttons????? I have had to run through all this as many as three times to get it to go.
i am sure there is probably a way to re-program this thing so I can get it working in say half the steps, but again, who has time to learn/guess how to do all this???? This is the way the lady at Garmin told me to do it when it quit working the second time I went to use it.
The Garmin Alpha is proof that you really can have something that is totally just too fantastic. What ever happened to a plain old on-off switch???

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I must have a simpler version

1. turn it on-It always opens on the home page
2. select start a new hunt
3. select yes
4. select map icon and I am tracking

As far as track manager I only go to that if there had been something saved or if I want the track of the alpha removed.

If you use track manager a lot you can move its position up on the list to show it on the home page. That will save two scroll downs.

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Registered: Oct 2013
Location: Maryland
Posts: 2633

You must also have it set {something else to have to guess how to do it} not to save every hunt. Otherwise you will see the device slow down with use as it is storing all your tracks. You are going to the track manager one way or another...it's kind of a pay me now or pay me later type deal. Just like the track manager icon...my point exactly, if they didn't have all that needless crap on there I wouldn't have to now take time to learn how to move it. I bought this thing to track and train dogs, not get another masters degree. I am not saying the Alpha is a bad tool, it works and is very effective at what it is for. I just don't get why Garmin believes it needs to be this complicated...maybe another way of saying it is that in it's simplest form the Alpha is a convenience. So is your watch, but how long would you wear it if every time you needed to see what time it was you had to go through 18 different steps???? But yeah, the watch does keep perfect time.

Last edited by msinc on 01-24-2015 at 07:11 PM

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Registered: Dec 2013
Location: franklin county, va
Posts: 11

Well what I am asking about is I have Astro 320 that I am using at the moment that belongs to my cousin. I am thinking about buying the alpha so I wouldn't have to buy a shocking system also. That away when I am hunting I don't have worry about loosing a controller plus less I have to carry around. That's why I am asking for everybody's opinion on how they like the unit for hunting.

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Brandon Powell

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Registered: Jun 2012
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Posts: 589

I have owned the 220, 320, and the Alpha. This is what I would do, call or P.M. Bruce M. Conkey, order the Alpha, and a Gizzmo Vest for it, you will be glad you did. One thing I wished I had done on my Alpha was get the Birds Eye installed. I would have that done as well, it is pretty dang aggravating, time consuming, and difficult to do from what I understand.

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Rocklynn Phillips
Kardinal Kennels


Pups and started dogs available from time to time.

Last edited by kardinalkennels on 01-25-2015 at 01:23 PM

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Registered: Dec 2005
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 1400

Yes buy the Alpha, got rid of my e collar and 320, I really like the Alpha to me it's easyer to use than the astro, just mess with it and figgure it out. You can deleate things on there you don't want, it's up to you, I like the touch screen a lot . It is a pretty easy system once you practice a little

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Registered: Dec 2011
Location: Mountains of NC
Posts: 1255

Or pm one of us and it's easy as 123 to set up be glad to help.

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Mike McKinney

I use Sunfire lights

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Registered: Nov 2012
Location:
Posts: 240

Im kinda dissapointed in my alpha I lost dogs at 400 yds last night over a mtn my sport dog would have reached them as it haas done many times but the alpha failed on that occasion it got me in a mess with land owners and game wardens

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