No Bull

richy 253 As a distributor of tracking systems, other than me the only other legal systems I am aware of are: Titley Electronics - their own design systems Sir Track - NZ Government Wildlife system (largely US components) Bio-Telemtry - S.A. based company selling a police radio scanner & collars Dogmaster Trainers - Tracker distributor Wildlife materials - not sure who is selling it now As to prices, only a few of us seem open enough to post our prices...so you will have to call them. Cheers John

Rimfire Whoever owns that Tracker system has a serious problem, sounds to me like the antenna connection at the base of the collar is damaged. You should be getting easily 10 klms plus, figures that low indicate damage. I have personally Tracker at way over 10 klms, with Tracker receiver!! I have also tested it in cities (worst conditions) at over 8 klms...so it has a problem. Of the collars I have mentioned Tracker should be the most powerful, then Wildlife, then Titley (unless they have a new model). All of them should go 5-10 klms easy. Can't guarantee that range with a scanner type receiver though as it is nowhere as good as a true tracking receiver, either for range or accuracy. The reason you are picking up signal on the scanner at a longer distance on the scanner is that it does not have as good a filtering system as a proper receiver and is picking up the spurious radio emissions coming from the collar. That is it is picking up the other frequencies that are being sent from the damaged antenna, the Tracker receiver filters them out. See if anyone else in your area is also using Tracker and get together with them for a comparison test. Have you checked that the collar frequencies have been correctly entered into the receiver, you should hear them as a ver crisp clear signal if they are. If you want to talk my number is 07 55202587. Cheers No Bull

rimfire I'm not quite sure I understand your underlying question, so I will ask a question back. You indicate that you have borrowed a Tracker Receiver and collar and also have a radio scanner with a mini yagi antenna? And you cannot get decent range with the receiver..is that right?? If it is then there must be something drastically wrong!!! Most people go little more than 2-3 klms with their dogs, a few 5klms, yet any of the qulity tracking systems should go 10 klms and many a lot further. If they are not doing that, here are 2 possible explanatons: 1. The equipment is faulty 2. You are testing it in an area that has strong interferene ....high power lines, thick granite belt or some other problem. Any of the brands I mentiond should give you way over 5klms in any conditions except perhaps sugar cane. Naturally no radio transmitter can overcome the laws of physics, so if you are trying to get it to go through a hill...then it aint gunna happen!! Hope that helps a bit. Cheers No Bull

All Whoops I forgot to declare that I am a importer in the Tracking and training indusrty and you may consider my advice biased. I am not touting for business, just trying to clear up confusion. Cheers No Bull

timberman Yes you could...as a one off test probably in the range $1000-$2000. Now you see why transmitting collars from Aussie dealers APPEAR high!!! Also take into account, duty, freight, insurance, advertising, service, fuel cost, banking fees, internet costs, phone charges & the tiny Aus market....you get the idea!!! And a Govt who decided our legal frequencies would be different to the major market, the US...what would you expect!!! Cheers No Bull

Rimfire I sort of do know, but have not been impressed with the technical knowledge of the person involved, so would prefer not to recommend. If however you send a quick e-mail to wildlife materials in the states they will tell you who their dealers are and their contact details. that DOES NOT mean they have "C" tick approval ..you will have to ask the individuals. Also remember that you do not have to use the same brand collars and receivers, they just need to be in the same frequency range. If you already have a Wildlife receiver it should be around the 151MHz range and your choices in Australia would include Wildlife, Tracker, Titley, SirTrack...off the top off my head. Cheers No Bull

Rimfire Yes AQIS do get a bit touchy about that!!!..lmao Wildlife Matrerials longest range collar is called the Magnum Convertible, just make sure the person you buy it from is "C" ticked..ask for their number. Cheers No Bull

Mark It can be either the "C" tick with the suppliers registration number on it e.g. N12345 or the suppliers name and address is also OK. It should be on every transmitter, in as permanent form as practicable. On imported goos that generally means a heavy duti vinyle sticker. It is possible in your mates case that it was simply a quality control issue from the distributor (they forgot!!). All Tracker brand equipment in Australia has only one distributor (and a number of dealers) and it is unlikely they would forget. If the collars were not in the 151 or 173 MHz frequency range (for Tracker), I would be starting to worry!! Cheers No Bull

It is not illegal to imort tracking systems into Australia from any country, regardless of frequency. It is ILLEGAL to use them however unless they carry a "C" tick approval which can only be applied to the item by an Australian supplier who has had the equipment tested by an independent laboratory to ensure it meets Australian radio system standards. It is not SIMPLY a question of whether the frequencies are legal. Use of non "C" ticked radio based products carry large fines and confiscation of equipment. How do I know? I run a business importing radio based systems. Cheers. No Bull