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Tracking Collars


hazedog

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im looking for a tracking collar and have only really found two brands. they are both around the $1400 mark. are there cheaper systems or is this what im up for.

my dog is still a pup so theres no huge rush for me to buy. any sugestions?

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I have 'wildlife materials' collars, they are considered one of the best brands but pricey. If your going to buy them look at one of Wildlifes USA resellers as wildlife cant sell em direct to Australian customers and you will get a better price than Australian sellers. Just make sure you get them on australian frequency.

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Hazedog,

The bottom line is you get what you pay for mate.

I have Titley Trackers. The aerials are built in to the collar . Which I think is good as you get a reading any way he may be facing or even if he is up against a creek bed wall with the antenna against it. (As I have seen happen before with exposed antennas)

A mate of mine has a Biotelemetry Tracking system & he seems to think the Titley has a stronger Receiver. They both use the Yagi Antenna & I would highly recommend them both. Have seen them in the field working & I hunt Cane fields & Rainforest Jungle & Gulf & Cape York country. These would all be the harshest of enviroments to use them & they have proven themselves.

On the other hand I know some fellas with Tracker Cllars & if they are not in open country they dont even bother to pull them out to use as they recon signals cannot be picked up after the dogs exceeds a distance of more than 300 meters from you.

Anyway mate goodluck with whatever you buy. And if it were me ,I would save my bickies a bit longer & get the best quality Tracking system you can possibly afford.

Cheers,

Doggy

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hey doggy,

Do you find you get less response in rain, heavy mist or fog?

also do you have any hints or tips when using the controls,, general,,etc.. what you do..

i havent had to use mine a great deal. thx in advance

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Timber Man,

The Trackers dont seem to be effected with those weather conditions that I have experienced.

The way I use my Tracker is to bring the number tracker up I want.

I then turn up the volume to full so it is clear to all.

I then turn the gain right up till it starts going up to its greatest recieving signal while SLOWLY doing a 360 degree turn holding the Antenna.

After I find the general direction of which the signal is at its loudest, I then begin to slowly adjust the gain down till the signal is faint.

Step 2 : Turn the gain back up past this point just a little & do another SLOW 360 degree revolution.

This will then give you the exact direction in which the dog is in of that 360 degree circle you have turned.

I then start heading in that direction for a few minutes.

Stop & listen for the dog.

If nothing repeat from Step 2.

As I get closer to the dog my signal neddle receives a stronger signal & the beep I get through the volume becomes louder as I get closer.

Hope this helps & you can understand what I have put up.

Let us know if you dont.

Goodluck with it.

Cheers,

Doggy

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yep all good mate, and i think this post may also help others in using a tracking system, which is good, so ill ask these questions for everybody.

..................

Do you ever triangulate? (take 3 readings from three different points in a triangle) then where they intersect gives the position.

I've found when on foot its hard to get to the 3 points so far apart, and the dog is also moving as well (unless holding), better in a vehicle if you have the road access.

....................

Also, how do you adjust for signal bounce (off a mountain) ?

...................

I'd be interested in doing a course in tracking does anyone in Australia offer one?

..................

whats the furthest you've found your dog away?

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thanks for the imput guys, timber man ive contacted sirhuntalot and received msgs back , ao far it sounds fairly promising. waiting for final confirmation but if anyone else might be interested make a post here or let us know and well see how we go. doggy i agree with what your saying about price/performance (reliability) relationship, but for a relative novice to dogging im looking for entry level equipment and all being well, will certanly update to top line once were up and running. would hate to pay top $$$$ and find i dont use it.

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On the other hand I know some fellas with Tracker Collars & if they are not in open country they dont even bother to pull them out to use as they reckon signals cannot be picked up after the dogs exceeds a distance of more than 300 meters from you.

doggy

That is BULL SH#T. I have a Tracker and i hunt high mountain country and thick scrub and i have no problems picking up a signal well over 300 meters away, the fellas you must know must not use the Tracker properly.

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Scrubdog,

Where you hunt ?

I was told that by the blokes who own them & have more than 28 years experience hunting the type of country mentioned in my post.

So dont tell me its bullsh&t.

Ivé seen em in operation the same time mine have been in the field with theres.

Get off your high horse Scrubdog.

Its is an observation made by them & myself.

There must be something in it if they were not picking up the dogs in the jungle.

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doggy

I hunt high up in the great divided ranges and in some of the thickest and arshes country in NSW.

Yeah the blokes might have more than 28 years experience in hunting in that type of country you mention, but that doesn't mean there experience with using a tracking system, doggy you use Titley Tracking system, which is a good system but so is TRACKER, so y say something like that about a system (TRACKER) that you don't use or had any experience with using that type of system (TRACKER) your self. doggy go back to your 1st post about this, you don't mention that you had any experience with(TRACKER) just some fellas reckon, which them fellas mightn't be using it properly in the thick stuff. Like I said I have no problem picking up a signal well over 300 meters in thick and hilly country.

Thats just my say with the experience of the system (TRACKER), they work well for me and i bet they work well for a lot of other hunters that use them properly, in mountains and thick country.

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Whatever Scrubdog.

I've seen them in the field . Maybe they are not as deadly as you in operation who knows. But they have had them for a bloody long time & have spent many an hour using them trying different things out with them.

So when they dont bother to pull them out must say something for them.

I'm not on here & cant be bothered arguing crap about which ones better or what.

Its just mine & 7 others up here that use trackers have the same opinion of them.

Have never seen on here where opinions where not allowed.

Not interested in counting penny's to see who can out do who. I left that behind in primary school thanks.

So you make of it what you want , it wont change our opinions of them up here.

My 2 bobs worth ,

Thanks all & make of what I have decided to post on trakers with you all as you wish.

It is true as the old saying goes, "You get what you pay for " is the bottom line.

Cheers,

Doggy

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doggy don't stress out about it. :D:D

has them fellas ever used ear phones with there TRACKER, if not they should give it a go , cos when the dogs are a long way from ya or right in the thick sh#t it makes it alot easier to pick up a signal.

doggy, Titley works for you and Tracker works for me so lets just leave it at that cos i haven't got time to argue with you, i have better things to do.

cheers

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Doggy I get the same feed back from everyone who uses Tracker as well mate. There are also people who use them and can't be bothered saying that they also have trouble using them because people are quick to jump down their throat and call them stupid. Don't let it faze you. I've personally been with 2 different people using tracker and the dogs came back from the opposite direction from where we were walking lol. I have tried to put as much in field experience with the different brands before purchasing a unit.

Anyways if anyone is interested in new tracking equipment that is easier to use and MUCH cheaper than what the Australian distributors are charging just drop me a pm and I will pass on as much info for you.

cheers, Peter

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Thanks for the comments Peter.

I knew there would be others that have had similar experiences as friends I have that have the Tracker brand.

I know what I said was true , I only posted an opinion on them but I guess your right, some people just wont accept that there is truth in the matter.

Cheers,

Doggy

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hazedog

I don’t think the information you have been given so far is particularly helpful or accurate so I will attempt to answer your question. But first let me say that I have more than 25 years experience in complex radio systems engineering and have also used a number of tracking systems here and overseas. And no I do not work for any of the suppliers!!!...lol

Tracking systems consist of 3 important components:

1. Transmitter (collar)

2. Receiver

3. Receiver antenna system

The transmitter plays a key part in determining the range (or distance) that the signal will transmit. The more power (measured in mW) the transmitter and the better its antenna system the further it will transmit. The maximum legal power output in Australia is 100 mW.

The receiver is also very important as it must be able to detect very weak signals, this ability is known as sensitivity and is measured in –dB, the higher the –dB the better. As the radio signal travels through the air it loses power and is harder to detect, the better receivers can detect very low powered signals at long range.

The receiver antenna system combined with the receiver also assists in detecting very low powered signals and feeding them to the receiver. Most systems use half yagi antenna’s (large) because “Tracker” brand owns the patent to its unique design antenna system and no one can legally copy it.

Performance of tracking systems is therefore a combination of all these elements. Now to put all of that in perspective, no TRUE tracking system in Australia will go less than 10 kilometres in open rolling hill country. All tracking systems are affected in the same way in mountains or thick vegetation, so statements like “the only system that works in the mountains” are just urban myths and defy both engineering principles and real world testing. Even if a tracking systems has a transmitter that gives it 20 kilometres in open country and another only 10 kilometres, neither can penetrate through a real mountain…so the range performance is negated (unless the mountain is more than 10 kilometres away!!!)

In Australia I know of only the following suppliers currently, Wildlife Materials, Tracker, Titley, Sir Track (NZ Govt) & Bio Telemetry. Only two of those are world class products Tracker and Wildlife and Bio Telemetry (unless it has recently changed) cannot be classed as a tracking system as it is simply a radio scanner connected to a yagi antenna and is the worst performing of the lot (although it might be enough for some users).

On the world market, Wildlife is well down the scale of technologies, using quite old designs and construction methods. In its home market of the US it is out played by many tracking systems such as Marshall, QuickTrack, MN etc.

Tracker is a rather unique design with very powerful collars and a very small receiver, which has a range of around 20 kilometres, hampered somewhat by its difficulty in learning how to use it close in where the power tends to “swamp” the receiver. Experienced users tend not to have any problems, but technically inept or impatient users do have problems.

Titley make great receivers if you are happy using large yagi antennas, their collars unfortunately are not very powerful and the hidden antenna wire also reduces range.

The comment someone made regarding trackers not being able to receive signal at 300 metres is absolute rubbish, unless the loaded coil wire that connects to the antenna was broken (not uncommon), and a simple repair.

Do not believe the advice that you can buy a system from overseas on a “legal frequency” and then use it; you may as well buy one on illegal frequencies..you are still breaking the law. All radio products sold in Australia must have an Australian “C” tick from the Australian Communications Authority, and that needs to be an Australian firm…why?? So that should the device cause interference, they have an Australian company to sue!!!

Devices found without a “C” tick sticker are subject to on the spot confiscation.

I would suggest that you organise a test of the units you are interested in to see if they meet your needs considering things like size, battery consumption, ease of use. I am sure that any reputable supplier will have a test unit for you to trial if you pay a deposit. If not, then they are not serious and have something to hide!

Good luck

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Right O then bloke , what in your view is the best Tracking system on the AUSTRALIAN MARKET ? With a direct answer please no round about mumbo jumbo answer.

I agree with you some what to a degree on your spiel.

However have to debate the fact you think that the TITLEY collars are underpowered. Given from my experience in the field that they give out better signal than the Biotelemetry Collars that have an external antenna.

The TITLEY collars have an antenna wire which runs internally round the full length of the collar on either edge , thus giving it 2 antenna.

We had a case up here were the dog was killed laying in a dip on the aerial. He could not be picked up on the receiver & the dog with him was wearing the TITLEY collar which was still holding the pig. This is how we ended tracking the dead dogs postion.

So how do you explain that ozrsole ???

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Doogy

sorry yes you are right the bio telemetry collars are even worse than the Titley collars. The two best collars in terms of power are Tracker & Wildlife...by far.

Which is the best system?? Depends on what you mean doesn't it, best distance, best build quality, best price, best longevity, easiest to use, how much money can I throw at it??

If I was hunting in thick stuff and wanted great reception, it would be hard to go past Tracker with its small size, excellent quality and great range...but I would have to be willing to spend time learning how to use it properly.

If I hunted where I could carry around a yagi based system, but didn't have a lot of money and wasn't concerned about long term quality...maybe a Wildlife..but only with there long distance collar.

The Titley receiver still requires a yagi antenna and while good quality is also expensive and would need tracker collars to really perform so would end up costing a lot more. But they do provide great service.

Sorry I can't be more definitive than that

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a new one is coming - i think it is going to be marketed as "el tracko"

i feel this new release will be the ducks nuts of tracking..

it runs on the 433mhz. its about the same size as a tracker and weighs only slightly more..

from what i have heard from reliable sources - wildlife collars (transmitors) are the most powerfull on the market..

with this new tracking device coming out - it has a lot more accuracy/directional bearings..

very easy to use - can have upto 10 dogs on it - and can name each collar frequency to your actual dogs name.. and it has a plug in for a yagi antenna if you wish to get further than 9km distance out of it..

i was quoted 2200 with 2 collars.. it will still be a few months before released in australia..

Rx.jpg

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Hey Rip,

Looks pretty fancy ay?

What are the collars it comes with , do you know ? Or can you nominate what collars ?

Do those antenna fold back ?

Why is it if its so good that it has an outlet to plug in a Yagi.

This still means you have to carry that aswell. Just curious thats all.

Is 433Mh a legal channel in OZ ? Mine operate on on 151 & my mates on 152.

Looks tidy but.

Doggy

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