Alpha 300 + tt25 vs pro 550+ +tt15 ?

G

Goosedowner

New member
Right now I'm using a pro 550+ with a tt15 collar. I'm going into the 3rd year with this set up and the first 2 years it worked great but this year not so much.
So this has me thinking about getting a replacement so I'm not GPSless in the middle.of hunting season.
I'm considering another 550+ or an Alpha 300 with rhe tt25 collar. my questions are,
is the 300 and tt25 more accurate that what I have now?
is the 300 more reliable or have less issues then the 550+?
Any other pros or cons to the Alpha 300 I need to know about before I make my decision?
Thanks
 
on our first 2 hunts this year the arrow that shows the location of the dog would pretty much just spin so I wouldn't have a clue where my dog was. I downloaded the new updates to the collar and the handheld and that helped but for several hunts bounced around but not as bad as it was. On our last hunt the fist 25% of the hunt the arrow was exactly opposite of where the dog was then it corrected itself and worked the rest of the hunt.
 
There are settings for the length of time (how often) that the collar sends to the alpha. What do you have yours set as?
 
I’m assuming you did the compass recalibration? Does it do this in different areas? I know terrain such as trees, hills, etc will mess it up. Also magnetic things will impact it as well. My buddy purchased a new vest with magnetic enclosure for the shell pouch which impacted the accuracy.
 
Do you have any new gear with magnets? My watch gets messed up pretty often since I have a magnet close to that hand. Also both the tt15 and tt25 work for both the pro 550+ and Alpha 300 so you don't need a new collar unless you want the upgrades. And the collar won't affect accuracy other.

How do you use it mainly? I love the Alphas but 99% of my "training" is just using the tone and then rarely shock if they are chasing game and not listening. If you always are using different stim levels then the alpha is much slower. But I find it perfect for 1 dog, and good for 2 dogs. At 3 dogs the pro is much much easier.
 
my new vest has magnets on the shell pockets!!
I keep the handheld in a pouch close to my shoulder, is that close enough for the magnets to affect it?
I only hunt one dog now, in a few years I'll add another but I doubt I'll ever have more then 2 dogs.
I use the tone button frequently, mostly to keep her in range. Occasionally I have to nick her but 99% of the time.its just tone.
 
Last edited:
I just sent an email to Chief upland Co. to see of that have had any other hunters using their vests have issues similar to mine.
Thanks for that info, I would have never guessed those little magnets might be affecting the gps.
 
Goosedowner said:
I just sent an email to Chief upland Co. to see of that have had any other hunters using their vests have issues similar to mine.
Thanks for that info, I would have never guessed those little magnets might be affecting the gps.
Click to expand...
Don’t know about others but when I mentioned magnets on my buddies vest, his was a Chief as well.
Let us know what they say. I’m sure someone in the future will find this thread and want to know.
 
Goosedowner said:
I just sent an email to Chief upland Co. to see of that have had any other hunters using their vests have issues similar to mine.
Thanks for that info, I would have never guessed those little magnets might be affecting the gps.
Click to expand...
Ah yeah that's the same vest I have which is what messes up my watch stuff. I've just been dealing with it but It's tempting to get different pouch's without the magnets, but they really do work well.

One really nice feature of the Alpha 300 is that the truck waypoint shows up on the Compass and to the watch which means I can easily see when the compass isn't lined up.
 
After thinking over the info you guys have told me, i have come to the conclusion that my 550 did need the updates at the beginning of the season but after that it was the magnets that were making it go crazy. On two of my hunts early in the season I had forgotten my garmin watch so I kept the hand-held in the shell pouch (with th magnets) and would only take it out to see the location of the dog. when I remember my watch the hand-held rides in a pouch high on the left shoulder strap of the vest and seems to be far enough from the magnets that they don't affect it. The watch on the other hand is what's now being affected!
last night I paid attention to where I was holding my arm and if I kept it low near the magnets the arrow would keep moving but if I kept my arm higher and away from the magnets everything worked as it is supposed to.
Tonight I'm going to cut the 6 magnets out of that shell pouch and replace them with velcro. The magnets are a great idea but I don't get into that shell pouch as much as the right one and I think the velcro will be fine there.
Thanks for the help !!
 
One small thing to add. The handheld can have the compass messed up by magnets and the watch will be unaffected as long as it's compass is good. The handheld is just telling the watch a direction based on the two GPS coordinates. So the watch is the part needing the calibration/magnet avoidance.
 
Chief upland got back to me and here is what they said.
Hi Lee,

Thank you for reaching out! We have reached out to Garmin regarding this which they have said that "modern day" electronics should not be affected by the magnets. We have heard a few reports of this though, which is why we suggest not even risking it and utilizing either our electronics pouch or cinch top water bottle pouch, both of which do not have magnets. It's better to be safe than to risk the magnet potentially being an issue.

I hope this helps
 
I was impressed that they contacted Garmin to get their take in the issue and not give me some pull it out of their butt answer.
 
FYI. I recently read that you should recalibrate your Alpha and watch If you are over 100 miles from where you last recalibrated. I just did my 200i and have never recalibrated my Fenix 5 until now. They both seem to work better now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top