Garmin ALPHA 200 Handheld Only

Great and speedy service yet once again from Gun Dog Supply. I've hunted all over Europe and have just returned to the U.S. Again I purchased another Garmin Alpha 200 to keep track of my hard working dog.

I've been thinking of getting this unit for a while now. Finally pulled the trigger and purchased the unit with 2 T15 collars and I'm glad I did. Last September while Grouse hunting in Michigan, I lost my Drahthaar for about 20 min in the thicket. It was not fun. Now, I will not have to worry about that happening again. The A200 is awesome. Easy to configure and customize to your needs. I would recommend to anyone who plans on running their dogs in various environments.

The tracking, e-collar combo is great! Having the combo simplies training sessions. The Garmin works like other Garmins, the touch screen is nice.

The e-collar settings took a little trial session again because they were so different from my other e-collar. Dogtra e-collar is 1-120 + vibe, where the Alpha 200 e-collar is 1-18.

Very happy with the purchase

Upgraded from the ALPHA 100 and glad I did.
Really like the larger screen and the various menus are more logical and easier to find with more capabilities. I'm still learning about all the features and there are many tutorials out there to help.

If you want to use the vibrate function on a TT15 collar, you will have to delete one of the other functions (momentary, continuous or tone) OR add an additional page with vibrate on it. For example, my yellow collar has M, C, T, on the first page and M, C, V on the 2nd page. Scrolling through pages is easy using the buttons on the side of the handheld. Very intuitive.

Enable WiFi and the handheld automatically updates the software to the latest version when you turn it on. How cool is that?

Presently, I'm trying to figure out if I can set different radius alarms for different collars. For example, I'd like to keep an eye on my young pointer and know if he wanders past 150 yards while I don't mind my broke dogs ranging to 250.

Overall, I'm very pleased with my purchase. Much thought went into this device from people who hunt and Garmin listened.

First class dogsmen, fast shipping excellent products

The collar and handheld are working to my expectations and am very happy with the product. I like being able to tell what direction and how far the dogs are. The one negative is that you need to turn the collars on 5 to 10 minutes before you start the hunt otherwise the remote will not connect to the collar and will not know the distance of the dog. I have my remote hanging around my neck with a lanyard and I've had a few occurrences where the remote bouncing off my body as I walk and will go into other screens by itself.

Awesome tool, I highly recommend get one. Game changer

There are good points with the alpha. The range is good. Ability to have maps is also good but as an upland bird hunter I find it terribly annoying to use. First note is that you have to reference the screen often and with timeouts to save battery life you must push the power key to show the screen. This is difficult to impossible with gloves and distracting at best without. While you can program the buttons to do many things actually using them is poor. The buttons are small and you must use two hands unless you have the handset attached to your body as I do. There is very poor tactual feedback so you are unsure if you actually pushed the button or not. Add to that you must have the screen on to be sure of which program the buttons are set for and you have a very inconvienent user unfriendly system. The two systems of tracking your dog are good but again you have to push the power key to activate the screen to see where the dog is. This unit may be great for hounds but for the upland hunter who just needs dog position and quick reference I highly recommend against that and suggest the 550 pro handset as a better option. I wish I had not gone to this model vs. the 550 pro.

I hesitated to make this purchase.

First, high cost, I already have a Garmin collar paired with a Zinger, regularly use a bell and do I want one more thing around my neck.

After two days of Grouse hunting in thick cover (no bell, where is the dog?) I pulled the trigger. Some say a bell will alarm birds, this becomes a non-issue.

Setup was straightforward and a seamless transition from my Pro Control.

This device provides a myriad of GPS information for you and your dog and E-Collar control in one unit.

It is secured to my vest with a carabiner for quick access and positive retention.

Using the Tone feature as a Recall signal is far better than blowing a whistle on a windy day!

After a month of use, I strongly recommend this investment for you and your Pup.

I'm new to training a dog with a collar, after alot of years decided to get another hunting dog, nephew convinced me to get a collar to train. Learning curve with electronics, have only used a couple times so far I like as I can track the pup and know where he is.

I'm a first time gun dog owner and have been reading and watching reviews on all types of e-collars and tracking products. I didn't want to buy a type of product twice so I decided to bite the bullet once and go all in once. I chose Garmin because the guys I hunt with use Garmin with their dogs and we can share dog tracking across the platform in addition to compatibility with watches and other devices.
My family and I have only started using the product to start with training with our pup. So far it's been great. We chose gun dog supply because it had competitive pricing and is a small business here in the USA. We would recommend this product so far!

This is my first tracking collar and it's probably way more than I need but it's awesome! I have one pointing dog that I pheasant hunt for 15 weeks a year and I love the features for that use. The other reasons for the purchase are the navigation and safety features. I often travel and hike alone (with the dog) and cell service can be spotty. The safety features sold me.
Being a data nerd, I love being able to see our activities on a map, knowing how far we've traveled, elevation and speed. I can see this being an excellent hiking tool.
With multiple dog capabilities of this device, I do feel like I'm over-teched and under-dogged. Sound like a good excuse for another dog!

Easy to set up- easy to use- I was concerned they were going to be complex but they are simple

I just received my Alpha 200 with a TT15X collar, and found the set-up of both pretty straight forward, and much easier than I expected. The Alpha 200 is a feature-rich control device that offers the user wide configuration flexibility—I easily programmed the three command buttons to fit my preferences—and navigation through the various screens. There is a lot going on in this little device, and it will probably take a while to truly master its capabilities.

There is little detail in the supplied printed manuals, however, the online manuals fill the gaps nicely.

I took the collar and the handheld for a spin, and after a few start-up stumbles with the maps, was able to see the GPS tracking features at work, using the tracking and training features simultaneously.

The Alpha 200 paired with the TT15X is a quantum leap from other e-collars I've used in the past. I highly recommend it.

I'm so happy with the changes they've made with the 200i. First off, my eyes are thankful for the larger screen. Having the ability to use the top 3 buttons to cycle screens is such a game changer for me. The side buttons are large enough to easily cycle between the menus and e-collar functions. My biggest complaint about the 100 was having to hit the icons in the bottom corners to switch screens. I have fat fingers, and it was frustrating at times, so I'm thankful they integrated the option with the top 3 buttons on the 200i.

Another huge addition is the ability to see the truck and other hunters on the compass. This is so convenient for me. I have a Garmin Sapphire 6x watch and it's nice to just glance and see where my hunting buddy is without having to shout out for a location check in the grouse woods. I didn't like having to switch between the map and compass screens when I wanted to work the dog toward the relative direction of the truck on the 100. It's really convenient to have both on the compass screen.

Other nice conveniences is being able to remove all the unwanted apps from the main menu screen, being able to download updates using wi-fi instead of having to USB to a computer, creating groups for buddies and their dogs. Very easy to enable/disable several dogs at once. I will be buying an in-reach subscription as I do hunt alone at times. Nice peace of mind for me.

Caution for those that have the alpha 100 and like the way it functions (I have bird dogs). I was expecting similar functionality but I guess I didnt do enough research. 2 primary examples, on the alpha 100, I had each button assigned to a different collar which was perfect when running 2-3 dogs, on the alpha 200i you'll need to press a side button to go from dog to dog, so stimulation will be delayed. I'm still trying to figure out if I can get a page set so the buttons will represent different collars.

Second example, on my alpha 100, I used battery save mode, so the screen would turn off after so many seconds, then when you wanted to see where your dog was you just touched the screen. On the alpha 200i, it has the same battery save mode, but when the screen turns off you have to press the power butt to get the screen to turn on. This doesnt work so well, and is almost impossible with gloves. So to save battery I've lowered the screen brightness and it stays on for the whole hunt, which consumes the battery pretty quick. You might get 10-12 hours going this route. So I ordered a second battery to help on multi day trips where there are no plug ins available to recharge (the cigarette chargers are to slow to recharge a battery and waste too much gas).

On the positive side, the bigger screen is nice. So far with my pointers I have not lost communication, which happened from time to time with the alpha 100 in the mountains in AZ and NM.

I've only used it for one weekend of hunting pheasants but LOVE IT! I have a 1 1/2 year old GSP who likes to run big but still does an amazing job hunting. Was just using a training collar before and was stuck in the position of deciding when to zap him. Was he to far possibly chasing a deer or was he close, behind cover pointing at a bird? Now I know exactly what he is up to and have confidence when I correct him.

This combo is awesome, I used it on my tracking dogs and it's awesome.

Better information content on the dog page than the 100. Better screen. Easy to use.

Really like the Alpha 200i and the TTX15 collar they are a great combo with all the new features.

This thing has everything i need in one unit. I hunt wild chukar in the mountains and with this i can find my dog, see topographic maps, text the wife when i have zero cell service, and control the dog. All with just one device! When your hiking in the mountains it's always nice to bring less stuff to cut down on weight. The garmin alpha helps me do this and stay connected with the dog and with family. Also the ability to hit the SOS button to bring in the cavalry is a nice thing to have when your up in the rocks. Both the collar and controller are bigger than my old ones but for the extra features i believe it's well worth it. They are spendy but what's the cost of
Loosing your dog?

i really like my new 200i garmin system.. the screen is easy to read, even with my old eyes. the count down timer is awesome. everything about it is amazing.

I have been using the Garmin alpha and two collars on my lion hounds for the past two weeks or so. Hunting off muleback in the wilderness. I am very pleased with the quality and ease of use.

Best improvement yet is with the screen, no more finding a shady spot to view your dogs from previous models. The larger screen and more memory is great.

Am transitioning from the Alpha 100 to the Alpha 200. Love the larger screen and clarity. Taking some time to get familiar with the key setup. I just wish the manuals were not written by extraterrestrials, but by gun dog owners and trainers; so that my learning curve was quicker.

I ordered this unit from Gun Dog Supply. I received it quickly but the top left button on the front didn't work. I called them and they sent me another unit that day. I haven't had time to completely check this one out but it seems to be fine. Really great service from Gun Dog!

I ordered the 200 I around Christmas and even with the holiday I still received it in a timely manner it was shipped the next day very pleased with the service from gun dog supply I have two alpha 100s and wanted to up grade we run hounds for coyote and tracking is very important they are very good instruments and we depend on them on every hunt the alpha 200I is definitely a worthwhile update the bigger screen is awesome for us older folks and the ability to group packs of dogs separately is a great feature so far I love it and would recommend it to anyone handling dogs if you're looking for a good tracker this is the one and I would recommend that you look to Gun dog supply for your purchase I'm sure you will be very pleased with their service
Chuck

I have been using the Alpha 100 for several years and really loved it. I recently bought the 200 and am still trying to get used to the differences. Overall, I love the 200! It is somewhat time consuming to get used to the different operating system, but I believe it will be well worth it. I love the slimmer, more streamline, look and feel of the 200 compared to the 100.

At this point I only have one issue and I am sure it's just an issue I have not figured out yet; however, when adding dogs, other than mine, I am having a lot of interference issues even when grouping them differently. I have yet to figure out how to add dogs in each individual group. As of now, I have only recognized one way to add dogs and then group them. This is where the interference is coming into play. If there is a way to add dogs specifically to each individual group my problem would be solved. However, I have not figured that out yet.

Overall, this seems to be a great product!

The first unit I received was defective: the compass would not calibrate properly and the pointer sometimes literally spun in circles on the screen when I tried to find my pointing dog. Worse than useless. I spent hours testing and recalibrating the compass, calling Garmin's tech support (basically useless), and finally reached out to Gun Dog Supply for help. GDS is awesome and their staff know more about Garmin products relating to dogs than Garmin. They suggested some things to try that Garmin didn't, and when I got back to them that their suggestions didn't work and that I thought the unit was defective, they sent me a replacement. I'm happy to report that the replacement Alpha 200i works as it should (I've now used it on two chukar hunts in extreme terrain and the compass works as well or better than my trusty old Alpha 100).

Sold the unit to my friend at a discount instead of returning to Gun Dog Supply. Garmin took a big step backwards by not including compatability for the OnX Hunt chip. I upgraded from the Alpha 100 and expected the same OnX experience. I was disappointed. Most Garmin units recognize the chip, not the Alpha 200i. I expected the latest and greatest from Garmin to do the same as their previous units.