hey howard,
i have one of my dc 40 collars that i think is not working properly. for the last 4 trips in a row it seems to spend more time with lost signal than with. it turns on fine, but as soon as the dog leaves, it loses signal. seems like the closer i get back to her, the signal comes back then gone again. i think it might be distance related. not sure what to do, but it's kinda aggrevating. for the last 8 months, i have loved my Garmin, thank you. tend to lose reception on other collars from time to time, but not consistently like i described above.
any help would be greatly appreciated.

or, if anyone else has an opinion, they are welcomed!

Thanks,
Cary Don

I can tell you from experience, THERE ARE PROBLEMS WITH THE DC40's. I have ran controlled tests with them and I can tell you the problems are more than just antennas and updates. I was going to purchase a 320 Astro and some more collars, but that will have to wait until Garmin takes care of the junk I have already. Garmin had stopped production on the 40's to make changes. I don't know for certain, but fear that the only changes were antenna related. Tri Tronics was bought out by Garmin. I sure hope Garmin listens to the folks at Tri Tronics and does not ruin the Tri Tronics collars! My advice is at this time do not buy any Garmin DC40's. if you want to call me I will fill you in more. 608-966-1943

SAME EXPERIENCE AS MR.GORDEE. I TRADED MY 40'S IN ON 30'S AND THEY ARE DOING FINE. GOOD LUCK.

I USED THE 30'S FOR 2+ YEARS AND KEPT 2 COLLARS IN THE MAIL AT ALL TIMES FOR REPAIRS.
IVE HAD 11 40'S SINCE THEY WERE AVAILABLE. IVE CHANGED MANY MANY ANTENNAS,AND YET TO USE OR MAIL IN THE 11TH COLLAR.
ANY ASTRO TROUBLE I HAVE HAS ALWAYS TURNED OUT TO BE HUMAN ERROR.
THE ANTENNAS ARE DEFF. A PROBLEM, BUT AS A WHOLE THE GAMINS ARE AMAZING!!

IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE YOUR ANTENNA HAS GONE BAD ON YOUR DC40. THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE DC40'S. GARMIN HAS JUST RELEASED A NEW ANTENNA THAT IS SUPPOSED TO TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM BUT THEY ARE HAVING TROUBLE KEEPING UP WITH THE DEMAND. I WILL SEND ONE TO YOU AS SOON AS I GET THEM.
THE SECOND MOST REPORTED PROBLEM WITH THE DC40 IS THAT IT LOSES CONNECTION WITH THE SATELITE. THIS IS DUE TO THE WAY IT SETS UNDER THE DOGS HEAD OR NECK ALONG WITH THE HEAVY FOLIAGE THAT YOU HAVE IN THE SUMMERTIME. THESE TWO FACTORS BLOCK THE SIGNAL COMING FROM THE SATELITE TO THE SATELITE ANTENNA ON THE DC 40. THE DC 30 DOES A BETTER JOB OF MAINTAINING A GPS FIX, SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THE ANTENNA'S LOCATION ON TOP OF THE DOG'S NECK. THE DC 40 (WHEN WORKING PROPERLY SHOULD TRACK FURTHER THAN THE DC 30. I SOLVED MY DC 40 PROBLEM BY PUTTING A TRITRONICS RECEIVER ON THE COLLAR WITH THE DC 40. THE DC40 RIDES ON THE SIDE OF THE DOG'S NECK INSTEAD OF UNDERNEATH, THEREFORE KEEPING A CLEARER VIEW OF THE SKY(SATELITE). THE TRI TRONICS RECEIVER ACTS AS A COUNTERWEIGHT TO HOLD THE DC 40 TO THE SIDE. I THINK THAT YOU COULD USE ANYTHING ON THE COLLAR AS A COUNTERWEIGHT AND GET ALONG FINE.
PS. KEEP IN MIND THAT THE SATELITE ANTENNA IS IN THE OPPOSITE END OF THE DC 40 AS THE POWER BUTTON (THE ON/OFF BUTTON). SO POINT THE SWITCH TOWARD THE GROUND AND THE OPPOSITE END UP.
LAVERNE, I DO NOT LIKE TO HAVE UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS. PLEASE CONTACT ME TO RETURN YOUR GARMIN SYSTEM IF YOU DO NOT LIKE IT. THANKS, HOWARD

I have a few minutes, so will describe a little more about the 40's I have. Howard, I am cheap and like free shipping, so I purchased elsewhere. I know that your service is tops, however I have received great service from my dealer also. He will refund my money or get me new collars. I just want the system to work. A couple months ago I sent my 40's to the valley with friends that have 30's. They were so frustrated with my 40's that they were threatening to run over them with the truck. 1 collar was an antenna problem. I have 5, 40's and 3 out of the 5 are faulty. I coupled my Astro 220 to a magnet mount antenna and placed it on the tower roof in my pen. Then I began to watch what transpired. Sure would rather watch and listen to the hounds! I have tried 3 different kinds of antennas, Garmin, Garmin improved, and Buzzard Roost aftermarket, all supplied free by my dealer. I have a two month old collar that drops out almost continuously and a 6 month old collar doing the same. One brings up the lost communication message and the other only a question mark. When switching to the info page I learned that one drops instantly from 4 or 5 bars on the comm graph, the other drops from 4 or 5 bars to zero instantly on the gps graph. Another collar quit working and refused to shut off. I left it lay about two weeks and now magically it turns on and works. No one can convince me that there is an antenna problem only with the 40's. I am going to check with my dealer next week, but about three weeks ago he could not get a 40 from Garmin as they had stopped production on them. Like I said earlier, I am afraid the only change has been to the antenna. I think there are a lot more out there working like mine that owners are not aware of. It took someone with 30's using mine to get me investigating. I had hoped to hear something by now from Garmin, but since I haven't am "going public" with my lousy experience. I am sure not trying to hurt any dealers, but I feel like Garmin needs to "fess up" and make needed changes. I have used tracking collars longer than many on here have been alive and they were never a problem. Between the 220's frying and the distrbuting of the 40's before they were working properly, I am ready to dig my beep beeps back out. What good is a product that can't track a hound on 140 acres with a fixed antenna mounted high above it all?

Mr. Gordee, Do you still have my email..... I have mistakenly deleted yours I guess... If you do please email me. Sorry to get on someone else's post with nothing that pertains to it....

I have 5 30's and 2 40's. Never had a problem with the 30's. The 40's on the other hand haven't worked worth a crap since I bought them. I run alot in wide open flat pasture with very little cover. It only tracks about 25% of the time.

I AM ALSO SORRY FOR BUTTING IN ON MR MCCOYS POST BUT CLINT AND I RAN INTO A PROBLEM WITH OUR SYSTEMS FRIDAY. WE HAD A DC30 TRAVEL AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT OVER 2 MILES IN 2 DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS NEVER LOOSING SIGNAL ON MY 220. AND WHEN I CAUGHT THE HOUND IT WAS SHOWING IT 580 YRDS AWAY. ALSO MY 220 WAS HAVING A HARD TIME KEEPING UP WITH MAP MOVEMENT AND IDENTIFYING ROADS AND GEO FEATURES THE WHOLE NIGHT. CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT MIGHT BE THE PROBLEM? OTHER THAN THIS WE HAVE 2 200S AND 9 DC30S AND THEY DO GREAT EXCEPT FOR GETTING THEM TO CHARGE. THANKS DS

DANIEL,
I THINK THAT YOU WERE GETTING A WEAK SATELITE SIGNAL. IF YOU HAVEN'T UPDATED YOUR DC 30'S TO WHERE THE RED LIGHT BLINKS 3 TIMES WHEN IT HAS AQUIRED A SIGNAL THEN I THINK THIS WILL SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM. THE DC 30'S USUALLY GET A GOOD ENOUGH SIGNAL WITHOUT THIS UPDATE. THE DC40'S HOWEVER, NEED THIS UPDATE. AFTER THE UPDATE THE DC 40'S DO NOT HOLD A GPS FIX AS WELL AS A DC 30 WITHOUT THE UPDATE BUT WORK WAY BETTER THAN THEY DO BEFORE THE UPDATE. IF YOU ARE STILL HAVING PROBLEMS, CALL ME AND I WILL GET YOU GOING AGAIN.
LAVERNE,
I SUGGEST THAT YOU SEND YOUR UNIT BACK, GET A REFUND AND I WILL SELL YOU MY USED UNIT. AN ASTRO 220 AND 7 DC 40'S. I HUNTED SIX DC 40'S FOR TWO DAYS AT THE LINCOLN COOUNTY FIELD TRIAL IN THE BIG VALLEY. I HAD TROUBLE WITH ONE DC 40 IN TWO DAYS AND WHEN I GOT THE DOG BACK A COYOTE HAD BITTEN THE ANTENNA OFF. SOUNDS LIKE IT WORKS WAY BETTER THAN THE NEW UNIT THAT YOU HAVE.
THE GARMIN SYSTEMS ARE NOT AS RUGGED AS THE TELEMETRY TYPE SYSTEMS. I STARTED USING GARMIN WHEN THE DC 20'S WERE AROUND AND HAVE LEARNED HOW MAKE THE BEST OF THEM. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A TROUBLE FREE SYSTEM, I SUGGEST THAT YOU USE A TELEMETRY TYPE SYSTEM.

Pound puppy, I have a DC 30 that quit working on me. I just put a new battery and new antenna on it. It still wont pick up at all. Any suggestions? Does Garmin still work on them?

YES THEY WORK ON THEM. CALL 800-800-1020. WHEN YOU GET A RECORDING PRESS 222 TO AVOID LISTENING TO ALL OF THE VOICE PROMPTS. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS YOU CAN CALL ME DURING THE WEEK AT 573-669-5101
HOWARD

Thank you sir.