Garmin Alpha 200i Dog Tracking Handheld, Utilizes inReach Technology, Sunlight-readable 3.6 Touchscreen (010-02230-50), Black

I purchased this as a dog finder. We go out moving cattle and the cows go into some pretty dense forest, bush, marsh, whatever they can to hide and as big as they are they hide pretty well. This Alpha 200i with TT15 collar does not work accurately if the dog collar is within 30 feet of you! ... $1000 dollar device and it doesnt track when you are near the collar? Really?!

Garmin definitely introduced a huge setback with these new 200 series. The do not accept any hunting maps like ONX or basemap. They make you buy their own branded crap called huntview plus. It’s terrible in comparison.

Had the Alpha 100 for a few months and was only running 1 dog on it. When I upgraded to running 2 dogs on the Alpha 100 it was a chore/hassle to be able to train them effectively. I upgraded to running all 4 dogs on the TT15 collars and decided I had to upgrade to the Alpha 200i.

Bought this unit to be able to track, train, and use InReach. It does all those well. I do have to lock the touch screen to keep from changing things when I put it in the carrying case but locking the screen is a viable option to keep that from happening. When received, I had to go to Garmins site and update the software, but that is not unusual for Garmin products. Sometimes they come with out of date software or versions that were put in at the factory that may be off from the ones on Garmins website. Just be aware that you always need to check the software version upon arrival. Aside from that, this is a great multipurpose unit.

Very pleased with product.

The manual is not very informative You have to go online to get enough information to operate. This is a very annoying practice by this company Why would you want a third party to explain your product

This is good for hunting in the field. But it is a little cumbersome. I have the Sport Pro as well for training. They are both great, but you need to know what you want to use them for. I only use the sport pro while training. Then switch to the Alpha when hunting.

Dog Group/Management, programmable training keys, Bluetooth transfer of tracks, WiFi downloads of satellite imagery, satellite messaging all great upgrades from alpha 100. Well worth the price despite a few lingering Garmin user interface idiosyncrasies.

If anyone is wondering whether to go TT15 Or TT15 mini...I would say <14 go mini. >14 go regular TT15.

This Alpha 200i will interfere with a VHF radio. I use a VHF handheld radio with the Alpha and I get a constant clicking sound transmitted from the Alpha to the VHF. Garmin has no solution.