Practically seven years in the past, earlier than I used to be a Garmin worker, I had simply completed looking throughout Iowa on Pheasants Eternally’s Rooster Highway Journey once I sat down and wrote an article on the Garmin Alpha® 100.
I used to be dumbstruck by this new piece of expertise and instantly knew it was going to vary the best way different hunters and I understood and associated to our canine.
It made us higher handlers, it saved us (and our canine) safer, and it made our hunts extra pleasurable.
Years later, my birddog Annie and I each are a little bit grayer across the muzzle, and her image now sits on my desk at Garmin. However between the miles, spent hulls and numerous hunts, what I wrote then is simply as true right now:
“The Garmin Alpha is the one most vital piece of drugs any big-ranging canine proprietor can have.”
At Garmin, each time and expertise march on, and within the time since that Iowa journey the Garmin Tri-Tronics engineers have labored on the continuous development of what would change into the following iteration of the Alpha.
They listened to our prospects internationally, and right now I’m proud to replace the above sentence:
Now, the Garmin Alpha® 200i is the one most vital piece of drugs any big-ranging canine proprietor can have.
I’ve been testing the Alpha 200i for the previous 12 months, and, writing first as a birddog proprietor and second as a Garmin worker, I can actually say the staff simply knocked it out of the park. Constructing on Alpha 100’s legacy and every part hunters love about that unit, the Alpha 200i delivers horsepower in a easy, easy-to-use bundle, and, within the course of, takes canine monitoring and coaching expertise to a different stage.
And for the houndsmen on the market: The 200i is simply at residence within the timber as it’s within the subject.
Redesigned Handheld
Out of the field, you’ll discover the slimmer, sleeker profile on the Alpha 200i, which permits for a greater hand match. The second distinction you might discover is the bigger display. The engineers launched a brand new 3.5” touchscreen that has a sunlight-readable show.
The Alpha at all times pulled double responsibility between hound and birddogs, however the Alpha 100’s display was simpler to learn at evening than noon. That’s all been modified, and with the brand new display it’s straightforward any time of day.
inReach® Satellite tv for pc Communication
There was by no means cell service once I was youthful and heading out looking, so I’d sometimes go away a notice on the kitchen desk saying, “I’m looking *right here* and needs to be again by Sunday at 7 p.m. If you happen to don’t hear from me by 9 p.m., name my brother and the police.”
inReach expertise has fully modified that method.
Now, I can ship messages to my spouse and mates in actual time, checking in for security and celebrating good hunts, or, if I’m chilly, moist and in the course of nowhere on the finish of a protracted day, simply reaching out for a little bit consolation.
For these unfamiliar with inReach units, they’re two-way SMS communication units that function on the Iridium® Satellite tv for pc Community with interactive SOS performance*. In layman’s phrases, which means you may textual content individuals, they usually textual content you again from just about anyplace. And for those who break your leg crossing a barbed wire fence and should be rescued, you may hit a button and be assured the cavalry is coming, be it in a helicopter, native sheriff in a F250 or different, relying in your scenario.
Within the years I’ve used inReach, I’ve realized it’s so far more than simply an emergency software. In actual fact, I don’t go on gravel with out it anymore.
It’s a essential piece of package that simply works, so you continue to can say goodnight to these you care about whether or not you’re in the course of Fort Pierre Nationwide Grassland or on the backside of Hells Canyon.
If you happen to’re studying this, we probably share a minimum of one factor in frequent: We regularly spend days at a time with out mobile service at camp. Within the occasion of an emergency at residence, with inReach you’ll know your loved ones can nonetheless get in touch with you instantly. That’s peace of thoughts that’s robust to beat and certain laborious to place a value on.
And, utilizing the reside monitoring characteristic, family and friends can “be part of the hunt” by watching your breadcrumb path on a pc (for those who set it up for that operate).
It’s vital to know you don’t have to make use of the Alpha 200i’s inReach options for those who don’t need to. However for those who do, there’s an obtainable subscription service that’s much like most mobile phone plans. It prices roughly $12 to $65 per 30 days, relying on what you need, and takes about 10 minutes to arrange.
What’s very nice is you may flip the inReach service on or off everytime you need. So for those who’re unsure about it, strive it for a month. It’ll price you about the identical as a gas-station lunch, and it may save your life.
*Energetic satellite tv for pc subscription required. Some jurisdictions regulate or prohibit the usage of satellite tv for pc communications units. It’s the duty of the consumer to know and observe all relevant legal guidelines within the jurisdictions the place the gadget is meant for use.
Fast Keys
One of many distinctive new options of the 200i is the design simplicity, making this unit extremely straightforward to arrange.
You may customise the observe/practice/hunt options with the hand-held’s button operation, so, you may simply “snap to” the options which can be most vital to you based mostly in your private preferences.
You may toggle by with the facet buttons launched on this mannequin.
Enhanced Canine Lists
The Alpha 100 can observe as much as 20 canine at a time, however if you wish to run greater than that, it’s important to manually take away and add collars. Some discover this cumbersome.
The 200i, however, builds on this means with a brand new canine lists characteristic, permitting customers to toggle collar IDs or group collars into “energetic” or “inactive” teams. In doing so, you may have greater than 20 collar IDs in your Alpha 200i at one time.
Moreover, you may share these collar IDs or canine lists along with your looking buddies so that you don’t need to manually enter collar IDs when you’re looking with greater than 20 canine.
Sturdy Mapping
The 200i makes use of a number of satellite tv for pc programs and preloaded maps to present an enhanced view of the place you, your canine and an alternate location are at any given time. This permits for higher monitoring in more difficult environments.
Additionally, through Wi-Fi® community connection Alpha 200i customers can obtain BirdsEye Satellite tv for pc Imagery on to the gadget for an in depth panorama view of a area — or use a appropriate Garmin HuntView™ Plus card.
I’ve at all times discovered this handy as a result of issues look totally different from floor stage, and you may extra successfully and effectively resolve how you can work a subject or make the most of potential habitat alternatives like timber traces, outdated attracts, distinctive construction, and so forth.
Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.
Professional View
When Garmin launched its PRO 550 Plus tracking-and-training handheld, the delta canine indication grew to become successful, and this has been integrated into the Alpha 200i through the Professional View characteristic.
This supplies an “at-a-glance” of the place your canine are, so once you’re operating a pack, it’s simpler to shortly find and get to them. Nonetheless, for those who nonetheless need to use the normal compass or mapping characteristic, these stay obtainable.
Collars
For these at the moment operating a PRO 550 Plus, Alpha 100 or Astro® 430, the Alpha 200i is backwards appropriate with TT™ 15/TT™ 15 Mini canine units, or T 5/T 5 Mini canine units.
The 200i can be availablle as a stand-alone unit.
Cellphone Monitoring
Utilizing the Garmin Discover™ app on appropriate smartphones, 200i customers can observe their canine instantly from their telephone as effectively. Wish to throw the 200i at the back of your pack and simply run your telephone? No downside.
The Discover web site and app lets customers handle tracks and/or routes and waypoints, and evaluate statistics. Basically, customers can deep dive on what they did, the place they did it and take a look at their effectiveness in overlaying floor.
The Alpha 200i’s listing of latest options and capabilities goes on and on, and what I’ve talked about listed here are some that I discover vital. However all of us have our personal looking kinds, so there may be probably a distinction within the options you’ll discover vital.
The Alpha 200i is exclusive in that it’s such an adaptable unit and has a sturdy characteristic set. It shortly turns into a vital piece of drugs whereas on the similar time morphing into a number of looking kinds. This units it aside and makes its proprietor extra environment friendly, efficient and safer within the subject.
Secure looking this 12 months, and good luck wherever your Alpha 200i and canine take you.
