a radio antenna is a radio antenna and because the Garmin does not need a directional antenna any non directional radio antena should work?
It will work, but a radio antenna is NOT just a radio antenna. An antenna is tuned for a specific frequency (or range of frequencies) and that is determined by the length of the antenna. To achieve the maximum range, you should determine the operating frequency of the receiver (I don't have mine with me, but it should probably say on the back) and get an antenna specifically tuned for that frequency.
Lot's of people probably don't realize that on the regular radio collars, the antenna coming out of the collar is a very specific length. I learned about this from Quick Track. They use a plain piece of braided wire cable for their antenna's. Before they started soldering the ends to keep the cable from fraying, I had one that I cut an inch or so off because of that reason. Collar lost a LOT of range and when I called, I learned how I had screwed up. (As typical of their GREAT service, Quick Track DID drop me a new antenna in the mail...no charge)
