Garmin DC30 - Factory vs. Long Range Antenna

[Bryant]

I'm needing to order a few replacement antenna's and I've always just ordered the factory ones in the past.  I've been reading mixed reviews on the use of the so-called long range aftermarket antenna's for the 30's...some claiming the aftermarket ones actually loose range compared with the originals.  Anyone done any actual side by side testing to see if they truly make any difference?  Seems like I've seen some in the past that were nothing more than a piece of coated wire cable with a o-ring connector crimped on the end.  Seems easy enough to make a few if they really work.



 

[wine6978]

I know an old cat hunter that says he has used all different types of antennas. He stuck with just getting a roll of 12 gauge or 14 gunge I believe solid copper wire and crimps an eye on the end and screw it in its place. He cuts them about 12/16 in long, and swears he gets just as long of range as any factory antenna he has bought.

[wine6978]

I'm thinking 12 gauge.

[aussie black mouth curs]

in flat country we get about 800m with the factory and up to 1.6 km with the heavy aerial (be warned they use 25-30% more battery per hour of operation), with the extension aerial that screws onto the handpiece you get 5-6km in flat country

[Bo Pugh]

I hunt with a guy from out of state he comes down here a good bit he made some out of some coated clothes hangers and they pick up just as good as any of the others and if you hunt with a lot of people when you get back to the truck with these it's no ? Of whose collar is whose with the clothes hanger antennas

[jpuckett]

What I've heard is they only get a little better coverage but the are a lot more durable... The factory ones tend to not take abuse as well as the after market antennas

[AW]

I did side by side testing with the ones Valley Creek Hunting Supply has and they went 900 yards further and picked back up faster and more often than the original. I laid a DC40 (2) 30's(1 factory and 1 Long range )and a dc50 on the fence post at home drove around and the DC50 went the furthest 2nd place was the 30 with the long range then the stock 30 and the DC 40 with the long range was last.

[Bryant]

Thanks for the info.  I stopped by Lowes a bit ago and picked up some materials.  I'm going to make a couple and do some "field" testing this afternoon.  I'll report back with findings.

[Bowhunter1994]

Try antenna cable... Someone on here said it worked good!!


Sonny

[Bryant]

Ok, so I spent a few hours yesterday afternoon doing some testing of my own.  I took six collars and hung thema few feet apart down my fence line, labeled each one number 1-6 on the handheld and went for a drive.  Getting mixed results and had to collars that were dropping off at a few hundred yards.  Went back to the house and took apart a DC40 that was loosing signal at 400-500 yards.  I found that the antenna was broke under the clamp that is held on by the two screws.

Upon further investigation, I found that three other collars had the (factory) antennas broke in various places along the length.

I decided the only way to get a true comparison was to use one single collar and change the various antennas I had on that collar.  I had a factory antenna, one I had purchased at Uncle Earls last year from a well-known vendor which was sold as a "long-range" antenna, and an antenna I made from 18" of 14 gauge stranded copper wire which I crimped an o-ring connector on one end.

All said and done, the factory antenna out performed the other two.  Second (but not by much) was the antenna I made, and last (with a very dissappointing range) was the "long-range" antenna I had bought.  That one actually went in the trash.  It was made of stainless coated cable with an o-ring attached.  Seems like the copper material works better, as the ones I made work significatly better than that one.

As it stands, I have two colars with factory antennas, and five with the antennas I made yesterday.  They all seem to be working very well.

I guess what I learned is that nothing I tried out performed the factory antenna....however the factory ones are a bit brittle.
 

[Mike]

Bryant, did you try different lengths on the ones you made? I think the length will have a lot to do with the range.

[Bryant]

No I sure didn't....All the one's I made were cut to 18".  Longer than that, and I think they would have to be made from a differnt (more rigid) type material.  I'm going to play around some more this weekend and see what else I can come up with.  Copper is a better conductor, but just not as rigid as the stainless 7x7 aircraft type cable.  Thinking of maybe taking small cable and wrapping a copper wire around it from one end to the other, then enclosing the whole thing in heat shrink and trying that.  Might be the best of both types.

[wine6978]

Good to know you found some good info. I'm pretty sure I remember him using solid wire. He liked em cause if an antenna broke he kept the wire and the eyelet deals in his truck and boom quick fix.

[Bowhunter1994]

H&H hunting supply has some new ones that outperform the standards by .50 of a mile, they are pretty thick wire.


Sonny

[Mike]

Travis fooled around with his a while back, got the best range out of speaker wire 20-21" long. It didn't hold up well, so I would guess a heavier gauge copper wire that length may work good?

[Bryant]

H&H hunting supply has some new ones that outperform the standards by .50 of a mile, they are pretty thick wire.

Is this based on your own testing?

[Bowhunter1994]

H&H hunting supply has some new ones that outperform the standards by .50 of a mile, they are pretty thick wire.

Is this based on your own testing?

Yes I did the testing.
Side by side with a factory antenna.
Their long range was more consistent and went further !


Sonny

[AnthonyB]

H&H hunting supply has some new ones that outperform the standards by .50 of a mile, they are pretty thick wire.

Is this based on your own testing?

Try this, 10ga stranded copper wire 21" long, #4-#6 post ring terminal, and a heat shrink butt connector at the end. That's what I make mine from and they easily out preform the factory antenna.
Anthony

[Bryant]

I've got a little something I put together based on radio and proper antenna tuning research I've been doing.  Namely proper tuning being the length of the antenna equal to a wavelength of the broadcast frequency.  After I spend some more time testings, and if it continues to prove out l'll post what I came up with and how I made it.

Here's a sneak pic of my prototype...

[cantexduck]

  Bryant ,
 You have too much free time !