Beeper Collars
TrapTee
I know, may be on point.
Does anyone have a preference and why? What features should I look for?
I have come across a few hunters with them, and, to be honest, am disturbed by
the noise. However, I am even more disturbed at the thought of losing birds.
Dave in Phila.
ps please email me as well.
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Jean Daneau
in Quebec Canada.
I use the ATS Soncic and Tri-Tronics model BC-12.
I use a small bell and a beeper set on "point mode only" it works great.
Club du braque francais 2001
Jean Daneau
jda...@sympatico.ca
Visit our site: http://www3.sympatico.ca/jdaneau/
Steve Wagle
>
> I'm thinking of getting one for when my GWP is in the heavy stuff and, for all
> I know, may be on point.
> Does anyone have a preference and why?
ATS-Sonic beepers get my nod. I won't spend money on any other brand of beeper.
They are very tough. I have never seen one break.
CHeck them out at http://www.ats-sonic.com
Almost every beeper of every other brand I have been around, including
the "big" brand names, has broken. Some sooner, some later.
I am going on three seasons with my ATS-Sonic beeper with not one
problem of any kind. I know of several others ATS-Sonic beepers that
also get a pounding every season without needing more than a new battery
every couple of trips out.
ATS-Sonic beepers are designed have pleasant tone that is easy to hear
from a long way off, even in the wind we have here in the midwest. In
this regard there is no comparison to most of the other beeper makers
products. The sound these beepersmake is very, very different and vastly
superior from the sounds the "big name" makers products make.
In my opinion, the ATS-sonic collar is the only collar I have very heard
that makes a "tone" rather than noise. This makes a big difference to
the hunters, the dog and the birds.
This collar is easy to set and adjust. It turns on and off with a
magnet. They make a couple of different models and most have more modes
of operation (16 run/point combos on mine, 4 different tones) than you
will ever need, but setting it and keeping it set to work like you want
it to is no problem. I have set the settings on my current collar a
grand total of one time, three seasons ago. I just turn it on every time
and it works perfectly. The settings stay put even when you remove the batteries.
The ATS-Sonic collar takes 9-volt batteries, which the unit seems to be
very easy on and doesn't burn them up too fast. Changing the batteries
on this model is so easy, you don't even have to take the collar off of
the dog to do it. Even so, the assembly and guts are sealed up
completely water tight, even on the speaker end of the thing, no water
can get in. The large speaker is actually made from a thin sheet of
metal. Now that is a tough unit.
They offer a one year warranty of the model I use. I think ATS-sonic's
"top of the line model" comes with two-year warranty.
The ATS-Sonic folks are super to deal with and they really seem to care
about putting out a superior product. All they make is beepers.
The ATS-Sonic products are no more expensive than any of the big name
makers beepers.
I think some of the "big name" manufacturers beeper products have
suffered in terms of quality and design in recent years because they are
trying to fit their beepers into a product line of training collars and
other items and have not committed the resources and time to really
produce the finest type beeper collar that is possible.
There are a few smaller makers of beepers that are way ahead of the big
boys in terms of design and quality. In my opinion, ATS-Sonic is at the
top of that small heap..
I hunt alot. I used to use other brands of beepers and found that they
just cannot take the punishment of hunting hard in severe cover and
weather conditions. So I went looking and found ATS-sonic in one of the
magazines. Most of the folks I have hunted with over the years also used
the products of other makers. Many of those same folks have now switched
over to ATS-sonic products after hunting with someone who was using one
after a few times out.
Steve Wagle
http://www.thecheckcord.com
Upland Hunting and Bird Dog Ezine
Teri Keefe
location. It can also be set to go off only if the dog is on point. There
will be times when you want to shut the thing off but do not necessarily want
to call the dog back in to do so. Our hunting guests that use the tritronic
brand are all very pleased. One man did have some set up problems that the
factory cleared up. (battery issue). Those who have purchased the innotek
are having trouble hearing the beeper. Maybe they have been shooting too
long without ear protection. I can hear both pretty easy.
Cush
> ATS-Sonic beepers get my nod. I won't spend money on any other brand of
beeper.
>
> They are very tough. I have never seen one break.
>
> CHeck them out at http://www.ats-sonic.com
>
Boy, Steve, I hope Terry is giving you a cut! :)
Actually, I couldn't agree more with you. This is my second season with
two ATS-Sonics and I love 'em. They do NOT have remote turn on/off, but I
don't mind that -- the ones with remote cost *several times* as much as
the Sonics do. Also, all I have to carry is the tiny magnet, not a
transmitter.
If you know you want to run your dog with an e-collar, I suppose one of the
combo units with both stimulation and beeper are the way to go, if you don't
mind spending several hundred dollars. But if you don't need the e-collar,
the Sonics are the ticket.
One trick, Steve -- ATS tells you not to ANY battery except the Duracell,
I believe it is. This is because 9v batteries vary a lot in dimensions
from one mfgr to another, and the ATS units are designed to fit the
Duracells perfectly. ATS has a Nicad option, but I prefer NiMH
rechargeables because you can recharge them at any state of discharge w/o
having to worry about "memory" problems. So I bought some the NiMH 9v's
you see everywhere (like REI) and put enough electrical tape around them to
make them a snug fit in the Sonics. They work great, except that the NiMH
cannisters are a bit flimsy and if you screw the Sonic unit cap on too tight
you'll collapse the corners of the battery. Still work fine, though. I
haven't told Terry about this yet. I doubt he'd approve. :)
Cush
TrapTee
>rechargeables because you can recharge them at any state of discharge w/o
>having to worry about "memory" problems.
How long do the different type batteries last?
Dave
Cush
> How long do the different type batteries last?
> Dave
The rechargeables typically last about 75% of a new alkaline battery. But
since that gets me thru about 2 days of hunting, that is plenty.
Steve Wagle
>
> >
>
> Boy, Steve, I hope Terry is giving you a cut! :)
>
Well, it's enough that they makes a product that I can get excited about
and not feel that I am wasting my money.
Good point on the duracells. That's all I use in them and I get very
good performance.
Steve Wagle
http://www.thecheckcord.com
Upland Hunting and Bird Dog Ezine
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BobW
speaker cone separate from the battery case - and make sure the
battery case is heavy - as in weight. The heavier battery case will
rotate downward on the dogs neck so that the speaker cone naturally
rides pointing upward over the dogs back. I had an Innotek beeper
coller - but the rechargeable battery case was so light that the
speaker cone would rotate to the side of the dogs neck - dog probably
didn't like it and the sound projected sideways and sometimes down -
hard to hear at a distance or in thick grass. I switched to a model
that uses a 9 V battery in a case separate from the speaker cone.
sparkplug
I bought one from Cabelas (house brand), worked great until my dog headed for the water to cool off. Think very
waterproof.
Rick
BobW wrote:
> One other thing - my preference - buy a beeper collar that has the
> speaker cone separate from the battery case - and make sure the
> battery case is heavy - as in weight. The heavier battery case will
> rotate downward on the dogs neck so that the speaker cone naturally
> rides pointing upward over the dogs back. I had an Innotek beeper
> coller - but the rechargeable battery case was so light that the
> speaker cone would rotate to the side of the dogs neck - dog probably
> didn't like it and the sound projected sideways and sometimes down -
> hard to hear at a distance or in thick grass. I switched to a model
> that uses a 9 V battery in a case separate from the speaker cone.
>
Richard Bazany
tones, especially the ones with a hawk like beep. May be my imagination but
last Fall I thought grouse held longer for the point when I had the hawk
tone on. I got grouse to hold for the point up to 30 seconds. tha's a long
time where I hunt grouse.
----- Original Message -----
From: "BobW" <Bo...@HOME.COM>
Newsgroups: rec.hunting.dogs
Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2001 7:30 AM
Subject: Re: Beeper Collars
> One other thing - my preference - buy a beeper collar that has the
> speaker cone separate from the battery case - and make sure the
> battery case is heavy - as in weight. The heavier battery case will
> rotate downward on the dogs neck so that the speaker cone naturally
> rides pointing upward over the dogs back. I had an Innotek beeper
> coller - but the rechargeable battery case was so light that the
> speaker cone would rotate to the side of the dogs neck - dog probably
> didn't like it and the sound projected sideways and sometimes down -
> hard to hear at a distance or in thick grass. I switched to a model
> that uses a 9 V battery in a case separate from the speaker cone.
>
>