Garmin Alpha 200i Review | Outdoor Life

canine and a dependable shotgun are about all you might want to hunt birds. But, the Garmin Alpha 200i paired with a TT 15X collar helps you be a greater canine handler and chook hunter. You can observe your canine’s location, know if it’s on level, and provides corrections on one gadget. 

I’ve been testing the Alpha 200i and TT 15X all through the autumn, and it’s shortly turn out to be a bit of drugs that I can’t do with out. Here are my ideas on it and a few perception if it’s an excellent match for you. 

• Weight: 9.9 ounces
• IPX7 waterproof score 
• Battery Life: Up to twenty hours
• Touchscreen
• inReach messaging (with subscription)
• GPS
• Tracks as much as 20 canines
• Collar gentle management
• Pre-loaded maps
• SOS

Track and Train

The three buttons on the prime of the Alpha 200i are customizable sizzling buttons, and I primarily use mine for tone, momentary and steady stimulation. But by toggling the facet up and down buttons, you may change the new buttons to tug up the map, directional arrow, and drop a waypoint. That function saves a ton of time that might in any other case be spent navigating via menus. 

You can use the observe operate to see the place you and your canine have been. You may also arrange notifications that can warn you when your canine is on level or treed. I additionally like you could arrange notifications in case your canine leaves a set radius or geofenced space. 

Collars 

Two of the commonest collars to pair with the Alpha 200i are the TT 15X and the TT 15 Mini. Both have 18 ranges of stimulation and LED lights that may be turned on with the Alpha 200i in blink or steady modes.  

The stimulation ranges go from degree 1 to 18. I examined them on my arm, and 18 will get your consideration—I’d solely apply it to momentary throughout an emergency. Level 1 is barely perceptible. Level 6 is what I typically use with my Brittany, and it’s the place the stimulation goes from barely noticeable to noticeable. 

Read Next: These E-Collar Mistakes Will Kill Your Gun Dog’s Prey Drive

The major distinction is the scale of the collar and their vary. With the TT 15X you may observe a canine as much as 9 miles away, and the T mini collection has a 4-mile vary. If you might have a big canine, the TT 15X is right. Dogs smaller than 40 kilos, the T 15 Mini is ideal. My Brittany is a medium-sized canine, and I believe the mini could be finest for him, however the TT 15X doesn’t appear to hassle him.

inReach and SOS

The Alpha 200i is full of options for searching, coaching, and subject trials, however it additionally has security options. The inReach messaging means that you can ship messages with out cell service and on your family members to trace your location. It additionally has an SOS button for calling search and rescue. 

Testing the Garmin Alpha 200i within the Field 

Every Garmin gadget I’ve used has had a superb guided arrange, and this handheld was no completely different. Setting up the Alpha 200i and pairing the collar took minutes. The gadget menu can be simple to navigate and intuitive. 

My first outing with the Alpha 200i was a woodcock hunt that took us via swamps and a two-year-old cutover. In the thick stuff, I overpassed my Brittany, Riley, anytime he was greater than ten yards from me. That would usually make for difficult canine dealing with, however I may simply see precisely the place he was in relation to me on the hand-held. In that thick, hilly terrain I by no means misplaced sign with the collar or had points with responsiveness. 

Hunting a subject for pheasants I used to be in a position to see areas we coated and mark waypoints in areas Riley was performing birdy however didn’t flip something up. We reworked these areas, and it resulted in a rooster. It was a chilly and windy day within the 30s, however regardless of numb fingers, that contact display screen continued to work and the buttons had been simple to make use of. 

The battery life on the Alpha 200i is fairly good at round 15 hours. On a latest pheasant hunt I forgot to cost the battery, however fortunately it expenses fairly shortly. I had it plugged in for an hour earlier than we left, and that fast cost supplied sufficient juice for a three-hour hunt. You can use a energy financial institution to cost the hand-held whilst you’re utilizing it, a 20,000 mAh energy financial institution will take Alpha 200i from useless to completely charged. I do want the charging port was positioned on the backside reasonably than the again. The charging port within the again makes it stick out at a 90-degree angle, which isn’t perfect for sitting in a pocket or pack. 

Read Next: Garmin Alpha 10 Review

What the Alpha 200i Does Best 

The collar and handheld will let you be a greater teammate along with your canine since you’ll spend much less time recalling and extra time successfully protecting floor. 

It’s additionally an awesome software for at dwelling. Anyone with a sporting canine is aware of their prey drive doesn’t have an off change. My Brittany likes to chase deer, and has escaped our fenced yard on a number of events in pursuit of deer. The Alpha 200i offers me the peace of thoughts that, if he does escape, I can discover him and use the collar corrections to tug him off the deer and headed in my path. I additionally just like the collar gentle for letting my canine out at evening. 

The Alpha 200i handheld is greater than a canine coaching software. You can use it as a stand-alone GPS and inReach messenger, and that flexibility provides worth to an costly buy. 

What the Alpha 200i Does Worst

The Alpha 200i and TT 15X are costly. The package deal prices $1,100, and it’ll be as much as the consumer if that value is value it. You can get the Alpha 10 for half the value, however the function set isn’t as strong. I in the end selected the Alpha 200i as a result of I wished the bigger show and map overlay. My solely remorse is that I didn’t pony up the money a very long time in the past.

Final Thoughts 

Knowing precisely the place your canine is and with the ability to give corrections by way of tone or stimulation over lengthy distances is a strong software. And it’s a software I don’t know the way I ever hunted with out.