I was talking to Mike Kelley about three months ago and we began disscussing the Astro cause he said he just got one. He said it is very neat in because you can virtually see every step your dog made. But he also said there are some serious design flaws in the collar set up or the harness setup. The antenna on the collar is very prone to wear and tear. he said a helpful tip is to put one of the heavy duty vinly reflectors on it to give it some protection.
The thing that scares me is Garmin advertises 5 mile line of site! I hope you all know what that means about 2 miles max in normal hunting conditions. Yes gps's are battery hogs also and 20 hour collar life is not to insuring either. What if your dog gets in a cave or under a rock cliff? Or worse yet some thief puts him in a shed or his basement? I don't understand why the Astro can't have unlimited range. I mean you are using satelites why can't I track my dog from PA to Australia? Shouldn't it pick up signal anywhere? Or better yet if you lose satelite connection they should be able to switch over to conventional telemetry locating.
I do think it is great you can where your dog has been and see if he is heading towards danger like a road but I feel that cons outweigh the pros. Just because you can locate a dog in 20 hours doesn't always mean you can catch him right then either.
Actually ATS has had a Gps unit out since 2000 for wildlife monitoring but I bet you could get one for hounds from them also and I would not be afraid to say ATS is better than Garmin.