Alpha Dog Antenna

Mtns2hunt

Mtns2hunt

Member
I have an Alpa dog which works well. Took another yote last Sat. and have called in three others over the past couple of weeks but no shot. Recently I have had issues with range between the remote and the caller. This appears to be a common problem with the Alpa Dog.

There was once an article or video where a guy replaced his original antenna with an aftermarket one. I thought it was on this site. Does anyone know where it is located? I would like to see how he did it but cannot find the info.

Otherwise I will tear down my unit myself but this will be slower and time consuming. Plus I will lose hunting time. Any help will be appreciated. I will post the procedure for others to use once the project is completed.
 
Thanks Bob_Alt! Exactly as I remembered minus a few details. I have just ordered the Antenna and cable: info really makes this job easier. Soldering will not be a problem as I solder all kinds of electronics and have all the equipment. Only thing is the new antenna will require a hole to be drilled. Appreciate you and the original author!

PS, not really a new member as I just hover in the background.
 
Originally Posted By: Bob_AtlWelcome to PM & let us know how it goes : external ant mod, by ACA

Well, got the antennae installed. Range is about 150 plus yards in the shopping mall. The original antennae is very small and thin about 5 inches in length. I'm not sure how it even functioned.

One of the product links provided in the original post has one of the parts wrong. Long end needs to be female and not male. Antenna itself is right.

Getting the unit back together may be time consuming and frustrating requiring some amount of patience.

Current temps in the 90 plus range and while I did cut wood from sunrise to about 9:30 am I did not get chance to test unit to its fullest capabilities. I will advise once I get the opportunity. We are expecting a cold front shortly.
 
Big disappointment with the Primos antennae upgrade. Range in hay field is only about 80 yards and this is with the unit off the ground. Also reception is very spotty. I did have better luck few weeks back getting reception while I was in a tree stand.

Tried last week with unit on ground and only antennae showing. Reception again was not very good and sometimes nonexistent.

I am going to check antennae and connections maybe try a different antenna. Weather was warm and humid but I don't think this is the problem. Unit is just not receiving signal.

In fact original antennae worked better than the replacement. Basically the provided instructions were accurate but the replacement cable and I think the antenna itself may be mismatched. Do Not recommend anyone try this upgrade at the moment as the results are disappointing. Will provide more information shortly.
 
Just saw this and sorry it didn’t work out for you. I know that on my unit it made a huge improvement. I know the operating frequency of my unit is correct due to the fact I have access to RF service monitor (work part time for a 2-way radio shop). I also don’t why your cable didn’t line up antenna has an SMA male connector and the cable is a sma female. If I can help anyway I’d be glad to help.
 
Haven't tried this mod but based on experience with HAM UHF antenna, a simple improvement
would be to attach a 7" wire from the coax shield near the base of the new antenna and
dropping this 7" wire downward, to form a vertical dipole.
The wire can be thin like copper bell wire (6.75" to be exact).
The biggest performance issue is still line-of-sight (its UHF).

I've not had a need to extended the range of my PAD, yet anyway.

----------- rest is technical TMI --------------
The new purchased antenna for this mod is the upper half of a dipole,
and by itself (a 1/4 wave) is very ineffective.
The theoretical intent is to run this as a 1/4 wave ground plane vertical (like on the roof of a car) or as half of a dipole.

The fact that they work somewhat with handhelds is due
to the hand holding the transceiver as well as the transceiver itself acting
as a poor replacement for the lower half of a dipole.
 
Originally Posted By: Bob_AtlHaven't tried this mod but based on experience with HAM UHF antenna, a simple improvement
would be to attach a 7" wire from the coax shield near the base of the new antenna and
dropping this 7" wire downward, to form a vertical dipole.
The wire can be thin like copper bell wire (6.75" to be exact).
The biggest performance issue is still line-of-sight (its UHF).

I've not had a need to extended the range of my PAD, yet anyway.

----------- rest is technical TMI --------------
The new purchased antenna for this mod is the upper half of a dipole,
and by itself (a 1/4 wave) is very ineffective.
The theoretical intent is to run this as a 1/4 wave ground plane vertical (like on the roof of a car) or as half of a dipole.

The fact that they work somewhat with handhelds is due
to the hand holding the transceiver as well as the transceiver itself acting
as a poor replacement for the lower half of a dipole.

Interesting concept about the copper wire. I will try it. Unfortunately due time demands and the need to cut fire wood I have not been able to run anymore tests. I hope to shortly [beeep]. I now have a light weight tripod to attach the unit to and hopefully take care of the line of sight issue.
 
Originally Posted By: ACAJust saw this and sorry it didn’t work out for you. I know that on my unit it made a huge improvement. I know the operating frequency of my unit is correct due to the fact I have access to RF service monitor (work part time for a 2-way radio shop). I also don’t why your cable didn’t line up antenna has an SMA male connector and the cable is a sma female. If I can help anyway I’d be glad to help.

Not a problem. Just takes the time to iron out the bugs sometimes. Unfortunately I have been super busy at the store and cutting firewood.

I liked Bob_Atl's suggestion and explanation about the copper wire and will give that a try and test some more.

Getting close to hunting season and soo much stuff to get ready but I will post an update on how everything goes.
 
Originally Posted By: Mtns2huntOriginally Posted By: ACAJust saw this and sorry it didn’t work out for you. I know that on my unit it made a huge improvement. I know the operating frequency of my unit is correct due to the fact I have access to RF service monitor (work part time for a 2-way radio shop). I also don’t why your cable didn’t line up antenna has an SMA male connector and the cable is a sma female. If I can help anyway I’d be glad to help.

Not a problem. Just takes the time to iron out the bugs sometimes. Unfortunately I have been super busy at the store and cutting firewood.

I liked Bob_Atl's suggestion and explanation about the copper wire and will give that a try and test some more.

Getting close to hunting season and soo much stuff to get ready but I will post an update on how everything goes.

UPDATE: I promised an update on my Alpha dog antenna upgrade. After initial problems and issues I have gained considerable improvement. I exchanged the original upgrade antenna for the antenna off a wireless router. Benefits include longer range and the antenna folds out of the way. In addition I secured a lightweight tripod from Samson and painted it green. Range is very good out to 150 yards although occasionally you have to move the hand held higher and move it but not always. It works better if you are at a higher elevation i.e. small hill or tree-stand. I was able to attain a response out to 200 yards but it was not always consistent.

So bottom line is that the upgrade is consistent to 125, is good but not always consistent to 150 but is temperamental at 200 yards. Unit is elevated four feet on tripod. These ranges work well for me as I seldom put the call past 100 yards and at 100 yard the response is quick and solid.

Oh one other thing: trying to make a di pole with the first replacement antenna did not work. In fact range was less then 40 yards for some reason.
 
Originally Posted By: Mtns2huntUnit is elevated four feet on tripod.

i would say that right there did more for gaining some range than any kind of antenna ever would.
 
Originally Posted By: SlickerThanSnotOriginally Posted By: Mtns2huntUnit is elevated four feet on tripod.

i would say that right there did more for gaining some range than any kind of antenna ever would.

You are probably right. In any event I am pleased at the improvement. I will shortly be in the market for a second caller. While the Alpha Dog has been very good and is even better now the next call will be a Fox pro. Couple reasons are it appears more sturdy and I like the variety of Fox pros library of sounds. Alpha Dog is going crow hunting in the AM. Cheers!
 
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