Daleh,
My experience has not been like yours. I hunt squirrel dogs and therefore am in the thick woods pretty much my entire hunt and mine works great. Coolest piece of hunting gear I own. A squirrel dog covers some rough ground and mine is well worth the money. Just yesterday I was out in some of the thickest summer growth I've hunted and had great reception. Always knew I could find my dog. Also, no antenna damage or unusual battery wear.

Biggest problem but easily solved is keeping the antenna on top of the dog's neck. You cannot balance a 2"x4" on a horse's neck . Same kind of thing with the garmin, but if you use a good counterweight and you place some roles of tape up under the unit, then you cause it to "contour." This has worked out just fine and I have no trouble keeping it atop the dog's neck.

Also, the collar mounting bracket on on the DC20 is plastic and will wear out.

Here is the best thing about it though...they now have the DC30, an entirely redesigned collar for the Astro that fixes the problems. It fits like a regular telemetry collar.

Check out www.garmin.com/astro to see details on the new product. I plan to buy one here soon and use my old one when I take a friend and his dog along.