John ,
I started out with a Tritronics 500 with my first patrol dog and I think it does have a higher intensity stim then the 1200NCP . I had to send it back due to a problem with the transmitter once , the service was great and per my request they disabled the automatic tone everytime there was a stim given . I have not had a delayed stim problem using the 1200NCP or TT 500 .

I now use a 1200NCP and for most police dog training I like it better because you can select the level of stim needed better . The transmitter size makes is a plus also .

I along with another handler tested both the 1200NCP and Tritronics 500 for the range both had in our city . I was surprised that both had quite similiar ranges . Both were about 1/2 a mile with the Tritronics having a slightly longer range . Range was reduced with obstructions like buildings , power poles , etc. nearby or in between the transmitter and collar .

We found out that our squad radios and pacsets greatly effect both brands when trying to transmit a stim . They are both effected when our radios are receiving a transmission and hardly transmit a stim when we are sending a transmission with our radios .

Both are very dependable . For me I like the 1200NCP for police K9 training and prefer the Tritronics 500 for working with hunting dogs .

Jason ,
I used a Tritronics Sport about 10 years ago and was disappointed with it's battery life and had several problems with the collar . It was supposed to be waterproof . I think they had just came out with them and were trying to fix the problem . After sending it back a few times I upgraded to a Tritronics 100 and had only had 1 problem after using it alot for several years .

If you put your collars (Tritronics or Dogtra) through alot I recommend upgrading to another model meant for a bit more use and punishment(on the collar not the dog).

It's not one of the choices listed, but I use a DTsystem's collar.

I'm 10000% satisfied with it.
Power, range, clarity, effectivness, buttons, everything about it, I'm happy with. I've given lots information about the DTsystems model in other posts, so I'm not going to repost it all, if you are intrested just use the handy dandy search function.

One specific thing I will say about it in regards to batteries. The batteries are internal, they can not be changed on this model..they are also call "memory-free" batteries, which means, you can use the collar for an hour and charge it, or use it for days and charge it, you can where the batteries out, the don't hold any more or less of a charge as the unit ages, hence, the batteries have no memory as other batteries do. I don't know if I explained that well, but you can always google "memory free batteries" and educate yourself.

Ok, for you dogtra users. Has anybody had a problem withthe receiver shutting off when useing the pager function? Mine shuts off when it is getting low on batteries. Do I have a defective unit or is this inherent to the 200 series?

Mine doesn't, and I have the 200NCP. Of course, the pager function uses up more juice, so if you use it a lot, you should probably be charging the collar every day or at least every other day so the batteries don't get low.

Does anyone know if the Dogtra collars and remotes have a 'memory'? Should you let them run completely dead before charging them or is it okay to charge them every day even if they aren't blinking low battery?

Kristen,
Ok so I'm going to exchange my 202NPC, because there is definetly somenting wrong. The owners manual says that they don't retain any memory, but with anything recharable I always try to wait for the low batery warning.

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Personally, I prefer the Tri-Tronics. I hava Dogtra 1100NC and the correction seemed delayed when compared to a Tri-Tronics Pro 500. Also, the stim intensity seems higher with the TT. I'd like to hear if others have had this experience.

A few electrical engineer friends of mine have done tests with sophisticated instruments. They say that there's no significant delay with the 1100, the 1200 or the 2000. There is with the 200. It's about 100 milliseconds. That's 100/1,000th of a second. That's 1/10th of a second. If you can always correct within 1/10th of a second, you're quite the trainer! That can be a factor under certain conditions. If you're tapping very quickly, getting on and off the continuous button as quickly as you can, sometimes the 200 won't give a stim at all.

As far as the "stim intensity" being higher with the TT I wouldn't put any money on that. In any case, if you need the highest stim level, something is wrong with what you're doing.

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Ok, for you dogtra users. Has anybody had a problem withthe receiver shutting off when useing the pager function? Mine shuts off when it is getting low on batteries. Do I have a defective unit or is this inherent to the 200 series?

This is a function of a low battery, one that's near dead. The vibrate mode uses a lot more juice than the stim. But you'll find that on continuous at a high level (for testing only) it shuts off in a similar manner.

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Does anyone know if the Dogtra collars and remotes have a 'memory'? Should you let them run completely dead before charging them or is it okay to charge them every day even if they aren't blinking low battery?

They don't and it's ok. Early NiCad (nickel cadmium) batteries had this problem. Modern NiMH (nickel metal hydride) batteries which is what just about everyone is using these days, don't have this problem. You can recharge them anytime, whether it's been an hour of use or three days. BUT, you shouldn't leave them on charge all the time when you're not using them. Older batteries would die if you did this. This won't happen with today's Dogtras. But what will happen is that you'll reduce the working life of the batteries from 3-5 years to one year.

TT has just come out with a "smart charger" for their new series of Ecollars that you can leave the batteries on charge all the time, but they're quite expensive.

If you want to recharge the Dogtras before the light starts blinking, just estimate how worn down they are and do some math. If they last three days and it's been two days, then charge for 2/3 of the full charge time (14 hours). This really isn't that critical. I use mine for 2-3 days and then charge them overnight. I charge the transmitter every second or third time I charge the collars. The TX is only using batteries when you're pressing the button. The RX is using batteries anytime it's on.

One thing you shouldn't do is to let them sit, unused and uncharged for months on end. The batteries will go dead and sometimes they'll never take a full charge again. Charge them every couple of months, whether you're using them or not.

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Ok so I'm going to exchange my 202NPC, because there is definetly somenting wrong.

Jason I don't see anything defective from what you've written here. If you're at the end of the battery life and you press the vibrate button it will go for a few seconds and then the batteries will shut off. It may let you go again for a few seconds and then it will shut off. This is normal.

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The owners manual says that they don't retain any memory, but with anything recharable I always try to wait for the low batery warning.

I'd suggest that you not wait for the low battery warning. If you want to go train and the light is flashing, you can't.