Powermax users....how good is this transmitter?

[Ricko]

Currently using a couple of Merlins but, looking at the powermax as an upgrade...thoughts? Thanks

[kurt]

I use one on my Goshawk. Very powerful and hard to pinpoint close in, under 100 ft. Would be a great unit out west, not so much in heavy brush. Kurt

[Falconer298]

I love mine, I use it as a primary tx on my falcon with a backpack mount. Magnetic on off is very handy but I still remove it when I'm back at home. Never have had any issues homing in on it but I have never had the pleasure yet to search real hard for a lost bird wearing it. I have had a few adventures chasing a bird with a marshal RT+ and found my bird in some very tough places. Like under a roof mount A/C unit in a very industrial place with metal everywhere. I have some of the other brands of transmitters and the marshal units are what I have come to prefer, but everyone will have their own experience to share on the subject.

[Tony James]

I can't speak highly enough of them.
Used in conjunction with the digital receiver, they're about as good as it gets.
Unlike Kurt, I've found them to have pin point accuracy close up (although that may be due to the transmitter/receiver combination.
I'd recommend them Rick, without hesitation.

Best wishes,

Tony.

[Phil Myers]

Currently using a couple of Merlins but, looking at the powermax as an upgrade...thoughts? Thanks

Hi Rick
I use a Marshall Powermax (7grms) and Micro (3.5grms) combination on my Falcon. Micro around neck, Powermax on Tail.
The powermax is the best all round consistant Transmitter I have used.
Distance, weight and cheap to run (compared to RT+ $4.50+ per battery).

[Saluqi]

I agree with everyone here, I have two powermax transmitters and they are great. I also have an RT+ and it is also and excellent transmitter, I seem to recall that in extreme cold some people prefer the RT+ because the 1/3N battery has better output, or lasts longer in the cold, maybe it was Jeff Odell (Sharptail) who had a bad experience with the P-max battery dying, you might ask him.

[Lowachi]

2 on raptors nest for sale.....

[Montucky]

Currently using a couple of Merlins but, looking at the powermax as an upgrade...thoughts? Thanks

an RT plus is more than enough transmitter for any falcon in my opinion.

[FredFogg]

The PowerMax are crap, so anyone that has one can sell theirs to me! LOL

Seriously, I have used mine for 4 years on a coopers hawk, a goshawk and 2 red-tails and it has worked perfectly. I don't have a single complaint. Most of the above guys have used them on falcons and it appears they are just as stellar on them as hawks. I don't think you will go wrong if you get one. If you do and don't like it, let me know, I will buy it!

[sharptail]

an RT plus is more than enough transmitter for any falcon in my opinion.

You just can't beat the RT+!

[Chris Proctor]

I love the PowerMax. The only down side is battery life, but it's booking signal is easy to follow.

[Chris Proctor]

an RT plus is more than enough transmitter for any falcon in my opinion.

It's all my buddies here fly with, never lost a bird on one..

[Chris L.]

Every bird I fly goes with a power max.

I went on a 10 mile telem chase with my peals last year. I had a leg mount, made by another manufacture, and a powermax on him. The leg mount lost signal way before the powermax. If it wasn't for the power max I would not have my bird today.

Also, all of Marshall's products are made right here in the USA!

[sugezwolf]

Currently using a couple of Merlins but, looking at the powermax as an upgrade...thoughts? Thanks

Hi Rick - I must have used around 8 of these transmitters over the past 12 seasons. I have had failures with the old, short antenna type but have never had failures with the 2005 model excepting for in the first week of a new p-max's life when I run them off the hawk to test them. I still haven't found another transmitter to touch their performance in my enclosed ground (even the RT Standard only equalled the P-max ground to ground) and currently own and use 3 on my peregrines (back-pack mount on all plus as a tailmount on medium/large falcons).

Gerry x

[mark collins]

Powermax are first class ,i fly mainly pursuit falcons ,as do two of my buddies,a couple of times a year we get a long trackdown it goes with the territory,powermax on the back ,rt plus on the leg, rt is a backup its always the powermax that shines,we have hilly terrain here and its all down to the p,max that we do what we do,mark.

[rkumetz]

Powermax transmitters are excellent and along with the good transmitter you get excellent support. NOTHING you buy is going to be 100% defect free out of the box and for years but the test of whether or not a manufacturer is one that you want to buy things from is to ask someone who bought their stuff and had a problem how the problem was handled. Everyone I know has either not had problems with MRT stuff or has been very happy with the treatment they got when they called or emailed and said "we have a problem Houston".

[calebstroh]

I have been flying with two RT+'s on my bird and have been happy with it. Haven’t really has the opportunity to test them extensively yet, and that suits me fine.

But I am seriously looking at putting a backpack on him and using a powermax on it (I think it can be used for backpack and tail mounts?) and also running one RT+ on his leg just for safety (paranoia.)

Mark C, how do you like this setup? Have any others used it?

Thanks, CJ

[areal]

I can only echo what Fred said, if you dont like youre powermax, let me know and I will buy it from you.

I use one on 173Mhz (that was given to me by a very dear friend) and I have to say they do have some issues.

Firstly with the 173 antenna, its just too long to tail mount, the antenna extends too far past the end of the tail (on a redtail or ferruginous) on a tailmount.

My redtail ripped both deck feathers clean out when the antenna touched a wire fence as she flew past it at pretty much terminal velocity.

The other problem is the battery used in the powermax, does not like cold weather. If the temperature of the battery drops below -5 the lifetime of the battery is severely affected. You could be lucky and get 10 hours looking for a lost bird.

So why do I say they are the best transmitter I have yet found?
Well once the temperature picks up, the transmitter does start working again and when they are working, well I once had to ring my wife at home and ask her to turn the transmitter on my bird off because we were looking for a lost harris about 10 miles away and the signal from the powermax at home was drowning out the signal from another manufacturer's transmitter less than 100 yards away.

Because of the length of the antenna (on 173mhz) I wouldnt put the transmitter on the tail again but something I found with using the marshall backpacks, correctly fitted the backpack keeps the transmitter right inside the body feathers thereby keeping the battery close to body temperature.
Completely eliminates the battery's problems with cold.
So long as the bird is alive it keeps the battery warm and I really dont mind being asked to turn my transmitter off while someone else looks for their bird.
IMHO, Best piece of falconry equipment you can spend your money on.

[rkumetz]

The other problem is the battery used in the powermax, does not like cold weather. If the temperature of the battery drops below -5 the lifetime of the battery is severely affected. You could be lucky and get 10 hours looking for a lost bird.

I have not found this to be the case. I am assuming that you are talking about -5 C (23 F) as opposed to -5 F. Have you tried a different brand of batteries?

[calebstroh]

Thanks for the thoughts.

I haven't really had the time to look into this further, or really call and pick the brains of those at Marshall, but if I remember correctly the powermax did use slightly more battery (or had a shorter battery life) but it didn't have anything to do with the cold or the battery, but rather the way the powermax used its power/signal output.

If I understood things correctly they have a darn strong signal, and a longer antennae than the RT+, but don’t last as long.

So I thought it would be a good idea to have the powermax on for finding the bird quickly, and if the terrain was hilly...and then the RT+ in case the chase lasted longer than a few hours/days.

Anywho, like I said, I really haven't extensive looked into this yet, and this may have been answered in an earlier post, so I apologize in advance if I'm off base a little.

-caleb

[BobbyB]

I had the nerve rattling experiance of chasing my Sakeret round and round a fairly large valley for almost 12 hours a few weeks ago (my bird was the only one having a great time that day). I'll tell ya, I am SO glad he had a Power Max on his back.

A few buddies swear by the RT+, and I found the Micro to be very reliable with short wings

In addition, I have to agree with Ron - Marshall's customer service would be pretty hard to beat.

The combination of high quality telemetry gear, and superb customer service has made me a loyal customer.

Thats my 2 cents