I think I am finally going to bite the bullet next season and upgrade to a Marshall receiver from my Tracker (probably going to sell it). My birds never range far and so the Tracker has been a small, convenient, reliable receiver for tracking general direction of my birds (I fly HH casts). It has always led me to my birds when I need it. But it can have a lot of back-signal and it is not designed for really close-in directionality (i.e.: finding a lost TX in a sea of grass).

As I weigh the FM 800 vs the UHF 100 I have competing concerns. I want a small receiver (this rules out the FM 100 w/full-size yagi). I love the size of the UHF unit - not much bigger than my Tracker. TX power (long range) isn't really a big concern for me - but battery life is (I love the long life on the VHF Scouts). I also already have three perfectly good VHF scouts right now - that I will have to sell if I buy a UHF system.

Beyond these concerns is my final tipping point - close-in directionality. Are there any significant areas where one system outshines the other?

Any thoughts you have would be helpful.
Thanks!
Mike