I'm not sure how you could make the Astro much easier to use especially if you do not use the fancy stuff. Turn it on, there is a button for that; access the dog screen, there is a button for that; put it in your pocket and go hunting.
I did spend some time over a few cups of coffee customizing my unit. I use the same color collars on the same dog all the time. So I customized via internal menus the color of the dog indicator arrows. Blue for Willie and red for Jake. The arrows now match their collar color and I always know which is which. I also customized a menu to see only what I use. For example, the first menu option is to <start a new hunt> which clears the dog track log and starts a new one and then prompts me to decide if I want to save the location as the truck. At <yes> it deletes the old truck location and logs in the new one. The second menu option is <Go To> where you select "Truck" at the prompt and are then provided navigation info to the vehicle. Most of the time I never need this function and never get beyond the dog screen.
Warning: it is very easy to get caught up in all the gee whiz stuff that these units provide and then the complexity of use increases. If it is simple you desire they can be operated very effectively as such.
I forgot to mention the dog track function. The unit always stores the dog track data with no input from you. It amazes me what our canine athletes do in the course of a hunt. On a one hour run I regularly see about 10 mile dog tracks. Last year I hunted for the first time a 150 acre clearcut that was as thick as they get. It was so thick that I decided to walk the perimeter and let the dogs do the heavy lifting. In the 2.5 hours it took me to circumnavigate the cut I saw the dogs about 10% of the time but still always knew where they were via the gps. At the conclusion I checked the track log and noted the old guy(11) had run 27 miles and his young partner(5) had run 25. And that is not running trails or open country. It is through some of the thickest crap nature provides. When I got home I overlaid the dog track on an aerial photo of the cut and the result put a smile on my face. With no direction or help from me there was not one 10 sq. yd patch of that cover that did not have a dog track through it. The boys were doing their job, covering ground, finding birds, and taking it easy on the old man by letting him walk the easy stuff.
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